Research strongly supports school connectedness as important in promoting healthy youth development. Most of the research to date has used surveys to assess school connectedness; however, PhotoVoice, a community-based participatory action research method, offers a unique way of engaging youth voices on their lived experiences of school connectedness. Such a method has potential to uncover areas related to connectedness that ... Read More »

A small body of literature has identified cross-age peer mentoring (CAPM) as an effective mentoring model that is reciprocal in nature, affecting the outcomes of both mentees and mentors. To date, however, much of the attention and research focused on CAPM models have been conducted within school settings and few have described programs with an emphasis on disconnected young adults. ... Read More »

Little scholarship exists on parenting in the transgender and gender nonconforming community, even though a sizable portion of the community is either currently parenting or interested in becoming a parent. This dearth of literature is particularly noticeable among those individuals assigned female at birth who identify as transmasculine. In a recent issue of the journal Social Work Research, published by ... Read More »

Although cancer disparities among American Indian women are alarming, research on spiritual coping among this population is virtually nonexistent. This is particularly problematic, given the importance of medical practitioners’ discussing the topic with cancer patients, along with the centrality of spirituality to many American Indian patients. In a recent issue of the journal Health & Social Work, published by NASW ... Read More »

Born in Oakland, Calif., Ronald V. Dellums earned his MSW from the University of California, Berkeley. He served on the Berkeley City Council, was mayor of Oakland from 2007-2011, before being elected to Congress. Dellums was an advocate and community organizer throughout his career, representing social work values in the political arena. Dellums represented California’s Oakland Congressional District from 1970-1998. ... Read More »

Schools continue their efforts to concurrently support the academic and social–emotional needs of students. Peer-tutoring programs are frequently used to effect positive change for students in a variety of academic and social–emotional domains. In addition, these programs are often used to target specific students or needs on a school campus. School social workers are uniquely suited to consider, implement, and ... Read More »

Disasters exacerbate pre-disaster inequities and intensify the vulnerability of women and other marginalized and disempowered groups. Thus, disaster policies and responses should incorporate the experiences and perspectives of those who are marginalized. A recent issue of the journal Social Work included an article by two Japanese researchers on using an interactive, collaborative technique to highlight women’s experiences of disaster and ... Read More »

Those pursuing a reduction in poverty view it as justified from a social justice perspective. But is it also justified from a cost-benefit perspective, as well? Various studies have tried to tabulate the economic costs of poverty in the United States. One recently published study, in the NASW Press- and Oxford University Press-published journal Social Work Research, attempts to delineate ... Read More »

Integrated health care has come of age. What began modestly in the 1930s has evolved into a mature model of health care that is quickly becoming the standard of care. Social workers are now employed in a wide range of comprehensive integrated health care organizations. In these contexts, social workers are encountering complex, sometimes unprecedented, ethical challenges. In a recent ... Read More »

The benefits of school-based mental health services have been supported in prior research and literature. Studies have shown that approximately one in five youths in schools today have diagnosable mental health disorders. However, research has identified that close to 70 percent of those youths do not receive the services they need. This gap in care has a significant impact on ... Read More »