Community psychologists who go beyond the profession a commentary

A "calling" is typically a compelling sense of purpose that arises from a place different from the calculus that leads to a choice of profession. Yet in the case of community psychology, the five people profiled in this essay have both an impressive professional portfolio and a sense of social mission. This essay explores the two sides of their work, and more broadly the challenges facing those who work as agents of change, while at the same time advancing and achieving notable accomplishments in systems that are at once sources of social problems and resources for solving them.     

Community Elder-Care in Tasmania

SUMMARY

Adult caregivers (n = 184; M age = 43.9 years old) working at a non-profit, eldercare program at five geographically diverse sites located in the self-contained, island state of Tasmania, Australia, completed a set of self-report measures. Results across the five sites indicated that respondents experienced a relatively strong sense of self-efficacy toward making a difference in their local community. However, there were significant differences (controlling for social desirability) when comparing caregivers from rural northern (n = 45) with urban southern (n = 139) communities, with rural caregivers claiming stronger sense of common mission with others, reciprocal responsibility to help others, and caregiver satisfaction, plus lower disharmony with other members and caregiver stress in helping the elderly than urban caregivers. Implications suggest that community self-efficacy may be high among eldercare staff, but their sense of community and caregiving perceptions may reflect geographic differences, especially in Tasmania.     

What’s in an MSW? Graduate education for public child welfare workers,intention, engagement,and work environment

ABSTRACT

This study employs a mixed methods analysis of exit survey data gathered from public child welfare employees at their completion of a Title IV-E funded MSW program, distinct because it was initiated during a period of major reform and permitted students to continue employment during their studies. Findings suggest that opportunities for growth and manageable levels of stress were associated with intentions to stay and engagement with the work, reflected in respondents’ positive perceptions of their roles in the work environment and their retrospective assessments of the impact of their social work education.     

Urban planning and mental health

Abstract

Both the product and the process of city planning have been shown to have an influence on mental health. This paper presents a model of the process through which community design characteristics influence mental health. The model emphasizes the importance of local social interaction and physical stimulation, as well as adjustment mechanisms used to dampen stress resulting from undesirable levels of interaction and stimulation. The research on the relationship between four community design characteristics and social interaction, stimulation and mental health is then reviewed. An argument for the importance of citizen participation is also presented, stressing the influence of participation on both sense of control and the development of social support. Commonly employed participation techniques, however, differ in their ability to affect support and control. Neighborhood council programs are identified as having the greatest potential for influencing sense of control and social support. Finally the obstacles to improving community design and specific recommendations for the prevention of environmentally induced mental health problems are presented.     

Gendered Pathways to Bullying Perpetration via Social Achievement Goals – Mediating Effects of Sense of Belonging and Non-inclusive Group Norms

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the gender-specific effects of social achievement goals – i.e., social development goals, social demonstration approach goals, and social demonstration avoid goals – on bullying perpetration in a sample of 788 adolescents (53.3% girls), taking into account the mediating role of sense of belonging and non-inclusive group norms. Two-group structural equation modeling results indicated that social demonstration approach goals positively predicted bullying perpetration for both genders. For girls, higher social development goals and for boys, higher social avoidance goals decreased bullying perpetration. Gender-specific effects of belonging and non-inclusive group norms on bullying perpetration occurred. For boys, non-inclusive group norms mediated the relation between all social achievement goals and bullying perpetration. Implications for future research and (gender-sensitive) bullying interventions are discussed.     

The Social Ecology of the Transition to Work

SUMMARY

The State of Illinois provided intensive case management to assist women making the transition from welfare to work. Case managers involved in this process discovered that a variety of challenges faced the women. A social ecological approach to organizing these challenges found six distinct considerations: (1) awareness of the requirements of the law; (2) the environmental context and social norms common in a neighborhood; (3) family support, family structure and family expectations; (4) emotional well-being; (5) literacy and education; and (6) appropriate expectations of the work environment.     

Providing Financial Empowerment to Mothers on Welfare

SUMMARY

Three samples of urban Latina and African-American women in hospitality training programs were assessed on their perceived self-efficacy. In Sample 1, the typical Latina (n= 25) and African-American (n= 71) woman was a young, single, mother of three children who had received benefits for over six years and who, at the start of a two-week training program, reported low self-efficacy and moderate social desirability. Sample 2 participants were mostly single Latina (n= 25) or African-American (n= 49) mothers who received six weeks of training/internship, but reported no significant change in their level of self-efficacy, social desirability, or hopefulness from pre- to post-training. Sample 3 (16 Latinas, 36 African-Americans) was a subset of women from the first sample who were interviewed by telephone four months after completing the two-week training program and were now employed. These working women reported a significant increase in their level of self-efficacy compared to the start of training. Results suggest that some minority women may benefit from job skill training in terms of their sense of mastery over their life situation, although the impact of such training may not emerge until after they have been actively employed.     

Reflections on Calling and Careers in Community Psychology

SUMMARY

The current essay discusses the narratives of five community psychologists from the perspective of a career “calling.” Each of the essays highlight different components of a calling: employing deep discernment to know the right path for oneself; experiencing a calling to do one's work, an invitation to which we choose to respond; serving community; discovering your quintessential self or “genius”; and using your gifts for the common good. Moreover, the author discusses how the essays not only illustrate calling, but also the emergence of confidence and the subjective career.     

An effective pedagogy for child welfare education

ABSTRACT

Preparing social workers for child welfare practice with the complexly traumatized children now in the system has created the need for schools of social work to integrate trauma content into the curriculum. This article presents findings of an evaluation of a child welfare course designed to prepare MSW level trauma-informed child welfare practitioners. Findings indicate that students in 29 schools of social work not only significantly increased their confidence in working with traumatized children and families but also are significantly more prepared to work toward these three child welfare goals of safety, permanency, and well-being.     

Quality of work environment (QWE): Effects on office workers

Abstract

This article focuses on the physical environment of work as an important, and overlooked, component of working conditions. Quality of Work Environment (QWE) is viewed as one facet of the Quality of Worklife (QWL) movement. Attention is thus paid not only to direct health effects of adverse environmental conditions, but also to how the physical conditions of work contribute to a sense of competence and to job satisfaction and performance. Based on empirical research and theory, a set of general criteria for improving the quality of the work environment are proposed.     

Social Justice and the University Community: Does Campus Involvement Make a Difference?

We examined perceptions on school sense of community and social justice attitudes among undergraduates (N = 427; 308 women, 115 men; M age = 19.72, SD = 1.91), and how year in school and club membership affected these constructs. Results demonstrated that involvement with a greater number of clubs was associated with having a stronger school sense of community and more positive social justice attitudes. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that year in school did not significantly predict social justice attitudes. Results suggested that greater involvement and sense of school belonging might be linked to social justice attitudes.     

The future of online social work education and Title IV-E child welfare stipends

ABSTRACT

In this concept paper, the authors explore online learning in social work and how IV-E education has been and will continue to be impacted. An empirical estimate of the national prevalence of online IV-E social work degree options is presented. Using Colorado as a case example, the authors share some of the opportunities and challenges presented by online education. Universities in Colorado have realized that online education connects rural and indigenous communities, reduces the need for students to relocate, and promotes a well-prepared, qualified child welfare workforce, but online options also challenge programs with localization issues. With connectivity increased and the physical location of students becoming less and less relevant, IV-E child welfare education providers need a proactive national dialogue to further assess the benefits and barriers to IV-E partnerships across state lines and the development of promising approaches in this area. The recruitment and retention of a well-educated and prepared child welfare workforce is critical for positive outcomes for children and families. Online social work education continues to grow nationwide. Now is the time for a national workgroup, including a broad group of stakeholders, to explore how the IV-E community will respond to online delivery of social work education.     

Where Love Flies Free

SUMMARY

Several definitions of “home,” drawn from dozens provided by the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language underscore how a large urban county jail becomes many forms of home for the women detainees there. Drawing on the women's poetry and the mechanics of creative writing workshops facilitated by the author for the last seven years at Cook County Jail, this essay describes some of the realities of the criminal (injustice system and how the women's writing becomes a way of writing against the grain of official discourse, thus altering certain definitions of this “home.”     

The Nomad at Home

SUMMARY

This essay addresses issues related to leaving and recreating a home from the perspective of different kinds of movements, transformations, and diasporic ways of living. Global restructurings in the wake of neoliberal economic developments provide the main background for a discussion of contemporary global upheavals and displacements, and the concomitant mix of old and new understandings of bordercrossing, multiple or hybrid identities, and neo/colonialism. The figure of the nomad is at the center of these discussions. The nomad is described as someone who carries home as an essential psychological belonging, and who can re-create home in diverse places, anywhere.     

Promoting Critical Consciousness in Young,African-American Men

SUMMARY

In the U.S. as young African-American men in urban areas mature, they face oppressive social forces as well as the normative developmental challenges of adolescence. Nonetheless, much of psychology focuses on personal rather than sociopolitical development. As a basis for interventions aimed at sociopolitical awareness and action, this article presents a theory of oppression and sociopolitical development based on the work of Serrano Garcia, Freire and others. According to this theory, critical consciousness (i.e., critical awareness about one's political, social and cultural condition) is an essential skill for sociopolitical development. This article also describes the “Young Warriors” program for building critical consciousness in high school aged young men. The results of this action-research project suggest that critical consciousness can be enhanced through a brief, eight-session intervention with the aid of Rap video, film and other products of mass culture.     

How Fathers Respond When Their Youth Leave and Return Home

Abstract

Few social scientists have examined the impact that adult children's leaving and returning home have upon fathers and their family relationships. In a sample of 325 fathers in Indiana and Michigan, 41% reported some stress as negative/disturbed reactions about a child's leaving home. These reactions were much greater than some earlier studies have shown. Overall, (as explained by the A-B-C-X Model of Stress) the fathers' definition of their situation was the factor most related to the fathers' negative feelings about their child's leaving home, to their related psychosomatic complaints and their lower sense of well-being. It was not related, however, to fathers' satisfaction with their family life. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Pinjarra Massacre Site Project

SUMMARY

The work described in this article came about as a result of the author's doctoral studies. What began as a program of action research developed into concrete social action dealing with issues of social justice and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in a town in Australia's Southwest. The strong collaborative partnerships that developed during the research process led to employment on a project concerned with promoting the recognition of a massacre of local Indigenous people in the early days of European invasion. While a community psychologist was not necessarily the obvious person for the job, the article demonstrates how key principles of community psychology guided the project, and were in fact vital for its success.     

The Marital Context for Father Involvement with Their Preschool Children

SUMMARY

Fathers from dual-earner families with preschool-aged children reported that they were frequently involved in disciplining their children, often helped them in their daily routines, and occasionally got up at night with them. Fathers' sense of competence in the paternal role was predicted by marital satisfaction and the perception that their partners view them as competent fathers. Fathers' satisfaction in the paternal role was predicted by marital satisfaction and adaptability within the couple relationship. These results highlight the marital relationship as an important context for the quality of men's experience in their fathering role. Implications for programs promoting father involvement are discussed.     

How Does Professional Education Impact the Job Outlook of Public Child Welfare Workers?

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine how public child welfare employees perceive their graduate social work education, whether they use the knowledge and skills gained, their work satisfaction, and their future plans. It was designed to examine the experiences of the New York City Administration on Children's Services (ACS) employees who were participants in the Professional Development Program and received support to study for their master's degrees in social work. The total number of respondents surveyed was 153, the vast majority of whom were people of color. In considering their motives for attending graduate school, 96 percent emphasized their desire to serve children and families better. These graduates were very positive about their academic and field experiences, with almost all saying they would recommend MSW training to others. There was a constant progression in their perceived knowledge and skill level over time. They expressed a mid-level of satisfaction with their current jobs, but higher satisfaction with the nature of the work itself. It was striking to note the respondents' attitudes about remaining employed at ACS. Only 13 percent of those who responded said they planned to leave within the next two years Almost a third (32.6%) said they thought they'd stay at least 5-9 years, and 39.8 percent said they would probably stay 10 years or longer. Satisfaction with the nature of the work and pay were the two strongest predictors of the length of time respondents planned to stay at ACS. These are important findings because they demonstrate that public investment in MSW education can have significant pay-off by increasing the knowledge and skills of public child welfare workers and encouraging long-term commitment to the work.     

Is Social Work the Best Educational Degree for Child Welfare Practitioners?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this three-year research project was to identify the educational and training needs of public child welfare case managers and recommend baccalaureate programs that would best meet those needs. Surveys, focus groups, and content analyses were used to identify the learning needs. The social work curricula were found to contain the most comprehensive match of skill development and theoretical and values content with the learning needs of case managers.