Pub Date : 2024-01-16DOI: 10.1177/14733250241228679
Yun Chen
{"title":"In this issue…","authors":"Yun Chen","doi":"10.1177/14733250241228679","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250241228679","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139620226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-08DOI: 10.1177/14733250231225170
Lauren E. Gulbas, ClaraGrace Pavelka, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Luis H. Zayas
Decades of research have established a significant association between people struggling with an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Despite a robust literature indicating a link between these two mental health conditions, few studies have explored how differential risk factors interact over time to produce this comorbidity. Using the lens of syndemic risk, this study applied a critical case study design to identify the social and contextual conditions that give rise to the circumstances in which eating disorders and suicidal behaviors cluster together. Specifically, we draw on life history and clinical ethnographic interviews with an adolescent and her mother to illustrate the intersections between psychosocial and structural processes. Through our analysis, we develop a model for syndemic risk that foregrounds poverty, racism, heterosexism, and gender oppression as critical to the production of mental health comorbidities. As we delineate in our findings, multiple forms of oppression led to a higher risk of exposure to stressful and traumatic experiences, including physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect, sexual coercion, and peer victimization. These events contributed to the emergence of psychological and social vulnerabilities associated with heightened eating disorder and suicide risk. Ultimately, our qualitative study contributes to understanding how syndemic risk factors interact and mutually reinforce one another over time to shape comorbid psychopathology. In doing so, our findings shift understandings of mental illness as emerging from individual vulnerabilities to a conception of mental health that is framed within a multidimensional perspective.
{"title":"Rethinking comorbidity: A case study of syndemic risk, eating disorders, and suicidal behaviors in adolescent girls of color","authors":"Lauren E. Gulbas, ClaraGrace Pavelka, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Luis H. Zayas","doi":"10.1177/14733250231225170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231225170","url":null,"abstract":"Decades of research have established a significant association between people struggling with an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Despite a robust literature indicating a link between these two mental health conditions, few studies have explored how differential risk factors interact over time to produce this comorbidity. Using the lens of syndemic risk, this study applied a critical case study design to identify the social and contextual conditions that give rise to the circumstances in which eating disorders and suicidal behaviors cluster together. Specifically, we draw on life history and clinical ethnographic interviews with an adolescent and her mother to illustrate the intersections between psychosocial and structural processes. Through our analysis, we develop a model for syndemic risk that foregrounds poverty, racism, heterosexism, and gender oppression as critical to the production of mental health comorbidities. As we delineate in our findings, multiple forms of oppression led to a higher risk of exposure to stressful and traumatic experiences, including physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect, sexual coercion, and peer victimization. These events contributed to the emergence of psychological and social vulnerabilities associated with heightened eating disorder and suicide risk. Ultimately, our qualitative study contributes to understanding how syndemic risk factors interact and mutually reinforce one another over time to shape comorbid psychopathology. In doing so, our findings shift understandings of mental illness as emerging from individual vulnerabilities to a conception of mental health that is framed within a multidimensional perspective.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139445477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-03DOI: 10.1177/14733250231224364
Håkan Jönson, T. Harnett
Age is a commonly used criterion in social work, whether for entry and exit or for decisions about the appropriate measures for clients. This study introduces the concept of age logics in social work and investigates the use of age in ‘wet’ eldercare facilities. Wet eldercare facilities are harm reduction arrangements open to people over the age of 50 with long-term substance misuse. No treatment is provided, and residents can continue to consume alcohol and other substances for the rest of their lives. At wet eldercare facilities, age is used to mark a shift in ambition: earlier efforts to treat are replaced by attempts to provide care and dignity. The article uses wet eldercare facilities as the example with which to ( i) introduce age logics as an analytical tool for critical studies of age in social work; ( ii) understand how age logics are used in harm reduction arrangements for older people; and ( iii) propose a method to increase age awareness and identify and challenge problematic uses of age in social work. The empirical data consists of interviews with 31 residents, 11 caseworkers and 12 staff members at two Swedish wet eldercare facilities. The analysis identifies four types of age logics linking chronological age with its meanings: ( a) the logic of changeability; ( b) the logic of lifestyle; ( c) the logic of function; and ( d) the logic of administrative fit. Together they construct an ideal type of the ‘older addict’, which justified existing arrangements.
{"title":"Age logics in social work: The case of harm reduction for people over the age of 50 with long-term substance use problems residing in wet eldercare facilities in Sweden","authors":"Håkan Jönson, T. Harnett","doi":"10.1177/14733250231224364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231224364","url":null,"abstract":"Age is a commonly used criterion in social work, whether for entry and exit or for decisions about the appropriate measures for clients. This study introduces the concept of age logics in social work and investigates the use of age in ‘wet’ eldercare facilities. Wet eldercare facilities are harm reduction arrangements open to people over the age of 50 with long-term substance misuse. No treatment is provided, and residents can continue to consume alcohol and other substances for the rest of their lives. At wet eldercare facilities, age is used to mark a shift in ambition: earlier efforts to treat are replaced by attempts to provide care and dignity. The article uses wet eldercare facilities as the example with which to ( i) introduce age logics as an analytical tool for critical studies of age in social work; ( ii) understand how age logics are used in harm reduction arrangements for older people; and ( iii) propose a method to increase age awareness and identify and challenge problematic uses of age in social work. The empirical data consists of interviews with 31 residents, 11 caseworkers and 12 staff members at two Swedish wet eldercare facilities. The analysis identifies four types of age logics linking chronological age with its meanings: ( a) the logic of changeability; ( b) the logic of lifestyle; ( c) the logic of function; and ( d) the logic of administrative fit. Together they construct an ideal type of the ‘older addict’, which justified existing arrangements.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139388690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-26DOI: 10.1177/14733250231225156
Vicki Lowik, Nicola Cheyne, Heather Lovatt
Purpose: Existing literature identifies the agency used by survivors of domestic violence when they participate in research. However, some human research ethics committees act as gatekeepers on research into survivors’ lived experience due to their perceived vulnerability. This article explores factors that influence survivors’ decision-making when they participate in research interviews. Methods: Sixteen survivors of intimate partner strangulation participated in interviews about their lived experience. The analysis of the interview transcripts was guided by the research question: What factors influence the agency that survivors of domestic violence draw on when making decisions about participating in research interviews? Results: The findings revealed four processes through which the self-efficacy of participants became apparent – cognitive, motivational, affective and selection processes. Self-efficacy underpins a person's agentic behaviours, particularly their decision-making. Conclusion: This article highlights how survivors of intimate partner strangulation, notwithstanding their lived experience of extreme violence, exercise self-efficacy. Knowledge in this area is valuable because it indicates survivors who have left the abusive relationship and have engaged in support can make informed decisions about their participation in research interviews. Such understandings can provide researchers with an increased awareness about the wellbeing of participants during interviews and human research ethics committees can be confident that research participants, who may be considered ‘vulnerable’, have the ability to assess their capacity to engage in research, if the caveats of having left the abusive relationship and having sought support are satisfied.
{"title":"‘I’m going to take my power back and do whatever I can’: The self-efficacy of survivors of intimate partner strangulation and their engagement in research interviews","authors":"Vicki Lowik, Nicola Cheyne, Heather Lovatt","doi":"10.1177/14733250231225156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231225156","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Existing literature identifies the agency used by survivors of domestic violence when they participate in research. However, some human research ethics committees act as gatekeepers on research into survivors’ lived experience due to their perceived vulnerability. This article explores factors that influence survivors’ decision-making when they participate in research interviews. Methods: Sixteen survivors of intimate partner strangulation participated in interviews about their lived experience. The analysis of the interview transcripts was guided by the research question: What factors influence the agency that survivors of domestic violence draw on when making decisions about participating in research interviews? Results: The findings revealed four processes through which the self-efficacy of participants became apparent – cognitive, motivational, affective and selection processes. Self-efficacy underpins a person's agentic behaviours, particularly their decision-making. Conclusion: This article highlights how survivors of intimate partner strangulation, notwithstanding their lived experience of extreme violence, exercise self-efficacy. Knowledge in this area is valuable because it indicates survivors who have left the abusive relationship and have engaged in support can make informed decisions about their participation in research interviews. Such understandings can provide researchers with an increased awareness about the wellbeing of participants during interviews and human research ethics committees can be confident that research participants, who may be considered ‘vulnerable’, have the ability to assess their capacity to engage in research, if the caveats of having left the abusive relationship and having sought support are satisfied.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139157543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-22DOI: 10.1177/14733250231222020
Caitlin Angela O'Connor, Carole Zufferey, Helena de Anstiss
This paper uses Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) framework to explore representations of women’s mental health in federal and South Australian mental health policies. It argues that mental health policies govern women through neoliberal discourses that individualise mental health and illness while neglecting the social structural factors which significantly influence mental health outcomes and health equity. In a ‘self-monitoring’ neoliberal society, people are increasingly required to seek medical and pharmaceutical intervention to promote ideal personhoods, with women overrepresented in this group. The disciplinary power of the medicalisation discourse categorises women as either ideal or failed neoliberal subjects. This is concerning for social workers because neoliberal and medicalisation discourses shape how women’s mental health is represented in policy and responded to in practice. This paper challenges biomedical and neoliberal discourses underpinning policy representations and identifies the implications for social work and social policy.
{"title":"Governing failed neoliberal subjects: Representations of women’s mental health in Australian mental health policies","authors":"Caitlin Angela O'Connor, Carole Zufferey, Helena de Anstiss","doi":"10.1177/14733250231222020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231222020","url":null,"abstract":"This paper uses Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) framework to explore representations of women’s mental health in federal and South Australian mental health policies. It argues that mental health policies govern women through neoliberal discourses that individualise mental health and illness while neglecting the social structural factors which significantly influence mental health outcomes and health equity. In a ‘self-monitoring’ neoliberal society, people are increasingly required to seek medical and pharmaceutical intervention to promote ideal personhoods, with women overrepresented in this group. The disciplinary power of the medicalisation discourse categorises women as either ideal or failed neoliberal subjects. This is concerning for social workers because neoliberal and medicalisation discourses shape how women’s mental health is represented in policy and responded to in practice. This paper challenges biomedical and neoliberal discourses underpinning policy representations and identifies the implications for social work and social policy.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138944960","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-12DOI: 10.1177/14733250231220138
Sarah Vicary
{"title":"Book Review: How Social Workers Assess and Manage Risk and Uncertainty","authors":"Sarah Vicary","doi":"10.1177/14733250231220138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231220138","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139007896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-02DOI: 10.1177/14733250231220140
Caroline Leah
{"title":"What it means to be human, what it means to be hurt, and what it means to thrive","authors":"Caroline Leah","doi":"10.1177/14733250231220140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231220140","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138607087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-11DOI: 10.1177/14733250231214512
Jacob Eikenberry, Michael Mancini, Donald M Linhorst, Joseph A Schafer, Jasmine Brown
Racial justice movements sparked by police killings of Black and Brown persons have led to a reassessment of the role of policing in America. This has promoted important conversations about how best to improve public safety and design law enforcement practices that are equitable and just across communities. A component of this conversation is addressing stress and trauma faced by police as a routine part of their duties, as it can affect the quality of policing. Job-related stress and trauma experienced by police officers are an international phenomenon, yet underexplored areas in social work research and practice. Police officers experience high levels of stress from routine exposure to traumatic situations, leading to high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, and depression. Officers who are actively experiencing symptoms of stress and trauma are more likely to engage in misconduct, including the unnecessary use of force. This study explores the stress and trauma-related experiences of police officers. We conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with 23 officers from an urban police department in St Louis, Missouri. Analysis of interviews addressed three areas: (1) stress and trauma experiences associated with police work, (2) negative effects of stress and trauma on officers, and (3) factors impacting officer access to treatment. We conclude that social work can contribute to improved policing outcomes by helping officers address their job-related stress and trauma through engaged research and practice.
{"title":"Stress and trauma among police officers: Implications for social work research and practice","authors":"Jacob Eikenberry, Michael Mancini, Donald M Linhorst, Joseph A Schafer, Jasmine Brown","doi":"10.1177/14733250231214512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231214512","url":null,"abstract":"Racial justice movements sparked by police killings of Black and Brown persons have led to a reassessment of the role of policing in America. This has promoted important conversations about how best to improve public safety and design law enforcement practices that are equitable and just across communities. A component of this conversation is addressing stress and trauma faced by police as a routine part of their duties, as it can affect the quality of policing. Job-related stress and trauma experienced by police officers are an international phenomenon, yet underexplored areas in social work research and practice. Police officers experience high levels of stress from routine exposure to traumatic situations, leading to high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, and depression. Officers who are actively experiencing symptoms of stress and trauma are more likely to engage in misconduct, including the unnecessary use of force. This study explores the stress and trauma-related experiences of police officers. We conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with 23 officers from an urban police department in St Louis, Missouri. Analysis of interviews addressed three areas: (1) stress and trauma experiences associated with police work, (2) negative effects of stress and trauma on officers, and (3) factors impacting officer access to treatment. We conclude that social work can contribute to improved policing outcomes by helping officers address their job-related stress and trauma through engaged research and practice.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135041807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-11DOI: 10.1177/14733250231214199
Patricia J Shannon, Laura Soltani, Erin Sugrue
Focused ethnography (FE) is an emerging method for social work researchers who examine social justice issues within specific sub-cultures and service systems. FE methods may include researchers with background knowledge, specific research questions, and the use of intensive, short-term data collection methods in time-limited settings. Although relevant to applied studies in social work, FE methods remain underspecified. This scoping review examines the extent, variety, and characteristics of FE in social work research. The protocol follows the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist and Explanation (PRISMA-ScR). We searched Social Science databases between 2018 and 2022. The critical appraisal of articles is guided by published FE methodology and American Psychological Association (APA) journal reporting standards for qualitative research. Researchers justified the use of FE in relation to their ethnographic goals, research populations, and specific questions. However, they were inconsistent in their discussion of the integration of theory and reflexive processes in research methods. While most studies used thematic analysis or coding of qualitative data, some lacked the recommended elements outlined in the journal reporting standards for qualitative research. In particular, they lacked transparency when discussing the impact of background knowledge and positionality on data analytic processes and findings. In this review, we discuss the strengths and limitations of FE for social work research and offer recommendations for methodological improvement. To enhance understanding and trustworthiness of reported findings, we recommend transparency in discussions of data analytic and reflexive processes, as well as uniform reporting in accordance with APA standards for qualitative research.
{"title":"Exploring the use of focused ethnography in social work research: A scoping review","authors":"Patricia J Shannon, Laura Soltani, Erin Sugrue","doi":"10.1177/14733250231214199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231214199","url":null,"abstract":"Focused ethnography (FE) is an emerging method for social work researchers who examine social justice issues within specific sub-cultures and service systems. FE methods may include researchers with background knowledge, specific research questions, and the use of intensive, short-term data collection methods in time-limited settings. Although relevant to applied studies in social work, FE methods remain underspecified. This scoping review examines the extent, variety, and characteristics of FE in social work research. The protocol follows the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist and Explanation (PRISMA-ScR). We searched Social Science databases between 2018 and 2022. The critical appraisal of articles is guided by published FE methodology and American Psychological Association (APA) journal reporting standards for qualitative research. Researchers justified the use of FE in relation to their ethnographic goals, research populations, and specific questions. However, they were inconsistent in their discussion of the integration of theory and reflexive processes in research methods. While most studies used thematic analysis or coding of qualitative data, some lacked the recommended elements outlined in the journal reporting standards for qualitative research. In particular, they lacked transparency when discussing the impact of background knowledge and positionality on data analytic processes and findings. In this review, we discuss the strengths and limitations of FE for social work research and offer recommendations for methodological improvement. To enhance understanding and trustworthiness of reported findings, we recommend transparency in discussions of data analytic and reflexive processes, as well as uniform reporting in accordance with APA standards for qualitative research.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135041785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-11DOI: 10.1177/14733250231214201
Misa Kayama, Wendy Haight
Children’s experience of disability-related stigmatization is a central social justice issue across cultures. Yet children’s voices are rarely heard by policy makers, and available programs for children with disabilities typically lack input from children’s own experiences. This paper presents a cross-cultural case study of how three children with disabilities in Japan and the U.S. responded to stigmatization from their “typically-developing” peers. We choose these cases for in-depth examination to contextualize and deepen our understanding of themes identified from our larger, ethnographic study. Similar to the participants in our larger study, these elementary school-aged children experienced disability-related stigmatization, including teasing and bullying. They actively responded to reduce their immediate exposure to stigmatization. Some of these responses, however, created additional challenges. For example, children’s physical fighting in response to teasing resulted in punitive discipline in the U.S. Children’s avoidance of peers undermined academic achievement and psychosocial development, especially in Japan where peer groups are central contexts for education. Furthermore, children’s responses to stigmatization often concealed their peer struggles or were misunderstood by educators, which delayed their access to appropriate support. We discuss social work implications for child-centered programs of support.
{"title":"The voices of Japanese and U.S. elementary-school aged children with disabilities: Navigating stigmatization within peer groups","authors":"Misa Kayama, Wendy Haight","doi":"10.1177/14733250231214201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250231214201","url":null,"abstract":"Children’s experience of disability-related stigmatization is a central social justice issue across cultures. Yet children’s voices are rarely heard by policy makers, and available programs for children with disabilities typically lack input from children’s own experiences. This paper presents a cross-cultural case study of how three children with disabilities in Japan and the U.S. responded to stigmatization from their “typically-developing” peers. We choose these cases for in-depth examination to contextualize and deepen our understanding of themes identified from our larger, ethnographic study. Similar to the participants in our larger study, these elementary school-aged children experienced disability-related stigmatization, including teasing and bullying. They actively responded to reduce their immediate exposure to stigmatization. Some of these responses, however, created additional challenges. For example, children’s physical fighting in response to teasing resulted in punitive discipline in the U.S. Children’s avoidance of peers undermined academic achievement and psychosocial development, especially in Japan where peer groups are central contexts for education. Furthermore, children’s responses to stigmatization often concealed their peer struggles or were misunderstood by educators, which delayed their access to appropriate support. We discuss social work implications for child-centered programs of support.","PeriodicalId":47677,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative Social Work","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135041980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}