Teaching Characteristics and Student Satisfaction: Impact on Social Work Students’ Interest in Policy

ABSTRACT

Social work educators are charged with the important task of preparing students to carry out the noble mission to focus on the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Educators, particularly those who teach social policy, understand that to achieve this mission, it is imperative for social workers to be trained to engage in structural and policy change efforts, regardless of interest in clinical or macro practice. This study explored the characteristics, if any, that make policy instructors in social work effective, as well as instructor characteristics that promote interest in policy work in social work professional practice.     

Managing Turbulence in the Blogosphere: Evaluating the Blog-Mediated Crisis Communication Model with the American Red Cross

Through interviews with 40 American Red Cross communication professionals, this study examines how an organization that frequently responds to crises proactively manages on- and offline communication before, during, and after crises. The results provide the first empirical evaluation of an emerging model: the blog-mediated crisis communication model (BMCC). The lessons shared by the American Red Cross are insightful for researchers to understand the process of blog-mediated crisis communication in the nonprofit sector, which are also relevant for other public relations professionals. The findings support components of the original BMCC model, but also clearly indicate important revisions, including renaming the model the social-mediated crisis communication model (SMCC).     

Responding to student mental health concerns in social work education: reflective questions for social work educators

In this paper, we explore ways in which social work educators might respond to students who report that mental health issues underlie their difficulty in meeting core competencies, or otherwise use the language of mental health to describe their struggles to succeed in social work programs. We discuss various trends in policy responses in Canada, the US, the UK, and Ireland. While there are general policy trends, it is clear that responding to these kinds of issues requires the development of highly flexible and situated policy processes that can respond to student realities, concern for students’ rights and privacy, and an awareness of potential discrimination against students. These processes also need to meet the specificities of practicums, particular institutional policies, the mandates of relevant professional bodies, and the precise local legislative framework that shapes these situations. Given these varying contexts, in this conceptual paper, we used a framework on disability that is informed by critical theory to engage existing school policies and propose a set of reflective questions that can guide schools of social work to create an overall responsive environment. These reflective questions are designed to help social work educators balance the rights and needs of students with the professional and institutional demands that students meet core competencies in their education.     

Psychometric Evaluation of the Affect Regulation Checklist: Clinical and Community Samples,Parent-Reports and Youth Self-Reports

The Affect Regulation Checklist (ARC) was designed to capture affect dysregulation, suppression, and reflection. Importantly, affect dysregulation has been established as a transdiagnostic mechanism underpinning many forms of psychopathology. We tested the ARC psychometric properties across clinical and community samples and through both parent-report and youth self-report information. Clinical sample: Participants included parents (n = 814; M_age = 43.86) and their child (n = 608; M_age = 13.98). Community sample: Participants included independent samples of parents (n = 578; M_age = 45.12) and youth (n = 809; M_age = 15.67). Exploratory structural equation modeling supported a three-factor structure across samples and informants. Dysregulation was positively associated with all forms of psychopathology. In general, suppression was positively associated with many forms of psychopathology, and reflection was negatively associated with externalizing problems and positively associated with internalizing problems.     

Nonprofit relationship management: Extending the organization-public relationship to loyalty and behaviors

Through a survey of organizational stakeholders (N = 660), this study contributes to the understanding of nonprofit public relations in three key areas. First, a new five-factor scale to measure perceptions of the relationship cultivation strategies of stewardship was tested. Second, group differences between organization stakeholder types were explored. Third, a new working model that extends previous organization-public relationship (OPR) models to include variables of loyalty and behavioral intentions was advanced. Findings revealed theoretical, measurement, and practical applications.     

Common Challenges in Conducting Prolonged Exposure Therapy With Active Duty Service Members: Case Discussion and Strategies for Intervention

Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy receives most of its empirical support from trials conducted with civilian posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) populations. There has been only limited research on its use with military personnel with combat-related PTSD, and as a consequence, there has been less clinical discussion detailing its application with active duty service members. The purpose of this paper is to highlight two challenges that commonly arise when conducting PE with active duty service members: 1) selecting the most appropriate index event to focus on in imaginal exposure out of the numerous traumas an active duty patient is likely to have experienced, and 2) patients’ tendency to engage in “safety behaviors,” which undermine the effectiveness of in vivo exposure. The nature of these challenges is explored from a theoretical perspective, along with two case examples to illustrate their presentation in treatment. Specific strategies for addressing them are reviewed.     

The death of bin Laden: How Russian and U.S. media frame counterterrorism

This study explored how Russian and U.S. newspapers covered the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 through the lens of framing theory. Results reflect significant disparity in how media in different countries covered the same event, suggesting that terrorism events were framed as national concerns rather than global issues, thus potentially limiting governments and the media from building a shared understanding with international audiences. The findings also indicate that more robust media relations efforts are needed to counter simplistic media counterterrorism frames. Finally, the study identified new frames for counterterrorism including secrecy and humanizing terrorists. These new frames suggest the need to expand the framing literature to provide a better understanding of how the media cover counterterrorism, which may impact the U.S. government's public diplomacy and counterterrorism efforts.     

Maternal Social Coaching Quality Interrupts the Development of Relational Aggression During Early Childhood

Previous research has shown that parents of socially competent young children provide them with elaborative, explicit, appropriate, and emotion‐laden advice about peer interactions. The current study analyzed mothers' conversations with preschoolers (N = 175; 52 percent female; M age = 52 months, SD = 7 months) about peer conflicts involving relational aggression. Conversations were coded for maternal elaboration, emotion references, and discussion of norm violations. Information about relational and physical aggression was collected from teachers at two assessments approximately 12 months apart for a subsample of 136 children. Regression analyses, controlling for physical aggression, showed that average and high levels of effective coaching operated as a protective factor against stable high levels of relational aggression. Theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of the early development of relational aggression are discussed.     

Depressive Symptoms and Gambling Behavior: Mediating Role of Coping Motivation and Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy

Understanding the variables that contribute to the comorbidity of depression and gambling behaviors is important in developing effective intervention strategies for those who experience gambling-related problems. The purpose of this study was to implement core concepts from Jacob’s general theory of addiction and the social cognitive theory in a multiple mediation model. Specifically, we tested two models to examine whether coping motivation and refusal self-efficacy mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms, gambling related problems, and days gambled. Data was collected from 333 undergraduate students at a large public Midwest university, participating in a larger clinical trial. Analyses indicated a direct effect between depressive symptoms and gambling related problems. Depressive symptoms were found to have a significant indirect effect through coping motivation and gambling refusal self-efficacy on gambling related problems and days gambled. These results provide further support regarding the mechanisms through which depressive symptoms may increase risk for problematic gambling behavior.