This qualitative study explores instrumental aid as social support in family crises. Focus group interviews were conducted with six groups of women to explore their thoughts and feelings about giving and receiving instrumental aid. Women gave many examples of instrumental aid, stating it was important, but only helpful if it met a recognized need. Mutual definition of need appears to be negotiated informally within group or family memberships, as well as more formally using society's manners and customs. Individual and community resources were mentioned frequently. Affirmation of one's perceptions of an event also contributes to definition of a need. Social support is an interactive process; several women gave examples of a "state of shock" following a death and other circumstances that left a person unable to acknowledge aid.

Envy is an other-oriented but negative emotion; no research has examined the influence of envy on prosocial behavior. Study 1 examined whether envy and gratitude would promote or inhibit prosocial behavior. I hypothesized that envy would result in less helping behavior than a neutral condition, whereas gratitude would increase helping behavior. Results supported the hypothesis that envy inhibits prosocial behavior. There was not enough evidence to suggest that gratitude promoted helping. Study 2 examined how envy and gratitude affected prosocial behavior when participants were given the choice to help or harm others. I hypothesized that experiencing envy would result in greater likelihood of engaging in harmful behavior, but that gratitude would promote more helpful behavior, even when it meant a less positive outcome for participants. The hypothesis that envy increases harming behavior was supported, while there was not enough evidence to suggest that gratitude promoted helping behavior in this scenario.

Regardless of housing backlog and rapid urbanization created by population growth, the promotion of Self-Help Housing by authorities in charge of housing and policy documents1, there is a limited used of Self-Help Housing in South Africa. In pursuing the Self-Help Housing debate, this research argues that the failure to implement a widespread use of Self-Help Housing is not directly linked to weaknesses of Self-Help Housing. Instead, the difficult access to land for urban poor households, the ignorance from households of their right of having access to adequate shelter, the attitude of dependency evident in households, the paternalistic attitude from the government, the failure to constitute an active community and the failure to establish real priorities of poor people are the main causes of the limited use of Self-Help Housing in South Africa. Tembisa, one of the South Africa’s Townships, is used in this research for the purpose of illustrating the unsuccessful implementation of Self-Help Housing, adopted in South as People Housing Process (PHP).

This thesis explores the idea that those who have childhood victimization through abuse may be more likely to go into professions that directly help others as adults. This idea comes from Agnew's general strain theory and is an example of positive coping and prosocial coping. Coping is the response necessary when strains are introduced to an individual. They may be positive or negative. Prosocial coping is an individual using their coping mechanisms to help themselves by helping others in their community. This thesis uses data from the “National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), 1994-2008" Harris and Udry, North Carolina Chapel Hill. Questions about abuse and employment are coded and run through statistical analysis. These analyses are independent sample t-tests binary regression models. Findings are discussed and further research in this area is suggested.

The research question of this study explores beliefs helping professionals have about caregiving services. The survey provided to participants of this study examined beliefs concerning what services are most important for caregivers to have access to, as well as what are the most significant barriers caregivers may experience when attempting to access or receive such services. Findings from this study indicate that the most important respite care services for caregivers to have access to include overnight/weekend care, access to short breaks and socialization, access to training/education, and support with providing activities of daily living for the care recipient. Findings from this study also indicate the most significant barriers to caregivers accessing or receiving services are misgivings about trusting another individual with the care of a loved one, feeling overwhelmed, and not being adequately prepared for the responsibilities of being a caregiver at discharge from a hospital setting. It is important for Social Work practitioners to be aware of the respite needs of caregivers, as well as potential barriers to accessing services that would help to address those needs.

This study will examine how religion impacts adolescents in a group home setting, and how they perceive its importance in their lives. The data was gathered using a qualitative method, and included interviews with a sample of staff members (all adults) who work with adolescents in a group home setting.The helping professionals were interviewed and asked 15 questions pertaining to their knowledge regarding the ways in which their subject residents embraced religion and spirituality. This included their observations as to frequency of prayer or meditation, reading or studying of sacred texts, meetings such as prayer meetings or other ritual activities, and a number of other questions regarding the ways in which religion and spirituality are manifested among residents in a group home setting. The study also inquired of the helping professionals whether adolescent residents had ever expressed to them a belief in God or a higher power, and if they had, their reflections and feelings verbally expressed. This research focuses on the impact of religion on the outlook of adolescent group home residents, including what it means to them and whether or not it is important, and if so to what degree. Helping professionals were interviewed rather than the residents themselves to avoid any possible conflicts or legalities in questioning subjects under the age of 18 years old. The responses to the questions by the staff members will help to provide answers as to how adolescents in a group of setting feel about religion and spirituality. This research also explores whether adolescents who embrace religion or spirituality display positive or negative behaviors or whether there is any change at all in their perceptions and reactions to external circumstances surrounding them. Further research needs to be conducted in other group homes with either higher or lower functioning surroundings to see if religion is important to other adolescents, or have no effect in the way they live or think.

The study aimed at obtaining perspectives of social workers in working with the incarcerated population. Being that the incarcerated population may carry a stigma due to the crimes that they allegedly committed or have been convicted of committing, it comes to question if workers in the helping professions, such as social workers, that may be involved in the inmate’s rehabilitation process have any biases in working with this population. Participants in the study included members from the National Association of Social Workers California chapter (NASW CA). NASW CA was chosen as the most appropriate entity through which to gather perspectives of social workers with varying demographics. The study was comprised of a survey emailed out to NASW CA members from a list generated by NASW CA, and the data was collected on the Qualtrics application. The eight main survey questions consisted of statements that are rated using a 5-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The data was analyzed in the IBM SPSS v25 program. Participant demographics, including gender, ethnicity, age, years in field, and area of social work practice were also captured. The data was analyzed using descriptive and bivariate comparisons between specific participant demographics -such as gender (male/female) and ethnicity (white/non-white)- regarding their perspectives toward inmates. The survey was completed anonymously; termination was completed during the debriefing statement. There were 45 participants in the study. Participant demographics include: 1) 82% female and 18% male; 2) 42% identified as non-white and 58% as white; 3) 40% have worked in the social work field for 0-10 years and 60% have been in the field for more than 10 years; 4) 56% were between the ages of 18-45 and 44% were above 45 years old; 5) 40% have experience working in Child Welfare while the other 60% do not; and 6) 47% have direct experience working with inmates while 53% do not. Bivariate analyses revealed four statistically significant differences between specific demographic groups, including: 1) participants who do not have experience working in child welfare are more likely than those who do have experience to feel like they are putting themselves in danger by working with inmates; 2) participants who have 0-10 years’ experience in the field are more likely than those with more than 10 years’ experience to feel like they are putting themselves in danger by working with inmates; 3) participants who indicated an age above 45 years old are more likely than those under 45 years old to think that inmates have rights and should have access to services; and 4) participants who indicated having direct experience working with inmates were more likely to feel comfortable working with inmates than participants who do not have direct experience. There are implications for micro and macro social work practice, which include exposure to this population while in a social work program and further training in cultural competency to reduce bias toward this population and ensure full and equal access to social work services.

Vicarious trauma poses a risk factor for clinicians. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study is to examine the individual and organizational resources used by counselors who have self-reported vicarious trauma and have continue practicing their profession effectively. Two theories that comprised the framework of this study were: the social cognitive theory and the constructivist self-development theory. The sample consisted of 10 counselors who self-reported vicarious trauma. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, observations, and then were analyzed using thematic analysis. NVivo software was utilized to come up with distinct similarities in each of the participants. These similarities were then further analyzed to reveal concrete coping strategies that helping professionals can utilize to prevent the effects of vicarious trauma. The top coping skills were discovered to be as follows: effective transition time, spiritual practices, psychological preparedness, wellness, and self-control. Furthermore, organizational skills were also examined to see the effects the organization had on vicarious trauma. The leading organizational coping skills that were acknowledged were: co-workers and supervisor involvement, self-care evenings, weekly wellness meetings, and consultation groups. This study will provide positive social change implications by enabling present and future mental health professionals to gain insight into the coping strategies used to manage vicarious trauma successfully.

<p><!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --></p><p>Early studies of what motivates volunteering often have had an older sample and youth organizations have not been studied. A survey was used to study motives for volunteering in Swedish youth organizations. The importance of age and years of volunteering was studied. In the analysis 102 persons in age between 17 and 59 years participated. The participants ranked the motives as followed: knowledge, development, values, social, career and protection. The result of a serie of analysis of variance showed that the younger named career and development as a motive significant higher than the older. A significant interaction showed that youth who had volunteered for a longer time valued social motivation higher than youth who had volunteered for a shorter time, while it was the other way around for the older participants.</p> / <p><!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --></p><p>Tidigare studier som undersökt motivation till ideellt arbete har ofta utgått ifrån en äldre population och ungdomsorganisationer har inte undersökts. Denna enkätstudie undersökte motivation till ideellt arbete i svenska ungdomsorganisationer. Betydelsen av ålder och antal år i ideellt arbete undersöktes. I analyserna ingick 102 personer i åldrarna 17-59. Deltagarna rangordnade motiven som följande: Kunskap, utveckling, värderingar, social, karriär och skydd. Resultatet av en serie variansanalyser visade att yngre angav karriär och utveckling som motiv i signifikant högre grad än äldre. En signifikant interaktion visade att yngre som jobbat ideellt en längre tid skattade social motivation högre än yngre som jobbat kort tid medan förhållandet för äldre var omvänt.</p>

<!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Early studies of what motivates volunteering often have had an older sample and youth organizations have not been studied. A survey was used to study motives for volunteering in Swedish youth organizations. The importance of age and years of volunteering was studied. In the analysis 102 persons in age between 17 and 59 years participated. The participants ranked the motives as followed: knowledge, development, values, social, career and protection. The result of a serie of analysis of variance showed that the younger named career and development as a motive significant higher than the older. A significant interaction showed that youth who had volunteered for a longer time valued social motivation higher than youth who had volunteered for a shorter time, while it was the other way around for the older participants. / <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Tidigare studier som undersökt motivation till ideellt arbete har ofta utgått ifrån en äldre population och ungdomsorganisationer har inte undersökts. Denna enkätstudie undersökte motivation till ideellt arbete i svenska ungdomsorganisationer. Betydelsen av ålder och antal år i ideellt arbete undersöktes. I analyserna ingick 102 personer i åldrarna 17-59. Deltagarna rangordnade motiven som följande: Kunskap, utveckling, värderingar, social, karriär och skydd. Resultatet av en serie variansanalyser visade att yngre angav karriär och utveckling som motiv i signifikant högre grad än äldre. En signifikant interaktion visade att yngre som jobbat ideellt en längre tid skattade social motivation högre än yngre som jobbat kort tid medan förhållandet för äldre var omvänt.