No description available.

No description available.

The overall objective of this study was to examine the psychosocial affects of HIV/AIDS on the significant other of a PWA. To attain this objective, psychosocial affects in the following areas of anxiety and depression, family relations, self-concept, and alienation were addressed by the researcher. A casual comparative research design was used in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to male and female PWAs and significant others in an agency in the Atlanta Metropolitan area which serves PWA and significant others. The study was an attempt to provide a better understanding of the psychosocial affects HIV/AIDS has on the significant other of a PWA in relations to anxiety and depression, family relations, self concept and alienation in an effort to determine how social workers can better help this population. The findings of this research indicate that there was a significant difference between the psychosocial affects of HIV/AIDS on a PWA and his/her significant other in the area of self concept.

This study explores select barriers to grief counseling groups for adolescents by Georgia public school social workers. The purpose of this study is to determine if there are select barriers in place in school systems that prevent school social workers from conducting grief counseling groups within the school setting for adolescents. Seventy-five (75) survey participants were selected for this study utilizing non probability convenience sampling from among the participants of the selected Savannah site for the study. The survey participants were composed of school social workers who were members of the state chapter of School Social Workers Association of Georgia (SSWAG) organization, which is the state charter of the larger School Social Workers Association of America (SSWAA) national organization. This study employed a survey questionnaire entitled, A Study of Barriers to Grief Counseling Groups for Adolescents in School, and a four-point continuum Likert scale. The findings of the study indicate that there is no statistical significance between select barriers -- amount of time provided during a school day, administrative support, and social work caseloads — when compared to conducting grief counseling groups. The data indicate that there is no relationship between the select barriers and conducting grief counseling groups. However, responding school social workers agree that grief impacts adolescents and interferes with teaching and learning in school, and that a comfort level with the topic of grief is required in order to conduct grief counseling groups. The overall findings of this study revealed that grief counseling groups are underutilized interventions by Georgia public school social workers, who are members of the School Social Workers Association of Georgia organization. Although Georgia public school social workers recognize the importance of grief counseling groups as effective interventions for adolescents, grief counseling groups are not being conducted at higher percentages by school social workers for adolescents, based on the frequency distribution data.

The overall objective of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction with medical treatment and social work counseling among women diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The author examined the following factors: First, how quickly and frequently the female respondents received medical treatment for symptoms related to a diagnosis of AIDS. Second, the type and form of medical insurance coverage provided for females diagnosed with AIDS. Third, the level of the respondents’ satisfaction with the medical treatment received for the treatment of AIDS. Fourth, the type of social work counseling received for the treatment of AIDS. Fifth, the respondents’ level of satisfaction with the social work counseling received for the treatment of AIDS. A self-administered questionnaire was given to thirty adult female respondents that have been diagnosed with AIDS. Two hypotheses were tested concerning the relationship between gender and the level of satisfaction with medical and social work treatment received for the treatment of AIDS. Both of the null hypotheses were rejected. The results of this study indicated that the female respondents were dissatisfied with the counseling they received from the social worker, with a felt sense of having their concerns inadequately addressed during counseling sessions. This study demonstrated that social workers must be sensitive to gender specific issues with special populations of clients in order to provide adequate, acceptable treatment.

No description available.

Drawing upon previous research about long-term care service utilization and social network analysis, a conceptual framework is developed and presented that identifies those social network factors appearing to have the greatest potential impact upon the differential utilization of long-term care services by older persons. Using this framework, and a research methodology that employed the techniques of social network analysis, an exploratory study was conducted which examined the social network factors associated with the differential utilization of formal long-term care services by older persons living in two counties of northwestern Florida. / Differences were found to exist between the study's two subject samples with regard to several of the social network factors that were examined. The nature of those differences suggest that the type of formal long-term care services used by the older persons in the study, may have, in part, been influenced by certain structural qualities of the social networks by those persons, by certain attitudes and values held by those persons with regard to their networks, and by the nature and quality of the relationships that existed between those persons and individual members of their networks. / The results of the exploratory study have important implications for formal providers of long-term care services and for persons who are involved with the development of long-term care social policy. In addition to those programs and policy implications, the study demonstrates that despite certain methodological weaknesses, the method of social network analysis developed for this study can be a valuable research tool for adding to present knowledge about long-term care service utilization. Such information can be critical for the future development of policy and programs concerned with meeting the long-term care needs of older persons. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0548. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study was an initial effort to use social network concepts to compare the informal support systems of mothers identified as child abusers with those of non-abusing mothers. A social-psychological approach was taken to the measurement of social network strength. The strength of the mother's primary group network was defined in terms of the mothers' reported perceptions of the amount of role-supportive help available to her from neighbors, friends, and relatives. / The data were collected by means of structured interviews with two groups of mothers. A group of 38 mothers were interviewed who had been identified as physical child abusers by one of eight public protective services programs in North Florida and North Georgia. A control group of 59 mothers who had not been reported for child abuse were similarly identiviewed. / A structured, 51 item Index of Social Network Strength, was developed by the author and used as the interview guide. The instrument contained 28 Likert-type items which yielded a summated index of the mother's perceived strength of her combined neighbor-friend network and an index of the perceived strength of her kinship network. The total of the combined scores was the measure of the mother's perceived strength of her total primary group network. The data collection instrument also provided demographic characteristics of the mothers, a measure of their use of formally organized parent-support services, a marital satisfaction index, and an index of situational stress. / An inverse relationship was hypothesized to exist between mothers' perceived strength of their primary group networks and maternal child abuse. This inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of primary group network and maternal child abuse was hypothesized to be stronger for mothers in high stress situations than for mothers in low stress situations, and stronger for mothers who reported low use of formally organized parent-support services than for mothers who reported high use of the service. The fourth hypothesis postulated that the inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of their kinship network and maternal child abuse would be greater than the inverse relationship between the mothers' perceived strength of their neighbor-friend networks and maternal child abuse. / The data were analyzed by means of contingency tables and non-parametric statistics. Chi-square was used as a measure of statistical significance and Yule's Q was used as a measure of the strength of association between the variables. / The findings supported the major research hypothesis. Mothers who perceived their primary group networks as strong were significantly less likely to be child abusers than mothers who perceived their primary group networks as weak. This inverse relationship between the mothers' perceived strength of their primary group networks and child abuse was significantly stronger for mothers who did not utilize formally organized parent-support services than for mothers who did utilize them, and was stronger for lower-income mothers than for higher-income mothers. Level of situational stress did not significantly influence the inverse relationship between mothers' perceived strength of their networks and child abuse. The perceived strength of the mother's neighbor-friend networks was found to have a stronger, negative association with child abuse than did the perceived strength of their kinship networks. / The findings suggest that interventions to prevent maternal child abuse should be directed toward strengthening the social linkages between abusive or potentially abusive mothers and their neighbors and friends. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0806. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

This investigation examined persons 60 or over concerning their volunteer activity. Volunteering was defined as contributing one's time without pay to non-profit organizations in the community. A list of older volunteers was compiled and subjects were randomly selected from that list. A non-volunteer group was similarly formed to serve as a basis of comparison and accord a fuller understanding of the volunteers. / Volunteers were found to have more income, to be younger, more educated, more likely to be white and more likely to be married than their counterparts who do not volunteer. The volunteers had higher measures of self-esteem and peer relations than the non-volunteers. Subjects who volunteered prior to age 60 were more likely to be presently volunteering, but 19 percent of the present volunteers had never volunteered before the age of 60. The 75 volunteers interviewed were found to be more active in volunteering now than before the age of 60. This is probably due to an increase in leisure time as a result of retirement or other role loss. / Of the 56 non-volunteers, a startling 59 percent expressed a willingness to volunteer and a main reason given for not volunteering was simply that no one has asked them. Both volunteers and non-volunteers preferred volunteering in a setting that served members of their own age group. / Older persons have historically underutilized and/or have been underserved by the social service network in the community. Results of this and other investigations indicate that there is a significant group of older volunteers and potential volunteers waiting to be asked who can be used to bridge this service gap. In addition to providing a service, it was learned that volunteers may benefit themselves in terms of higher self-esteem and peer relations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0549. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study examined the relationship between the level of involvement in decision-making, as perceived by staff, and the performance of those staff members in a human service organization as well as the effect on that relationship of the extent to which staff want to be involved. / The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire administered to 235 direct service and unit supervisory staff within two geographical districts of the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. The data collection instrument included scales developed and used by other researchers to measure the variables of participation in decision-making, job discretion, and congruence. The instrument also included a seven-dimension scale developed by the author to measure a staff person's perception of quality of work being performed. Demographic data were also gathered from the respondents. / A positive relationship was hypothesized to exist between the level of a staff person's participation in organizational and job specific decision-making and the perceived quality of staff performance. It was also predicted, however, that not all staff wanted a great deal of involvement in such decision-making and that whether or not one was satisfied with one's level of involvement, regardless of what that level was, would affect the quality of staff performance. It was expected that the staff who either want more or less involvement than they have would perceive a lower quality of work being performed than would staff who are satisfied with their level of involvement. / The findings largely supported the hypotheses but only for direct service staff. The possession of job discretion appears to be more important to an assessment of high quality work performance than does participation in organizational decision-making. Additionally, the findings suggest that staff who are either satisfied with the level of job discretion or want less of it evaluate staff performance higher than staff who want more. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0549. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.