Social Work Educators in PWIs: Betrayed and Triggered Regularly

This article chronicles some of the significant experiences I have dealt with regarding anti-black racism in the academy. I focused the article on the systemic ways I witness and experience the reproduction of whiteness and performative efforts by many of my White colleagues to give the illusion that they value racial diversity while simultaneously embracing and perpetuating whiteness in different ways in the academy. Given the pervasiveness of white supremacy within social work education, I focused my recommendations on guidance and strategies for Black faculty to survive anti-black racism and thrive within White academies to minimize stress and being betrayed and triggered regularly

National Coexistence is Our Bull Durham: Revisiting "The Indian Today"

"Indigeneity at the Crossroads of American Studies." Published as a special joint issue with American Studies, Volume 46, No. 3/4, Fall 2005

Can I get a witness? African American mothers, parenting networks, and attachment

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. December 2012. Major: Social work. Advisor: Priscilla A. Gibson. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 742 pages, appendices A-G.This qualitative study using a phenomenological constructivist approach examined the meaning African American mothers give to experiences of sexual mistreatment and their perceptions of how those experiences influenced their approach to parenting within extended family structures. I expected that mothers' experiences of trauma management, their use of parenting networks, and their sociocultural environment influence their parenting practices. Additionally, I expected that mothers' experiences of trauma management mediated the quality of parent-child-family relationships. Twenty-one currently parenting African American mothers receiving services for homelessness, substance misuse, and/or recovery from prostitution/domestic sex trafficking participated in an in-depth semi-structured audio-taped face-to-face interview. I used the procedures of multiple case study analysis to modify my expectations based on mothers' narrative accounts of their experiences. Findings suggest that the parenting practices of African American mothers who are survivors of sexual mistreatment are influenced by the intersections of their (a) mental representations of themselves as caregivers and their attachment-related relationships across their life course, (b) their trauma management experiences, (c) their utilization of supportive parenting networks, and (d) their accessibility to socioeconomic resources. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed

An examination of spirituality, self efficacy, and smoking cessation among adults in Houston, Texas

Over the past decade there has been a growing interest in the association between spirituality and health outcomes. Little is known about the role of spirituality among adult smokers who are motivated to stop smoking. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relations among immutable individual differences, spirituality, and self efficacy among adults motivated to stop smoking. The first paper of this dissertation systematically reviewed literature to measure the concordance between spirituality and smoking status among adults in the United States. The second paper of this dissertation explored the association between spirituality and smoking cessation. We hypothesized that higher levels of spirituality were positively associated with smoking cessation. The third paper of this dissertation examined the association between perceived self efficacy and spirituality. We hypothesized that both high levels of self efficacy and spirituality were positively associated with smoking cessation. A total of 152 citations were identified based on the preliminary search of databases and reference lists. After a preliminary title- and abstract-based review, 17 full text articles were retrieved for further assessment. Of these, eight met the criteria for inclusion. Results of the systematic review suggest that there is inconsistent evidence to support or refute an association between spirituality and smoking status among adults. Smokers (N = 200) at least 18 years of age enrolled in a minimal contact smoking cessation intervention in Houston, Texas completed questionnaires. To examine our hypotheses we conducted cross-sectional analyses of responses to questions included in selected baseline questions and the final in-person visit three weeks post-quit day. Results of the logistic regression analyses indicated that individuals with higher levels of spirituality and self efficacy were significantly more likely to abstain from smoking. The positive association is also evident when controlling for employment, income, race, education, and nicotine dependence. The interaction between self efficacy and spirituality was not statistically significant in predicting smoking abstinence. Recommendations for future research and implications for smoking cessation interventions are discussed. Further research in this area would benefit from using standard measures of abstinence, recruiting larger and more diverse populations, and using longitudinal study designs