Journal of Social Service Research最新文献

Black and Latino sexual minority men (SMM) with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may be reluctant to disclose such experiences or may appraise them as consensual because of cultural norms. Anticipated stigma, medical mistrust, and concerns that providers lack training in sexuality may complicate their efforts to obtain treatment for long-term health consequences of CSA. It is important to examine the training needs of service providers working with SMM who may disclose sexual abuse. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 35 substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and allied health service providers across the New York City area. Themes included the importance of training in cultural competence, trauma-informed care, and assessment of-and counseling for-CSA. Further education in these areas can enable providers to recognize indicators of abuse in their clients' sexual histories and to more effectively and safely respond to this information. Future studies are encouraged to test a trauma-informed approach to screening for CSA history with Black and Latino SMM who present to SUD treatment and allied health service providers. This research should consider provider perspectives in developing such an approach and will likely involve training and evaluation to ensure adequate preparedness and effective service delivery.

Service providers' perspectives on, and responses to the health and social impacts of gentrification have been underexplored. This study's objectives were to assess health and social service providers' perspectives on the causes and impacts of gentrification and their responses to gentrification's impacts. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 service providers sampled using maximum variation and snowball sampling, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. Inductive thematic analysis was used. Providers characterized gentrification as increases in community-level social and economic advantage and displacement of Black and Brown people. Neighborhood divestment and speculative development were reported determinants of gentrification. Revitalization and economic growth were reported positive effects of gentrification; negative ramifications included inflated housing costs, residential displacement, and reduced access to health and social services. Providers enacted multiple solutions to mitigate the negative consequences they observed, including educating residents on housing rights and collaborating with other organizations to expand outreach to displaced residents. Service providers are integral to contributing to knowledge on the causes and impacts of gentrification, and absolving problems resulting from gentrification. . Additional research documenting service provider's responses to the impacts of gentrification are needed to inform how future community development strategies are developed to create more benefits than harms.

The purpose of this pilot study was to understand how historical oppression relates to changes in outcomes for people who participate in the culturally grounded Weaving Healthy Families (WHF) program (i.e., alcohol and drug use, symptoms of anxiety, parenting practices, and communal mastery [CM]). This nonexperimental and longitudinal design used repeated measures regression analysis and generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine postintervention changes according to reported levels of historical oppression among 24 participants in eight families. How do postintervention changes differ for WHF participants reporting lower and higher levels of historical oppression? Results indicated that participants reporting lower historic oppression reported greater postintervention improvements as indicated by declines in alcohol use, anxiety, and poor parental monitoring. All participants reported increases in CM, regardless of the level of historical oppression. Given historical oppression drives psychosocial conditions, such as substance abuse, mental health, and family challenges, settler colonial oppression must be addressed within social service interventions. Social service providers must work redress historical oppression rather than replicate them. The WHF program holds promise to center structural determinants in social service programs. Future inquiries assessing longitudinal changes in perceptions of historical oppression change and how they are associated with psychosocial outcomes are needed.

African American communities are at risk of negative psychological and physical health problems associated with structural and community violence. Street outreach, a community-based social service violence intervention, can build resilience and coping to buffer against these negative effects. Using qualitative case study, the authors explored the effects of street outreach on the resilience and coping of ten outreach workers in two Southside communities in Chicago. Findings from the thematic analysis indicated individual level factors (such as internal state, perceptions, experiences, and future goals) and system level factors (such as family, work, community, culture, and the broader society) related to the workers' experiences of community violence, street outreach utilization, and resilience. The authors presented these factors using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems framework. Additionally, the workers' scores on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 corroborated the individual level factors but lacked the system factors. The authors concluded that outreach programs could help to build the resilience and coping capacity of workers by implementing workplace policies and procedures that promote mental health, trauma healing, and career advancement. Future studies should include quantitative outcome data to analyze the effects of street outreach programming on workers' resilience.