Child welfare workers who are exhausted yet satisfied with their jobs: how do they do it?

In response to a study of Canadian child welfare workers that unexpectedly found participants scoring high on a measure of emotional exhaustion (burnout) and, at the same time, high on overall job satisfaction, this paper reviews research that has investigated these constructs in the social work literature as well as in selected studies from sociology, social psychology, management and women’s studies. The review reveals that some previous studies also report the coexistence of high levels of emotional exhaustion and strong job satisfaction in child welfare and social worker samples. Several studies have suggested that individual characteristics, including finding reward in helping others, having a commitment to the mandate of child welfare and believing that one’s labour is ‘making a difference’, contribute to satisfaction with child welfare work in spite of work overload and emotional exhaustion. Attributions regarding causes of exhaustion, coping strategies and goal orientation may also attenuate the expected negative effects of emotional exhaustion. Considerable evidence supports the positive influence of variables organizational managers can control, including job autonomy, supportive supervisors, workload, promotional opportunities and perception of personal safety. The degree to which this phenomenon is associated with female socialization and the ‘ethic of care’ underlying social work is discussed. Implications for child welfare research, practice and policy are offered.     

Growing Up at Centrepoint: Retrospective Accounts of Childhood Spent at an Intentional Community

A qualitative analysis of the accounts of 29 adults who grew up in a controversial New Zealand community identified positive and negative experiences and their psychological implications. In addition to highly publicized child sexual abuse that occurred at Centrepoint, children also experienced parental neglect, psychological manipulation, illegal drug use and stigma from the broader society. These factors created an adverse matrix that facilitated sexual abuse. Positive experiences included support for vulnerable families and children, recreational activities, and the opportunity to develop communication skills. While there may be positive experiences for children living in intentional communities such as this one, it is important to be aware of the potential for psychological harm to children in communities with powerful, shared systems of belief, skepticism about the broader society, and strong dynamics of dependence. These findings may have implications for other similar communities operating elsewhere in the world.     

Exploring Mental Health Adjustment of Children Post Sexual Assault in South Africa

Large numbers of children are affected by child sexual abuse in South Africa. This study aimed to assess psychological adjustment of children post sexual assault. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with caretakers, and structured interviews using mental health assessment screening tools were given to children at three intervals over a five-month period after presentation at a sexual assault center. Almost half of the children met clinical criteria for anxiety, and two-thirds met criteria for full symptom post-traumatic stress disorder two to four weeks post disclosure. With standard care, we observed some recovery; 43.3% of children still met full symptom post-traumatic stress disorder nearly six months postdisclosure. Our findings indicate that current practice in South Africa does not promote adequate recovery for children.     

Positive and negative sexual cognitions: Subjective experience and relationships to sexual adjustment

Some individuals appraise their sexual cognitions negatively and/or experience negative affect in association with their sexual cognitions. However, sex researchers have tended to subsume different types of sexual cognitions under the term sexual fantasy and have assumed that these cognitions are positively experienced. The purpose of this study was to clarify past research on sexual‐cognitions by exploring the distinction between sexual cognitions that are perceived as positive by individuals and those that are perceived as negative. Two‐hundred and ninety‐two (148 women and 144 men) heterosexual undergraduate students completed a 56‐item positive and negative sexual cognition checklist along with measures of sexual adjustment. Results revealed that compared to negative sexual cognitions, positive sexual cognitions were associated with more positive affect, less negative affect, more frequent subjective general physiological and sexual arousal, and less frequent self‐reported upset stomach. In addition, positively experienced sexual cognitions were experienced as more deliberate and less intrusive, and were associated with less frequent attempts to control the thought, than were negative sexual cognitions. Further, while a higher frequency of positive sexual cognitions was related to better sexual adjustment for men and women, the frequency of negative sexual cognitions was not related to sexual maladjustment. Indeed, overall the results suggest that negative sexual cognitions have little to do with sexual adjustment. Together, these findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative sexual cognitions in research.     

Preparing Social Workers for Child Welfare Practice: An Innovative University–Agency Learning Collaborative

This paper describes the evolution of a university–community child welfare learning collaborative based on an adaptation of the teaching hospital concept. This partnership between an agency providing a range of child and family welfare services and two university units, the school of social work and outreach, was intended to accomplish multiple agency, university and community goals: implement best practices in the agency, enhance social work education, increase staff resources in child welfare, influence public policy, and improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. The major strategy was ‘Grand Rounds’ modeled after the system used to train medical students through multiple transactions with experts in a clinical setting. The first year was very successful, with students, agency staff and faculty giving the sessions high ratings in content, quality and utility. One key to the success of the initiative was that it was an agency‐driven process and was based on working relationships of mutual respect and trust. Building such relationships takes both time and effort. Future challenges will include garnering the resources, both human and financial, to sustain the collaboration over time.     

Trends in higher education in Canada and implications for social work education

Canada, like other countries around the globe, is facing new challenges and opportunities with respect to post-secondary education. Trends in higher education in Canada include rising enrolments and falling revenues; a focus on enhancing employability of graduates through experiential and interactive learning; increased calls for accountability through the assessment of teaching and learning; and the rise of technology-enabled teaching and learning. Social work education is, in many ways, well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these trends due to the focus on case-based learning and practicum education, the focus on assessment of practice competencies as learning outcomes, and the long-standing commitment to teaching innovation and excellence. Nevertheless, meeting fiscal challenges and finding ways to exploit new technologies will require creativity and the development of an expanded body of research on social work education.     

Restoring and Sustaining Home: The Impact of Home Modifications on the Meaning of Home for Older People

ABSTRACT

The importance of a supportive home environment to successful aging has been well-established in the literature, with home modifications increasingly acknowledged as ways of removing barriers to function and increasing independence for older people. Home modification literature and practice primarily focus on the home environment as a physical space in which to perform tasks and on the impact of modification on competencies and function. Home, however, is much more than a physical environment. Within a transactive framework, people and places are seen as engaged in a dynamic, reciprocal relationship through which home becomes a place of significant personal meaning. Through a qualitative framework, this study examines the experience of older people living in the community who are recipients of a home modification service. It explores the impact modifying the physical environment has on their experience of home as a place of meaning and provides insight into how home modifications can strengthen the home as a place of personal and social meaning as well as improve safety and comfort for the older person at home.     

Undergraduate students survey their peers on mental health: Perspectives and strategies for improving college counseling center outreach

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine student perspectives about college mental health including the primary mental health issues affecting students, common college student stressors, student awareness of campus mental health resources, and mental health topics students want more information about. Participants: Participants were 822 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a private university. The study was conducted during September 2016. Methods: As part of a public health course in program planning, undergraduate students surveyed their peers about their experience with mental health and mental health resources. Results: Stress was perceived as the largest mental health issue. Students most wanted more information about school/work/life balance followed by stress management. Electronic newsletters, social media, and on-campus seminars were the top strategies that students suggested as ways to reach them. Conclusions: The results provide student perspectives on mental health that may be useful in developing effective outreach efforts.     

Analysis of human capital development in Puerto Rico: summary and conclusions

This study explored whether perceptions of organizational business ethics differ by hierarchical levels. The study sample included more than 40,000 executives, mid-level managers and non-managerial employees from business organizations in six countries: Brazil, China, Germany, India, the UK and the US. We found that executives provided the most positive assessment of ethical business culture within their respective organizations. Employees’ assessments were less positive, and mid-level managers’ assessments fell in the middle. Organizational size and respondents’ age were not related to differences in responses. Statistically significant differences among hierarchical levels were found in Brazil, the US, Germany, the UK and China. Differences were not significant in India. Executives with longer tenure at the same organization tended to provide higher ratings of organizations’ ethical cultures, while managers’ and employees’ ratings tended to decrease with time.