Browsing by Author "Vernon, Robert"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Building transformative school-community collaboration : a critical paradigm
    (2017-01-18) Kim, Jangmin; Vernon, Robert
    School-community collaboration has received increasing attention in social work because of its potential for enhancing the quality of services to meet the multifaceted needs of students. However, there is little understanding of how to create and maintain successful school-community collaboration. The purpose of this research is to develop and validate a comprehensive framework for transformative school-community collaboration based on a critical paradigm and its corresponding theories. Using school survey data, an exploratory factor analysis identified the four dimensions of transformative school community collaboration, including (1) critical member capacity, (2) equal relations, (3) democratic network governance, and (4) empowering coordination. The results of multiple regression analyses showed that the identified dimensions were positively associated with the quality outcomes of Out-of-School Time programs although their significant effects varied across different quality outcomes: high-quality activities, student engagement, and linkages with family/community. Another key finding was that structural dimensions—democratic network governance and empowering coordination—appeared to be stronger factors. However, this research suggested that critical member capacity and equal relations may be associated indirectly with the quality outcomes. This dissertation paper concludes with practical implications and future research agenda to successfully build transformative school-community collaboration.
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    Deliberate Self-Harm in Young Children
    (2020-08) Lewis, Lisa McConnell; Adamek, Margaret E.; Vernon, Robert; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Walton, Betty
    While deliberate self-harm (DSH) in adolescents and adults has been established as a reliable predictor of future suicidal behavior and attempts, whether the same is true for younger children has rarely been studied. Two separate articles will address issues regarding intentional self-injury in young children. The first identified describes the demographic profile of young children who engage in NSSI and evaluated whether predictors of adolescent NSSI are also associated with NSSI in children. The second manuscript analyzed NSSI behaviors to see if they can be correctly predicted from knowledge of a child's history of maltreatment to identify which trauma variables are central in prediction of NSSI status. A Chi-square and logistic regression were run on data from 16,271 records of children ages 5-9 years who received services from the IDMHA in 2018. NSSI was significantly (p < .000) associated with trauma history (x2 = 75.54, df = 1), anxiety (x2 = 107.59, df = 1), depression (x2 = 217.011, df = 1), suicide risk (x2= 993, df = 1), and impulsivity (x2 = 122.49, df = 1. Presence of a caregiver mental health problem (x2 =38.29, df = 1), age (x2 = 14.18, df = 4), being male (x2 = 11.59, df = 1), and being Caucasian (x2 = 23.29, df = 6) at p < .05. Regression results indicated the overall model of seven predictors (sexual abuse [OR 1.14], physical abuse [OR 1.26], emotional abuse [OR1.3], neglect [OR .895], medical trauma [OR 1.34], exposure to natural disaster [OR 1.81] and victim of a crime [1.14] was statistically reliable in distinguishing between children who self-injure and those who do not. [-2 Log Likelihood = 6228.78, x2(6) = 105.416, p < .000]. NSSI does occur in preadolescent children and while there is some indication that the risk factors and co-variates are like those of adolescents, there are some differences which need further study. Training clinicians to inquire about self-injury during assessment of younger children is a simple step. The variables of age and sex throughout development as well as identifying protective as well as risk factors with children should be studied.
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    Exploring BSW educators' experiences of working with under-prepared students
    (2015-04-20) Richardson, Robert F., II; Lay, Kathy; Adamek, Margaret E.; Vernon, Robert; McGuire, Lisa E.; Merrill, Henry S.
    Little is known about the perspectives of social work educators who work with under-prepared students in baccalaureate social work (BSW) programs. Educators across fields believe that students are increasingly under-prepared to be successful in higher education, and social work programs face greater numbers of under-prepared students seeking BSW degrees. Although an increasing amount of research offers strategies for matriculating, retaining, and teaching under-prepared students, these strategies are often presented without the contextual experiences faced by the educators who work with under-prepared students on a day-to-day basis. The following research seeks to begin to fill that gap. The researcher interviewed 11 participants and used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to uncover the essential experiential elements of working with under-prepared BSW students and to reveal the meaning that social work educators create within these experiences. Analysis resulted in four overlapping themes including understanding under-preparation as social injustice, questioning what it means to be a social work educator, recalling compelling moments, and demonstrating care in and out of the classroom. These results suggest that social work programs and educators can more explicitly recognize how working with under-prepared students mirrors traditional social work practice, and discuss how this mirrored process might affect both educators and students. Based on these results, the meaning of advancing social justice for under-prepared students, the conflicting roles that educators often adopt with under-prepared students, and the influence of external forces on educators' work all deserve further research.
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    The meaning of successful aging among older adults with long-term disabilities
    (2015-07-30) Hanson, Victoria Marie; Adamek, Margaret E.; Vernon, Robert; Chang, Valerie N.; Huber, Lesa
    In this study, I explore the meaning of successful aging among older adults with long-term disabilities. The study is a review of scholarly literature on the subject of successful aging, with a specific focus on older adults with long-term disabilities. The objective is to shed light on the issue by critically examining what research exists and what research is still needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the following question: What does it mean for an older adult with long-term disability to age successfully? Seven older adults with sensory impairment, either deaf, hearing impaired, blind, visually impaired or a combination of these, were interviewed using qualitative phenomenological research methods. Findings include themes of aging as inevitable, frequent activity, social and family interaction as essential, sense of worth, acceptance of disability, coping and resilience as well as advice to others.
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    Perspectives of transformational leadership by child welfare workers : impacts on turnover inention
    (2018-04-23) Park, Taekyung; Vernon, Robert; Pierce, Barbara; Hong, Michin; Walk, Marlene
    It is not a new phenomenon that there is a high turnover rate among social workers. In particular, child welfare has shown the highest rates of staff turnover. To address the issue, turnover and retention of child welfare workers have been studied for decades. The history of research produced a long list of determinants for child welfare worker turnover, more than 20 factors, and showed conflicting findings with the same variables. Moreover, the long list of factors for workers’ decisions to leave has poorly contributed to organizational practices for retaining child welfare workers. Therefore, this study aims to examine organizational factors, particularly leadership, for child welfare worker turnover intention, in order to help child welfare agencies to invent a practice model to prevent qualified worker’s turnover. To do so, it is important to examine the effect of organizational commitment on employees’ turnover intention. Therefore, following is the primary research question: Does the use of transformational leadership style in social work organizations explain child welfare worker turnover intention? A cross-sectional survey research was employed among workers in public child welfare agencies in a Midwest state, United States (N=214). Five models were examined in terms of the direct and indirect effects of transformational leadership on turnover intention of child welfare workers using STATA ver. 15. The study finding showed that transformational leadership styles of local office directors had a direct and negative effect on child welfare workers’ turnover intention. As a result, this study recommends that child welfare provide local office directors with leadership training to reduce preventable turnover of child welfare workers. However, the findings should be cautiously interpreted due to the sampling strategy used in this study.
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    Prenatal Substance Misuse: Exploring Healthcare Providers' Attitudes and Perceptions
    (2019-01) Trainor, Kristin Elise; Vernon, Robert; Adamek, Margaret E.; McCabe, Heather; Brann, Maria
    To maximize beneficial outcomes for babies and mothers in substance misuse situations, it is necessary to understand the current societal factors and the stigma that healthcare providers may be imposing on the families. More than 5% of all pregnancies are affected by prenatal substance misuse prompting a public health crisis. The negative effects from drug misuse on the growing baby ranges from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), mental retardation, behavioral abnormalities, and neurological deficits. The exposure also causes lengthy hospitalizations for babies and high financial costs. The provider must balance their own feelings and beliefs about substance misuse in pregnancy while simultaneously providing appropriate and supportive care to the mother. However, health-related stigma can occur as providers must care for both mother and baby, in an often stressful work environment. This research explored structural stigma, which broadly encompassed the policies and cultural practices, towards women with prenatal substance misuse among providers in a maternal/fetal healthcare unit. The study, with 117 participants from an area hospital system, examined several variables including the attitudes, perceptions, and stigma among healthcare providers towards prenatal substance misuse. A factorial MANOVA and descriptive analysis was used to assess the data. Among the findings, a significant difference was found between the type of employment discipline and a practitioner’s attitudes and level of structural sigma. Direct Care Nurses had an increased negative attitude towards women with prenatal substance misuse. Additionally, there was a strong correlation (r=0.612) between the cause of substance misuse and a healthcare provider’s attitudes towards prenatal substance misuse. If the provider believed substance misuse stemmed from a moral flaw or failing, he/she had a more negative attitude towards women with prenatal substance misuse. The current study identified the potential stigma and attitudes among healthcare providers and offered insight into the practice methods within the healthcare setting. Specifically, a three-tiered protocol to improve the culture, education, and practice within the hospital setting emerged.