The irrelevance of evidence in the development of school-based drug prevention policy, 1986-1996

This article examines development in school-based drug prevention policy and programming since the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Using data from national surveys and evaluations of school-based programs, it argues, first, that there was really no need for a massive infusion of money into school-based drug prevention in the late 1980s, and, second, that there was little or no evidence to indicate that a "new generation" of effective programs, based on the so-called social influence model, was emerging at this time. Despite the infusion of resources into school-based prevention efforts, adolescent drug use has risen in recent years. Moreover, evaluations continue to show that the effectiveness of social influence programs is very much in the eye of the beholder. Fundamental questions need to be asked of school-based drug prevention--just as they should be asked of other key components of our current drug control policy.     

Community Practice in the Bulldozer’s Shadow: The History and Legacy of Social Work in Urban Renewal

Social work has a long history of involvement in urban development policy, dating to the settlement house movement. This article explores a neglected part of this history by analyzing the role of social work in urban renewal programs. The functions of social work in urban renewal—including relocating families displaced by slum clearance and community organizing to foster resident input in planning—reflect enduring tensions in practice between social justice and social control. Implications for current practice are explored as the profession continues to define its part in urban redevelopment policies.     

Leisure, recreation, and play from a developmental context

Participation in activities and experiences defined as play, recreation,and leisure has important developmental implications for youth. Elements and characteristics of leisure experiences contribute directly to the development of identity, autonomy, competence,initiative, civic duty, and social connections. Whether in informal or formal, appropriately structured and organized programs,leisure experiences can help facilitate adolescent development in these areas. For example, one of the defining elements of leisure is that it is characterized by free choice and self-determination. Programs that promote leadership, choice, autonomy, and initiative can help adolescents deal with developmental challenges associated with this age group. Leisure experiences can also promote civic engagement and provide important peer-to-peer, peer to-adult, and peer-to-community connections. The social context of leisure is important to adolescent development in that it provides opportunities to learn empathy, loyalty, and intimacy in their group activities, as well as to negotiate with peers, resolve conflict,and work together for communal goals. In addition, adolescents often report positive emotional experiences in leisure, which can serve as a relief from the stress they feel in other areas of their lives and contribute to positive psychological adjustment and well-being. A case study is used to show how planned, purposive programs can be used as critical components of efforts to contribute to adolescent development.     

National Information Infrastructure Policy and the Future of the American Welfare State: Implications for the Social Welfare Policy Curriculum

The development of the information society will have important future ramifications for the U.S. economy and for the social welfare system. The nature of work, work organizations, government, and other institutions will be changed by the growth of the information sector. An important part of this sector will be the National Information Infrastructure, or “Information Superhighway.” This network will help to determine the winners and losers in the new economy and will have major consequences for the evolution of social policy. These ramifications are explored and implications for social work education are discussed. The article argues that social service programs need to deal realistically with the oncoming changes, and that social work education will have to prepare students to function within this new social welfare system.     

Adolescent parenthood,economic issues,and social policies

Adolescent parenthood has highly publicized adverse social and economic consequences, but these same social and economic disadvantages can be viewed as root causes of adolescent pregnancy. Recent research and revisionist debates about these issues are reviewed and summarized. Diverse implications for social policy are considered. Prevention approaches are emphasized that build on both postponing adolescent sexual intercourse and helping sexually active teens avoid pregnancy.Appreciation is expressed to Christine Bachrach and Kristin Moore for their comments on a previous version of this paper.Dr. Miller's current research interests are the family antecedents of adolescent sexual behavior and the design and evaluation of prevention programs for adolescent problem behaviors. He received his Ph.D. in family sociology from the University of Minnesota in 1975.     

The nature and effectiveness of program models for adolescents at risk of entering the formal child protection system

This article compares rationales and outcome research for five areas of programming for adolescents: adolescent competence and skill development programs, family- and parent-focused programs, social integration programs, multiple component programs, and neighborhood transformation programs. The article examines program evidence for maltreated teens as well as teens coping with a variety of other challenges. The study uses a framework based on common developmental challenges and risk factors for adolescents to select and review programs.     

Puberty Education in a Global Context: Knowledge Gaps,Opportunities, and Implications for Policy

Youth programs and policies provide opportunities for institutions and societies to support healthy adolescent development. Puberty education programs are universally important, as they provide crucial knowledge and skills to help youth and their caregivers navigate the physical, emotional, and interpersonal changes of puberty with positive outcomes. However, few puberty programs have been rigorously evaluated, resulting in a lack of evidence‐based knowledge and practice in this area. This review examines the status of research on puberty education and related programs and draws on the broader intervention literature and recent research findings on adolescence to identify program features that might improve program effectiveness. Implications for policy are also discussed. The need for rigorous program evaluation is emphasized throughout.     

Justice towards youth: Investigating the mismatch between current policy and public opinion

In this article, we present evidence that public perceptions within the United States are not as supportive of the harsh treatment afforded juveniles as public policy would suggest. Based on data from a representative state-wide survey, we used path analysis to investigate whether respondents' understanding and beliefs surrounding child and adolescent development were related to their beliefs surrounding appropriate levels of punishment towards juveniles. We estimated direct and indirect pathways whereby factors such as the age at which a respondent considers a youth responsible for his/her actions and adolescents' cognitive ability were associated with overall attitudes towards punishment. The results indicated respondents' attitudes towards punishment were associated with their beliefs and attitudes concerning different aspects of adolescent development. The results provided support for the premise that deeper knowledge and understanding of adolescent development does make a difference in terms of how individuals view appropriate punishment options. We argue that such evidence can be used as part of a broader advocacy strategy designed to develop more just programs and policies directed at children and youth involved with the justice system.     

Harnessing the strength of families to prevent social problems and promote adolescent well-being

The family context exerts notable influence on many domains of adolescent development and well-being. Recent research indicates that the family has the power not only to help youth get back on course after problems emerge, but that the family can also play a critical role in preventing problems for youth by reducing the severity of a problem or mitigating its occurrence. The purpose of this paper is to outline the promise and challenges of family-based approaches to prevention in social work practice. Research and theory have identified numerous risk and protective factors in the family. Prevention programs that address these risk and protective factors have shown strong evidence of reducing youth risky behavior. Program effects vary based on the strength of program implementation. Agencies often face barriers to implementation including maintaining model fidelity, engaging families, and sustaining funding. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.     

Does Social Work Need a “Practice Doctorate”?

In the past few years, new ??practice doctorate?? programs have been mounted by some schools of social work with traditional Ph.D. programs. This trend is explored in relation to the purposes of doctoral education, specifically preparing stewards of the discipline as compared to ??stewards of the enterprise.?? Arguments advanced for and against this development in social work education are reviewed in the context of the emergence of practice doctorates in psychology, nursing and public health. Characteristics of these new doctoral programs in social work, which all focus on clinical social work, are described. Wider discussion of the concept and purposes of the ??practice doctorate?? in social work is needed in order to safeguard the gains made in research education at the doctoral level and to advance practice-based knowledge and scholarship for the future.     

A review of literature: An examination of the correlation between attachment styles and adolescent girls’ sexual behaviors

ABSTRACT

This literature review examines eight studies of parental attachment styles, sexual behavior, and health outcomes among adolescent girls. The review focuses on studies that analyzed the perceived relationships between parents and their adolescent daughters and whether instabilities of life experiences correlated with risky sexual behaviors and if high-risk sexual behaviors were associated with an increase of sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies, and other poor health outcomes in adolescent girls. Findings show adolescent girls with insecure parental attachment styles were at a higher risk of sexual behaviors, early pregnancies, and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). The most common finding in the studies reviewed was the significant association of how higher parental communication and monitoring may prevent risky sexual behaviors at an earlier age. Recommendations for mental and health care providers include the development of treatment programs to address the importance of parent-attachment relationships and multifaceted health needs of adolescents girls. Programs can be strengthened by involving other family members, improving parent-daughter communication and relationships and emphasizing system-level change (policy, procedure, practice). Adding these elements may ultimately lead to sustained improvements over time. Future research on other family social factors (e.g., divorce and separation of attachment figure, poverty, and single-parent homes) associated with attachment and high-risk behaviors is warranted. More research is needed to exam how secure attachments among adolescent girls may prevent earlier sexual encounters, unplanned pregnancies, and STI’s.     

Child Psychiatry in the Chinese Setting

This article introduces the history and social background and describes the present situation of child psychiatry in China. Certain Chinese social, political and cultural issues are explored, as the one-child policy and the Chinese family structure. Numerous currents of thought coexist in Chinese child psychiatry. Four examples of mental health disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry and their treatments in the Chinese public health care system are described (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder and internet addiction).     

A Developmental Approach to Recognition of Prior Learning in Social Work Field Education

This paper comments on the policy issue of recognition of prior learning (RPL) in social work education. Contrasting approaches to RPL are explored through a case study of Charles Sturt University’s experiences with RPL in its professional entry social work programs. RPL for field education in Australian social work education has been a contested issue within the profession and for social work education providers since its introduction in 2008. Notwithstanding the Australian Association of Social Workers’ credentialist approach to RPL, Charles Sturt University’s experience is that a developmental approach is preferable and can be a transformative professional education strategy.     

Exploring a Place for Spirituality in the Social Work Curriculum

Abstract

Although social work recognizes that spirituality is a basic dimension of human development, little attention is being given to this dimension by social work programs. This study surveys the views of social work faculty on the place, if any, that spirituality should have in the social work curriculum. Results suggest that there is considerable support for a course on this subject. Possible explanations for opposition to such a course also are explored. Suggestions are provided for introducing spirituality content into the curriculum.     

A critique of progress in adolescent smoking prevention

Researchers have developed a number of programs for preventing adolescent smoking. This critique evaluated a cross-section of 12 of these programs. The majority demonstrated short-term effectiveness in reducing the onset of smoking. The studies stressed three common themes: information about smoking's physiological and social effects, skills to cope with peer and advertising pressures, and the modification of attitudes. Despite many positive outcomes in reducing smoking, the studies did not clearly establish whether the interventions did so by imparting coping skills or by modifying attitudes. This leaves in doubt the exact processes that influence smoking behavior. Carbon monoxide and thiocyanate analyses have not been established as alternatives to self-report, as these methods prove unreliable with adolescent populations. Due to the lack of longitudinal studies, the long-term effectiveness of these interventions remains undetermined.     

Adolescent Fathers: What We Know and What We Need to Know

Research into adolescent parenting involvement has focused primarily on mothers while neglecting fathers. This article concentrates on factors that influence the parental involvement of adolescent fathers. These factors must be acknowledged and addressed by practitioners working with adolescent parents. Issues relevant to the parental involvement of African-American adolescent fathers are highlighted in order to balance the negative portrayal this particular group continues to experience. Implications and suggestions for social work practitioners, policy makers, and social researchers are also discussed.     

Social Media Policy in Social Work Education: A Review and Recommendations

Although social media use has grown dramatically, program policies have not kept pace. Some programs now state that student social media activities have led to professional conduct reviews and may violate ethical standards. This article reviews current social media policies and conceptualizes their key elements. A review of current social media policies is reported, pointing to the need for further policy development. Six domains of a social media policy are identified: understanding social media, ethical and legal obligations, implications of one’s personal and professional online presence, institutional obligations to the program and agency, productivity implications, and possible consequences for violations of the policy. A model social media policy is detailed, and unresolved issues are identified.     

Social policy planning in a federal structure: A social learning strategy

Current social welfare policy planning reflects an inadequate sense of the problems to be solved and an incentive structure which discourages responsible decision making. Proceeding from overly simple cause and effect models, social welfare policies are designed with detailed administrative regulations to insure uniformity and regularity of behavior across the states. When problems are not solved, policy makers focus on the failures of personnel to follow all the detailed regulations. This leads to additional efforts to enforce compliance. There is evidence that implementation personnel consistently and purposively do stretch or ignore regulations in order to service clients. An alternative to further detailed regulations then is to use the autonomy of state units in the federal structure by eliminating negative incentives to innovation and creating incentives to experiment with alternative programs. As a social learning strategy this would encourage innovation and make it possible to learn from the experience of personnel who daily confront the realities of welfare problems and the large array of administrative details.     

HIV Risk in Gay and Lesbian Adolescents

Adolescents, regardless of sexual orientations, are not increased risk for HIV infection. Although the number of infected adolescents remains small, the number of adolescent AIDS cases is approximately doubling each year. This suggests that the rate of HIV infection among adolescents is expanding in a similar fashion to that seen among gay men in the early years of the epidemic. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for understanding the problems of HIV infection as it related to the gay and lesbian adolescent. This framework is grounded in developmental theory, though key social, political, economic, and policy factors which are believed to contribute to the infection of HIV among gay and lesbian adolescents will also be presented. It will be argued that social practitioners who are working in the HIV and AIDS arena would do well to reexamine the paradigm, which governs existing practice methodology.     

Is the Problem of European Citizenship a Problem of Social Citizenship? Social Policy,Federalism, and Democracy in the EU and United States*

The development of supranational (European) social rights, and therefore social citizenship, is undermined by strong, direct relationships between citizens and national welfare states. Social policies contribute to national identities because they entail direct relationships between states and citizens. In well‐developed European welfare states strong relationships between citizens and their member‐states are expected. This may prevent the development of a similar relationship at the European level. The U.S. provides a comparison case, wherein a successful transference of citizenship identity from a lower to higher level has occurred, partly as a result of the building of national‐level social citizenship, at least for certain classes of people. Revolutionary War Pensions provide an example of how social policy influences national identity. The lack of EU‐level social policy precludes the possibility of this type of identity formation. Finally, the interplay of social citizenship and democracy in both cases is explored. T.H. Marshall’s work regarding citizenship as the basis for democracy is used to understand how the inability to create a common social policy in the EU is harmful to democracy.