A culturally responsive practice model for urban Indian child welfare services

This article describes collaboration among a university, a state child welfare agency, and a Native American community organization to develop a culturally driven practice model for urban, Native American child welfare. The approach includes a strategy to build resources to serve Native American clients, a training program for child welfare and court personnel using a culturally responsive curriculum, and an advocacy program that monitors for Indian Child Welfare Act compliance and provides assistance to child welfare workers and the court. The discussion identifies challenges and opportunities in addressing the needs of urban Native American communities. The article concludes with principles for culturally responsive practice for urban Native American child welfare practice.     

The Impact of Historical Trauma and Mistrust on the Recruitment of Resource Families of Color

ABSTRACT

The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 (MEPA-IEP) require states to diligently recruit “potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in the state for whom foster and adoptive homes are needed” (42 U.S.C. §622b(3)(9)). Nationally, 53% of the children in foster care and 55% of the children waiting to be adopted are children of color (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2014). Recruitment of resource families of color has historically presented challenges. This article critically examines the diligent recruitment efforts of an urban county targeting Black/African American, Latino, and Native American communities through a critical race theory lens. Although there was an overall increase in resource families, the racial and ethnic representation of resource families to children in care within the county improved for Latinos yet declined for Black/African Americans and Native Americans. Theoretically, these results indicate that the historical mistrust of communities of color toward the child welfare system is a barrier to successful recruitment of resource families from these communities.     

RURALIZING THE CITY: THE GREAT MIGRATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION IN BALTIMORE,MARYLAND

This article examines the discursive and material presence of the “rural” in the “urban,” relating it to the historical and contemporary production of African American culture and identity. By using the case of the Great Migration, it discusses how African Americans negotiated and shaped their urban surroundings and formed individual and collective identities by drawing on their rural, southern histories. It then suggests the relevance of these broad historical processes to contemporary analyses and interventions in the urban environment of Baltimore, Maryland. This article challenges assumptions that obscure the agency of urban residents in the formation of identity and the establishment of community. It demonstrates ways in which the historical movement from rural South to urban North was accompanied by a range of cultural resources that have been adapted, discarded, or reconstructed.     

Meeting Life Challenges

SUMMARY

Mental health and social service providers need to understand the contextual experience of diverse aging populations and the types of life challenges they have encountered. This research examined the life challenges specified by a purposive sample of 75 urban community-dwelling low-income older adults from four high-rise housing facilities. Thirty-four study participants were Jewish American and 41 were African American. Results indicate that many participants of both groups identified personal events such as bereavement and health as stressors, but only the Jewish Americans identified societal events such as World War II. Both groups found social resources moderately valuable in meeting life challenges, but religious resources were frequently identified by African American older adults and personal resources were highly endorsed by Jewish Americans, resulting in a hierarchy of coping styles for each group. Results suggest that mental health and social service providers can create interventions to reinforce and strengthen natural client resources that may vary according to ethnic and racial differences     

Native American Food Security and Traditional Foods: A Review of the Literature

This piece explores the emergent themes and subthemes represented within the recent contemporary discourse on Native American food security. Analysis revealed traditional foods as the most common theme present within the sampled literature. We offer a review of this theme (and related subthemes such as food access and human and environmental health) to illuminate the primary concerns, opportunities, preferences, and barriers associated with Native American food security. Our assessments also provide a nuanced understanding of existing literature related to food security and sovereignty, as well as key dimensions of environmental and social equality.     

Native American Two-Spirit Men

This paper reviews the historical and contemporary literature on sexual conduct and identity among Native American men. Sexual conduct between people of the same gender was institutionalized, that is, considered fully acceptable and normal, in many Native communities. In part, institutionalized same sex intimacy was supported by religous beliefs that acknowledged the existence of people (and gods) who were neither entirely male nor entirely female. Because of this, Native American men today are likely to reject such lables as homosexual, gay, or berdache, in favor of two-spirit men. Culturally sensitive ways of working with such Native American men are discussed.     

Complex Intersections: Reproductive Justice and Native American Women

This article presents an overview of reproductive justice as a theoretical and activist paradigm developed in response to reproductive oppression in the United States, and focuses on the reproductive justice needs of Native American women, as well as the responses developed by Native American women and their allies to these needs. I make explicit the links between reproductive justice, environmental justice and human rights for Native American communities, and articulate the ways in which reproductive healthcare for Native American women as it is provided by the Indian Health Service (IHS) acts as a fulcrum for these links. Ultimately, the failure of the IHS to meet the reproductive healthcare needs of Native American women reflects the failure of the federal government to meet its obligations to Tribal nations; further, these failures produce structures of reproductive oppression in Native communities which scholars and activists seek to redress utilizing the rubric of women’s reproductive health.     

On and Off the Reservation: A Discussion of the Social,Physical, and Mental Health Indicators of Suicide in the Native American Community

This article reviews explanations for the heightened rates of suicide among the US Native American population. Particular attention is afforded to the social, historical, physical, and mental health stressors that may contribute to such high rates. A great deal of scientific research has centered on determining and analyzing the many socio‐demographic indicators of suicide. Studies at the intersection of race/ethnicity and suicide have drawn attention to the fact that certain groups have higher suicide rates than others. At the pinnacle of groups most susceptible to suicide are Native Americans, followed closely by White non‐Hispanics, and then all other racial/ethnic groups ( Sederer 1994 ). As of 2008, Native Americans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide as Blacks, Hispanics, or Asian‐Americans. The analysis begins with an exploration of potential explanations behind the alarming rates of suicide within the Native American community, followed by critiques of the various theories.     

Emancipatory engagement: An urban womanist social work pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Standing on the hope of the initial social work course from 1914 at Morgan College, this article provides insight into the significant learning outcomes of contemporary students in advanced social work practice with urban African American families. This research introduces the conceptual framework of urban womanist social work pedagogy as an inclusive practice-informed knowledge produced through the rituals, traditions, values, culture, and resilience of historically disenfranchised communities. Urban womanist social work teaching methods honor truth telling from the ones who have lived there. Urban womanist social work affirms transformative-centered research, teaching, and scholarship produced through institutions such as historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s). The students’ reflective narratives reveal a process of transformation, centered in the freedom standpoint, which includes recognizing the location and context of their individual and collective identity as African Americans in the profession of social work. Urban womanist social work pedagogy cumulatively equips our students with intergenerational knowledge that inform their assessment of critical issues in Baltimore’s African American communities.     

Rebuilding Native American communities

The Wellbriety Movement in Native American communities draws on the wisdom and participation of traditional elders. Beginning with a basic community teaching called the Four Laws of Change and the Healing Forest Model, the Wellbriety Movement blends Medicine Wheel knowledge with the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to provide culture-specific addiction recovery help for Native Americans. The four Journeys of the Sacred Hoop brought the Wellbriety Movement to Native and non-Native people alike from 1999 to 2003.     

Understanding the dominant discourse of colonialism: A qualitative,single case study of an eighth-grade U.S. History classroom

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to investigate how teacher-created curricula addresses key Native American events in early U.S. history and to determine if such curricula provided students with accurate representations of Native American content. To do this, we used discourse analysis to consider the meanings of words and phrases, as well as the underlying assumptions and intentions of the teacher-created curricula and the experiences it claims to represent. Given the presence and use of dominant narratives to preserve power systems, curricula that deconstructs the colonizing narrative and historical representation of Native Americans can encourage the active destruction of such narratives. By analyzing four teacher-created narratives, we found is that even when a teacher creates content with the intent to be more historically accurate, the curricula still reflects a dominant narrative that privileges White settlers over Native Americans. We then provide suggestions for teachers who wish to design more culturally relevant and appropriate curricula on Native American content.     

Utilizing spiritual ecograms with Native American families and children to promote cultural competence in family therapy

This study signifies an initial step at giving family therapists an important assessment tool as they seek to increase cultural competence with Native American families and children. To determine the relevancy and consistency of utilizing a spiritual ecogram assessment tool with Native Americans, 50 Native American participants, with extensive experience with this population, reviewed, rated, and gave feedback on its use. Although some limitations were noted, results showed that spiritual ecograms were moderately consistent with Native American culture and, if used properly, can help family therapists develop culturally appropriate interventions with Native American families and children.     

The conceptualization of mistreatment by older American Indians

The problem of how to conceptualize elder mistreatment goes back several decades, and is especially important for ethnic minority populations, who may have perspectives that differ from the dominant society. This community-based participatory research study, which examined perceptions of mistreatment by family among 100 urban and rural older American Indians, permits a rare glimpse into how Native elders themselves understand this issue. Here, good treatment was conceptualized in terms of being taken care of, having one’s needs met, and being respected. We found relatively high standards for how elders should be treated—such as the belief that an elder’s needs should be anticipated and met without the elder needing to ask—in the face of widespread accounts of the mistreatment of elders within the community, largely through various acts of financial exploitation and neglect. Substance abuse and culture loss were blamed formuch of the elder mistreatment occurring in contemporary Native communities.     

Providing psychiatric-mental health care for Native Americans: lessons learned by a non-Native American PMHNP

Providing culturally sensitive psychiatric-mental health nursing care to Native Americans requires a unique set of understandings. Traditional tribal customs and beliefs, historical events of the past 500 years, and acculturation and enculturation have affected Native Americans' health and well-being. In 2004, I had the opportunity to practice as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner with a Native American tribe in the southwestern United States. This article describes the lessons I learned while practicing on the reservation and suggests ways other non-Native American practitioners can best serve this population.     

Parenthood in the Twenty-First Century: African American Grandparents as Surrogate Parents

African American grandparents serve important roles as surrogate parents. Historically they are honored and recognized for their extraordinary service in augmenting the child welfare system. This article provides a contemporary view of the significant number of African American grandparents who serve as surrogate parents. Their assets and challenges are discussed. Following on the work by Dr. Linda Burton and collaborators in 1995, this article addresses the relationship between temporal context, developmental context, and ethnic/racial context of the life course as it relates to grandparenthood in the twenty-first century. In addition to the discussion of African American grand-parenting trends, challenges and benefits in the twenty-first century, the article presents implications of these contexts for the surrogate parenting by older African Americans relative to social work education, research, and policy.     

Closing the Wealth Gap: A Review of Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Homeownership

Homeownership plays an important role in the socioeconomic well‐being of Americans. Despite recent major losses in wealth due to the subprime market crash, home equity remains the largest source of wealth for the average American family. A marker of class status, owning one's home provides access to neighborhoods with the best schools, quality public services, and lowest crime. This article demonstrates that minorities have not had the same access to homeownership that Whites have, and this contributes to continuing socioeconomic disparities between Whites and minorities. This article explores the homeownership experience of Blacks – including African‐Americans, Caribbeans, and Africans – Hispanics, and Asians in the United States relative to non‐Hispanic Whites. Minorities rely heavily on homeownership and home equity as the key component of their wealth and remain less likely than Whites to hold alternative forms of investment such as stocks. The role that homeownership plays in perpetuating intergenerational wealth disparities between Whites and minorities is discussed as are challenges to minority homeownership such as the pervasiveness of risky mortgage products. Exploring the racial gap in homeownership is fundamental to understanding racial inequalities and formulating strategies and policies to help close such disparities. This article concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Reactions by Native American parents to child protection agencies: cultural and community factors.

The oppression suffered by Native Americans has so undermined their culture and ability to parent that child abuse and neglect are frequent problems. Yet the history of oppression often seriously damages the capacity of many Native American parents to accept help from child protective service agencies and staff members. This article explains the particular characteristics and behaviors of some Native American parents, and closes with a summarized guide to understanding these parents and to appropriate behavior on the part of social workers.     

Race,Ethnicity, and Deviance: A Study of Asian and Non-Asian Adolescents in America

This study shows that Asian American adolescents commit less deviance in the form of school misbehavior than white, black, Hispanic, or Native American adolescents. Social control and social learning theories receive support as the observed differences are explained primarily by race/ethnic differences in family backgrounds and school bonding. These variables' explanatory ability tends to be invariant across four regional groups of Asian Americans. This study applies OLS regression to self-reported data from a nationally representative sample.     

Religiousness/Spirituality and Subjective Well-Being Among Rural Elderly Whites,African Americans,and Native Americans

SUMMARY

Little attention has been paid to subjective well-being among non-White elderly in rural areas where medical resources and financial support are deficient. The present study assessed a rural community sample of 215 elderly comprising 85 Caucasians, 75 African Americans, and 55 Native Americans, to examine roles of spirituality/religiousness on their subjective well-being. This study found ethnic differences in the reliance on religiosity/spirituality and a significant association between dimensions of religiousness/spirituality and subjective well-being among all ethnic rural elderly groups. The results of the study suggest that health providers, social workers, and faith communities need to provide rural elderly with religious and spiritual support in order to enhance their life satisfaction and lessen their emotional distress.     

Mental Health Care for American Indians in Prison

Abstract

Based on an earlier finding that as many Native Americans in upstate New York received mental health care in prison as outside of prison during a 10-month period, this study was designed to investigate if prisons had become an alternative treatment option for Native Americans with a mental illness in New York State. The study was not able to answer this question due to the limited number of cases and to outside constraints. However, it is possible from the results to provide a picture of mental health needs and attitudes among Native American inmates which is surprising and instructive for those who provide psychiatric care to American Indians, either within or outside of prison walls. A noteworthy finding was the importance placed by these inmates on the use of culturally appropriate ceremonies to assist in their rehabilitation. Low rates of serious mental illness among the American Indian sample highlight the need for further study in this area.