Child Advocacy Center Based Group Treatment for Child Sexual Abuse

The present study examines initial symptom presentation among participants, outcomes, and social validity for a group treatment for child sexual abuse delivered at a child advocacy center. Participants were 97 children and their nonoffending caregivers who were referred to Project SAFE (Sexual Abuse Family Education), a standardized, 12-week cognitive-behavioral group treatment for families who have experienced child sexual abuse. Sixty-four percent of children presented with clinically significant symptoms on at least one measure with established clinical cutoffs. Caregivers of children who presented with clinically significant symptoms reported more distress about their competence as caregivers. Children who presented as subclinical were more likely to have experienced intrafamilial sexual abuse. Posttreatment results indicated significant improvements in functioning for all children who participated in treatment, with greater improvements reported for children who initially presented with clinically significant symptoms. Overall, the program was rated favorably on the posttreatment evaluation of social validity.     

Initial assessment: A key stage in social work intervention

Abstract

This paper examines the intake practices in child protection in the New South Wales Department of Community Services as a case study of initial assessment in social work intervention. Data was collected in three Department of Community Services local offices where 39 practitioners were interviewed about their child protection work practices. An observational study of the workers' intake practices was also undertaken for a period of approximately 110 days. While official Department of Community Services policy and procedures provided the basis for intake practice, this research found that other important factors relating to the informant, the characteristics of the frontline worker, the workplace environment and the context of child protection practice influenced the intake process. The implications of the research findings for other social work practice settings are considered.     

Forecasting environmental migration to the United Kingdom: an exploration using Bayesian models

Over the next 50 years, the potential impact of environmental change on human livelihoods could be considerable, with one possible consequence being increased levels of human mobility. This paper explores how uncertainty about the level of immigration to the United Kingdom as a consequence of environmental factors elsewhere may be forecast using a methodology involving Bayesian models. The conceptual understanding of forecasting is advanced in three ways. First, the analysis is believed to be the first time that the Bayesian modelling approach has been attempted in relation to environmental mobility. Second, the paper considers the expediency of this approach by comparing the responses to a Delphi survey with conventional expectations about environmental mobility in the research literature. Finally, the values and assumptions of the expert evidence provided in the Delphi survey are interrogated to illustrate the limited set of conditions under which forecasts of environmental mobility, as set out in this paper, are likely to hold.     

Redefining Success: A Qualitative Investigation of Therapeutic Outcomes for Noncompleting Drug Court Clients

ABSTRACT

Utilizing a convenience sample from a drug court program, the authors investigated the benefits of treatment for noncompleting drug court clients (n = 30). Using an as-treated design, the qualitative investigation assessed whether noncompleters received any benefit from their drug court experience. In-depth interviews were conducted to determine both benefits gained and reductions in harm that occurred as a result of drug court participation. Data analysis was guided by the grounded theory method. Outcomes of coding indicated that participants' motivation and self-efficacy were enhanced through the intervention. Further, participants reported that their relationships with family, therapists, or peers were improved as a result of their involvement with drug court. Individuals in the study sample reported abstinence or decreased substance use, as well as improvements in employment and/or educational attainment. Participants’ perceptions of barriers to program completion were also noted. Study outcomes suggest that expansion of a harm reduction approach in social service practice may have utility for drug-abusing populations. Limitations of the research, including lack of generalizability, are discussed. Further research of harm reduction effects with a larger, heterogeneous sample size is recommended.     

Exploring the Nature of Same-Sex Relationships

This study explored the relationship structure and experiences of 145 people in the United States, aged 50 and above, in long-term, same-sex relationships. A survey assessed relationship satisfaction and roles, caregiving, shared assets, and relationship protection and support. The ENRICH couple scales revealed high scores in communication, conflict resolution, and couple satisfaction. Most participants had taken steps to protect shared assets and assign legal authority to their partners. Participants expressed differing views regarding marriage. This study reveals distinctions based on gender and age that will inform practice with this population.     

Quality of Web-based Information on Pathological Gambling

The present study aims to evaluate the quality of web-based information on gambling and to investigate potential content quality indicators. The following key words: gambling, pathological gambling, excessive gambling, gambling problem and gambling addiction were entered into two popular search engines: Google and Yahoo. Websites were assessed with a standardized proforma designed to rate sites on the basis of “accountability”, “presentation”, “interactivity”, “readability” and “content quality”. “Health on the Net” (HON) quality label, and DISCERN scale scores aiding people without content expertise to assess quality of written health publication were used to verify their efficiency as quality indicators. Of the 200 links identified, 75 websites were included. The results of the study indicate low scores on each of the measures. A composite global score appeared as a good content quality indicator. While gambling-related education websites for patients are common, their global quality is poor. There is a need for useful evidence-based information about gambling on the web. As the phenomenon has greatly increased, it could be relevant for Internet sites to improve their content by using global score as a quality indicator.     

A mixed method study of propensity for participatory evaluation

One way to increase the use of evaluation results is practical participatory evaluation (PPE), which enables non-evaluator participants to join the evaluation process in a participatory mode. We examined the propensity for PPE of health professionals by focusing on four components: learning, working in groups, using judgment and using systematic methods. We interviewed the professionals at a Haitian health institution to determine their positioning on a scale of propensity (low, medium and high) for the four components. The professionals defined each component in relation to the energy puts into them, being more or less proactive. Facilitating elements for all three levels of propensity integration included past positive experiences, external pressure and a desire for better individual and organizational performance. Impeding factors included a lack of available resources perceived responsibilities and commitments toward private patients. The reported advantages included improved organizational performance and idea sharing, and the disadvantages included availability of, difficulty implementing solutions and altered human relationships.     

Non-anonymous growth incidence curves, income mobility and social welfare dominance

The distributional incidence of growth is generally analyzed by comparing the quantiles of the pre- and post-growth income distribution—e.g. the so-called Growth Incidence Curves. Such an approach based on an implicit re-ranking of individual incomes ignores income mobility by assuming that only post-growth income matters in social welfare. By contrast, this paper takes the view that “status quo matters” and that social welfare should logically be defined on both inital and terminal income. This leads to consider ’non-anonymous’ Growth Incidence Curves that plot income growth rates against the various quantiles of the initial distribution. Dominance criteria that generalize those available for standard growth incidence curves are derived, which account for the inequality of individual income changes, conditional on initial income. An application to the cross-country distributional feature of global growth illustrates the analysis.