Client Experiences of Trauma-Informed Care in Social Service Agencies

This paper describes a qualitative study of individual client interviews (n?=?26) from four social service agencies to understand how clients experience trauma-informed care services and implementation challenges. We used the Fallot and Harris framework to explore client experiences of the five core concepts of trauma-informed care (safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment) using semi-structured interview questions with each client. The four agencies consisted of: refugees (n?=?4), substance abuse (n?=?8), older adults (n?=?12), and maternal/child health (n?=?2), and the agencies varied in size, service goals, and clientele. The results of the study suggest that clients’ experience of these concepts was shaped by the actions of other clients, and these experiences were either mitigated or hindered by actions of the agency employees. Agency policies either supported or enhanced their experiences as well. The results also suggest that it was challenging for agencies to provide for all of the trauma-informed care (TIC) concepts at the same time. We discuss the implications of these findings for social service delivery in a range of agency types. Future research should examine the effects of trauma-informed policies on client experiences of each TIC domain.     

Marriage and family therapists' comfort working with lesbian and gay male clients: the influence of religious practices and support for lesbian and gay male human rights

The purpose of this study was to explore potential influences on marriage and family therapists' comfort level when working with lesbian and gay male clients, including sex, age, race, sexual orientation, political orientation, religious practices of the therapist, as well as the level of support for lesbian and gay male human rights. Participants in this study were 199 experienced therapists. Results indicated that higher levels of religious practices were related to lower levels of support for lesbian and gay male human rights and to lower levels of comfort working with lesbian and gay male clients. When support for lesbian and gay male human rights was considered, the level of religious practices was no longer predictive of comfort working with lesbian and gay male clients.     

Stimulus equivalence, generalization, and contextual stimulus control in verbal classes

Stimulus generalization and contextual control affect the development of equivalence classes. Experiment 1 demonstrated primary stimulus generalization from the members of trained equivalence classes. Adults were taught to match six spoken Icelandic nouns and corresponding printed words and pictures to one another in computerized three-choice matching-to-sample tasks. Tests confirmed that six equivalence classes had formed. Without further training, plural forms of the stimuli were presented in tests for all matching performances. All participants demonstrated virtually errorless performances. In Experiment 2, classifications of the nouns used in Experiment 1 were brought under contextual control. Three nouns were feminine and three were masculine. The match-to-sample training taught participants to select a comparison of the same number as the sample (i.e., singular or plural) in the presence of contextual stimulus A regardless of noun gender. Concurrently, in the presence of contextual stimulus B, participants were taught to select a comparison of the same gender as the sample (i.e., feminine or masculine), regardless of number. Generalization was assessed using a card-sorting test. All participants eventually sorted the cards correctly into gender and number stimulus classes. When printed words used in training were replaced by their picture equivalents, participants demonstrated almost errorless performances.     

The use of simple reparameterizations to improve the efficiency of Markov chain Monte Carlo estimation for multilevel models with applications to discrete time survival models

Summary.  We consider the application of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation methods to random-effects models and in particular the family of discrete time survival models. Survival models can be used in many situations in the medical and social sciences and we illustrate their use through two examples that differ in terms of both substantive area and data structure. A multilevel discrete time survival analysis involves expanding the data set so that the model can be cast as a standard multilevel binary response model. For such models it has been shown that MCMC methods have advantages in terms of reducing estimate bias. However, the data expansion results in very large data sets for which MCMC estimation is often slow and can produce chains that exhibit poor mixing. Any way of improving the mixing will result in both speeding up the methods and more confidence in the estimates that are produced. The MCMC methodological literature is full of alternative algorithms designed to improve mixing of chains and we describe three reparameterization techniques that are easy to implement in available software. We consider two examples of multilevel survival analysis: incidence of mastitis in dairy cattle and contraceptive use dynamics in Indonesia. For each application we show where the reparameterization techniques can be used and assess their performance.     

Scaling up to Increase Community-Based Organization Voice

This is a collaborative, community-based study of the merger of two Chicago community-organizing groups seeking to expand their geographic base and political power. Although the merger enabled the new organization to increase and use its power, this case also illustrates the various ways the merger presented opportunities for the new organization to maintain effectiveness at multiple scales while sustaining strong internal democracy and connections to local residents. By consolidating and leveraging new and old political relationships, and by maintaining or increasing the civic benefits of organizing, this merger provides important lessons for organizing in diverse community settings.     

Beliefs About Others’ Perceptions—Gender Typicality: Scale Development and Relationships to Gender Nonconformity,Sexual Orientation,and Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of “other-perceived” gender typicality and test its relationship with gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, and psychological distress. Data on these variables were collected from 632 participants (142 heterosexual men, 77 gay men, 50 bisexual men, 174 heterosexual women, 85 lesbian women, and 104 bisexual women). We designed a Beliefs About Others’ Perceptions—Gender Typicality (BOP-GT) scale on which participants reported how masculine or feminine they thought other people perceived their gendered behavior, interests, appearance, and activities. Factor analysis identified five factors: appearance, emotional response, sporting interests, occupational interests, and interpersonal style. Recalled childhood gender nonconformity (CGN) was significantly associated with each BOP-GT subscale. Heterosexual men rated that other people perceived them to be more masculine scoring on the BOP-GT compared to heterosexual women. Gay men and lesbian women showed cross-sexed patterns on the BOP-GT total scale, appearance, emotional response, and sporting interests scores. Bisexual men and women were generally no different from the other male and female groups, respectively. Bisexual women had greater distress scores, and the BOP-GT emotional response subscale was associated with somewhat greater distress scores. The BOP-GT measure may have use in future research on understanding gendered self-concepts.     

Social work online: a recognition of experiences and practices in Italy

ABSTRACT

‘The Internet is the fabric or our lives’ [Castells, M. (2001). The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 1] – but which are the weaves that nowadays connect Italian social workers into such a fabric? Herein we aim at answering this question through a survey of on-line resources, nodes and practices of e-Social Work in Italy. We shall be discussing ICT impact on the Italian context, and the utilization of ICT by Italian social workers, in order to build up the internal and external factors that determine the current utilization levels of these emerging tools within the professional community. A review of the major on-line social work portals will identify their key features and peculiarities and aim to provide an overview of the substance and current on-line functions of Italian social work, with a summing-up of criticalities and opportunities that might prompt reflection on possible future developments.