Beyond the Neighborhood: Defining Membership in Diverse Community Contexts

The purpose of this research is to form an overarching definition of community membership that encompasses all community contexts. Utilizing qualitative interviews with 102 members of five known community contexts (communities of action, circumstance, interest, place, and practice), the authors use cross-case analysis to explore common, transcendent themes of membership. Three takeaways emerge: first, that individuals identify with communities to address personal needs but come to see social benefits; second, that individuals join communities to deepen existing relationships, but develop new ones; and third, that through engagement, individuals strengthen a sense of self that is unique to community context. Through these takeaways, we define community as a reciprocal and emergent system of interactions through which individuals seek to address personal and shared physiological, social, and self-actualizing needs

Empowering Processes of a Countywide Arts Intervention for High School Youth

Arts interventions allow young people to address social problems and oppressive forces that impact their lives. Much research has explained the theory behind arts interventions; less has explored the organizational characteristics that may facilitate empowering processes for intervention consumers. The aim of this research is to contextualize dimensions of organizational empowerment in the context of a countywide arts intervention program. Retrospective, cross-sectional, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 primary consumers of a countywide arts intervention for high school students. Directed content analysis of the interview data revealed ten emergent themes that transcended the data inductively. Findings support and extend our current understanding of organizational empowerment, as it relates to a countywide arts intervention program. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed

Assessing the Implicit Curriculum in Social Work Education: Heterogeneity of Students’ Experiences and Impact on Professional Empowerment

The implicit curriculum, which refers to a student’s learning environment, has been described as an essential feature of an integrated professional social work curriculum. Very little is known, however, about the heterogeneity of students’ experiences with the implicit curriculum, how this heterogeneity may be distributed across groups of students, and how it may impact students’ professional empowerment. This study used latent profile analysis to identify groups of students based on their experiences with the implicit curriculum in school and field contexts, and it examined differences between profile groups on measures of professional empowerment. Study participants (n = 534) were undergraduate and graduate students of a large school of social work in the northeast. Results revealed that four groups of students could be identified based on their experiences with the implicit curriculum: students who experienced (a) positive school and field environments, (b) positive school but negative field environments, (c) negative school but positive field environments, and (d) negative school and field environments. Profile groups differed significantly on measures of professional empowerment. Implications and directions for future work are discussed

Solidarity and connection: manifestations of social capital among consumers of supportive housing

Supportive housing provides free/reduced-rent and regular access to helping professionals for consumers experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. While extant research has explored aspects of consumer social networks, less research has explored consumer social networks derived through the actual housing experience. Through focus groups and in-depth interviews with 34 consumers of a robust housing program, this study attempted to answer the question, “What are the lived, relational experiences of supportive housing consumers, as derived through supportive housing itself?” Directed content analysis and three domains of social capital (bonding, linking, and bridging) helped identify seven emergent themes (idyllic communities, mutual support, communities of circumstance, generalized distrust, independence, empowerment, and volunteerism). Implications include the following: (1) the need for policymakers to invest more resources into homelessness prevention for populations like foster care alumni and adults with serious mental illness, (2) the need for practitioners to respect supportive housing spaces and the roles that consumers play for each other, and (3) the need for future research to explore the long-term tangible and intangible outcomes of supportive housing

The provider perception inventory: Psychometrics of a scale designed to measure provider stigma about HIV, substance abuse, and MSM behavior

Non-gay identified men who have sex with men and women (NGI MSMW) and who use alcohol and other drugs are a vulnerable, understudied, and undertreated population. Little is known about the stigma faced by this population or about the way that health service providers view and serve these stigmatized clients. The Provider Perception Inventory (PPI) is a 39-item scale that measures health services providers’ stigma about HIV/AIDS, substance use, and MSM behavior. The PPI is unique in that it was developed to include service provider stigma targeted at NGI MSMW individuals. PPI was developed through a mixed methods approach. Items were developed based on existing measures and findings from focus groups with 18 HIV and substance abuse treatment providers. Exploratory factor analysis using data from 212 health service providers yielded a two dimensional scale: 1) Individual Attitudes (19 items), and 2) Agency Environment (11 items). Structural equation model analysis supported the scale’s predictive validity (N=190 sufficiently complete cases). Overall findings indicate initial support for the psychometrics of the PPI as a measure of service provider stigma pertaining to the intersection of HIV/AIDS, substance use, and MSM behavior. Limitations and implications to future research are discussed

Psychological Empowerment and the Pursuit of Social Change: Outcomes of Foster Youth Engagement

Youth aging out of foster care are assumed to embody a disempowered group, for whom civic engagement opportunities are rare. Utilizing a targeted initiative, this study explores individual- and community-level outcomes derived from foster youth civic engagement. Data were collected via: (a) interview and survey research with foster youth advisory board leaders; (b) interview and survey research with civic youth workers; and, (c) non-participant observation of five foster youth advisory board meetings. Directed content analysis revealed three emergent themes, which transcended the data inductively (Opportunity through Access; Positive Conceptions of New Jersey\u27s Department of Children and Families; and, Participatory Competence). These themes support and extend our current understanding of empowering outcomes for this population. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed

Exploring Service Provider Perceptions of Treatment Barriers Facing Black, Non-Gay-Identified MSMW

Non-gay-identified men who have sex with men and women and who use alcohol and other drugs are a vulnerable population. Little is known about health and medical service provider interaction with these underserved clients. This article presents a thematic analysis of two focus groups undertaken with social and medical service providers regarding the needs of non-gay-identified men who have sex with men and women. Four emergent themes (labeling, constructions of masculinity, HIV/AIDS awareness, and treatment success) illustrate perceived barriers to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, as well as treatment success. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed