Reconciling care and justice in contesting social harm through performance and arts practice with looked after children and care leavers

The proportion of young people taken into the care of the state has increased recently and there is evidence that this social group suffer negative long‐term outcomes that might be conceptualised by the emergent criminological category of ‘social harm’. Debates in social work around an ethics of care and justice offer different ways of thinking about responding to social harm. This paper reports findings from an innovative arts‐based intervention with Looked After Children and young people and concludes that holding these competing value sets in creative tension is central to the success of the programme in helping young people to cope with and contest social harm.     

Barriers to Integrated Treatment of Substance Abuse and Trauma Among Women

Despite increasing empirical support for an integrated approach to treating trauma and substance abuse, many substance abuse treatment programs have been slow to embrace integrated models of practice. Using an embedded case study design, the purpose of this study was to understand barriers that prevented a substance abuse treatment provider and 20 professionals and staff from adopting an integrated approach to treating substance abuse and trauma. Data analysis revealed 2 kinds of barriers that prevented substance abuse treatment professionals from fully integrating substance abuse and trauma: systemic and professional barriers. These barriers have to be taken into account when trying to move providers and professionals toward integrated approaches to treating substance abuse and trauma.     

Risk Assessment for Aflatoxin: An Evaluation Based on the Multistage Model

Lifetime cancer potency of alfatoxin was assessed based on the Yeh et al. study from China in which both aflatoxin exposure and hepatitis B prevalence were measured. This study provides the best available information for estimating the carcinogenic risk posed by aflatoxin to the U.S. population. Cancer potency of aflatoxin was estimated using a biologically motivated risk assessment model. The best estimate of aflatoxin potency was 9 (mg/kg/day)⁻¹ for individuals negative for hepatitis B and 230 (mg/kg/day)⁻¹ for individuals positive for hepatitis B.     

Teaching Note—Partnering Macro Social Work Students and Agencies Addressing Youth Homelessness: A Model for Service Learning

In addition to direct practice skills, social work students need to become familiar and competent with macrolevel approaches to addressing youth and transgender youth homelessness. Service-learning courses provide an effective approach for students to learn the necessary knowledge and skills. In two sections of an upper-division social work macropractice course, teams of students worked with nonprofit organizations that addressed the needs of homeless youths and transgender youths. A three-pronged approach—community forum, fund-raising, and advocacy campaign—allowed a range of activities and learning experiences that benefited the students and agencies. This three-pronged service-learning model engaged the community, spread the message about youth and transgender youth homelessness, and consisted of projects that people can easily implement in their own communities.     

Staff responses to age‐related health changes in people with an intellectual disability in group homes

The purpose of this study was to explore how supervisors in group homes caring for people with intellectual disability responded to the development of age‐related health changes in their residents. Ten group home supervisors working in the disability sector were interviewed once. Data were analysed using Dimensional Analysis. The study identified several factors related to whether a resident could stay ‘at home’ or would need to be moved to residential aged care (nursing home) including: nature and extent of group home resources, group home staff comfort with residents’ health changes, staff skill at navigating the intersection between the disability and ageing sectors, and the supervisor’s philosophy of care. The ability of older people with an intellectual disability to ‘age in place’ is affected by staff knowledge about and comfort with age‐related illnesses, staff skills at navigating formal services, staffing flexibility, and the philosophy of group home supervisors. Despite the growing international concern for the rights of people with disability, particularly in relation to decision making, questions about the older person’s choice of residence and participation in decision making about what was best for them, were almost nonexistent. Rather, decisions were made based on what was considered to be in ‘the best interest’.     

Establishing Mobility Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Night Vision Devices: Results of a Pilot Study

In preparation for an evaluation of night vision devices, an exploratory study was conducted to gain initial experience with the sensitivity of chosen mobility measures under night conditions. The measures included cane contacts and object recognition distances. Results provide preliminary evidence that these two measures may be sensitive to the effects of a night vision device.     

State and Institutional Correlates of Reported Victimization and Consensual Sexual Activity in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

This article uses multi-level analysis to model the effects of both institutional and state characteristics on juvenile reported sexual behavior (both consensual and forced) in 118 juvenile correctional facilities across 36 states. Data are taken from the 2012 National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC). We examine three dimensions of reported sexual contact including: forced sexual contact between juveniles and other institutionalized juveniles; forced sexual contact between juveniles and staff; and alleged consensual contact between juveniles and staff. At the institutional-level, facility capacity is the most consistent significant predictor of reported sexual contact. Findings also indicate that state-level variables such as median income and state-level violent crime rates are significantly associated with some types of reported incidents. Privacy protections of the available data make it impossible to look at individual level factors; however, we suggest this as a future step in important research.     

Assessing the Relationship Between Environmental Lead Concentrations and Adult Blood Lead Levels

This paper presents a model for predicting blood lead levels in adults who are exposed to elevated environmental levels of lead. The model assumes a baseline blood lead level based on average blood lead levels for adults described in two recent U.S. studies. The baseline blood lead level in adults arises primarily from exposure to lead in diet. Media-specific ingestion and absorption parameters are assessed for the adult population, and a biokinetic slope factor that relates uptake of lead into the body to blood lead levels is estimated. These parameters are applied to predict blood lead levels for adults exposed to a hypothetical site with elevated lead levels in soil, dust and air. Blood lead levels ranging from approximately 3-57 μg/dl are predicted, depending on the exposure scenarios and assumptions.