Degree awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America

Cultural competence is essential to sound social work practice (Boyle & Springer, 2001) and social work professionals are expected to provide culturally competent practice (NASW, 2001). The President's [George W. Bush] New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) called for transforming social service systems to provide culturally and linguistically competent services to facilitate improved quality of life for all Americans, "from all communities" to help eliminate disparities in service delivery and to advance a vision for social services for all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups (National Center for Cultural Competence [NCCC], n.d.; italics in original). Studies have shown that practitioners perceive themselves as being culturally competent (Armour, Bain, & Rubio, 2004; Delva-Tauili'ili, 1995). However, the extent to which clients perceive practitioners as culturally competent in their service delivery remains unclear as very few studies have investigated this question (Switzer, Scholle, Johnson, & Kelleher, 1998). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships between client's perception of their cultural interaction with mental health provider and the clients' levels of cultural self-awareness, cultural self-determination, and range of assimilation on client satisfaction. To do this, a secondary data analysis was conducted using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003. The researchers developed composite variables for independent variables: cultural self-awareness, cultural self-determination, range of assimilation, cultural interaction, and the dependent variable, client satisfaction to determine the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. With a sample size of 5,002, it was hypothesized that: Clients with high cultural self-awareness, high cultural self-determination, those at the high range of assimilation, and positive cultural interaction will report higher levels of client satisfaction with their mental health providers.Findings indicated that cultural self-determination had the strongest relationship with client satisfaction and with the other independent variables, as clients exhibit more cultural self-determination they experience more client satisfaction. Cultural competence strongly influences client satisfaction with mental health services. Further research is strongly suggested to examine more deeply the relationships between the independent variables, the constructs that contribute to each of the independent variables, and enhanced methods to gather such data from cross-cultural clients.

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African American students with disabilities are at the forefront of disproportionalities that exist in the academic setting. Researchers have highlighted disproportionalities in areas of academic achievement and discipline. These disproportionalities manifest in a number of negative outcomes, one of the most notable being involvement with the juvenile justice system . The current study aimed to explore the lived experiences of school discipline among African American students with disabilities who, by virtue of experiencing juvenile justice involvement, have become ensnared in what is commonly referred to as the school to prison pipeline. Data were collected via a semi structured interview format, using interview questions developed by the researcher that were informed by the seven elements of Critical Disability Theory (Hosking, 2008). This study was grounded in a social constructivist epistemology, using a phenomenological research approach to focus on exploring the lived experiences of the participants. The researcher used Clark Moustakas’ five-step phenomenological data analysis process (Creswell, 2014). Findings revealed that the essence of the experience was the participants’ shift in perspectives and acceptance of their overall journeys. Six themes assisted in developing the essence of the lived experience. The first theme, “I didn’t know what my disability was”, captures the participants’ experiences of becoming aware of their disability status. The second theme, “ I appreciated teachers who cared”, describes the participants’ experiences developing relationships with caring educators. The third theme, “Every discipline I got I deserved”, explains participants’ processes of self-blaming and taking responsibility for the consequences they received. The fourth theme, “I don’t respect the police”, describes participants’ experiences interacting with law enforcement officials. The fifth theme, “I could have been graduated”, is a reflection of the academic setbacks experienced by the participants. The final theme, “I just wish someone would have seen me”, describes the participants’ desires to be seen as a whole person despite their disability classification. In the end, findings supported Hosking’s seven elements of CDT, in addition to the key issues that were presented in the literature review. Furthermore, the findings in this study have implications for how the social work profession can work to dissolve the school-to-prison pipeline and decrease the risks associated with this phenomenon.

Social work

Special education

Education

Behavior Disorder, Disability, Juvenile Justice, Phenomenology, School to Prison, Social work

Social Work

Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America

This study investigates the influence of organizational climate on the accrual of people-of-color to cancer clinical trials, and explores whether differences in the organizational climate within different clinical research programs correlate with effectiveness in recruiting people-of-color. The study population comprised clinical research group employees in five cancer research groups (hematological malignancies, breast/gynecological (GYN)/genitourinary (GU), gastrointestinal (GI), prostate, and lung/head and neck) of a mid-Atlantic comprehensive cancer center. Organizational climate (organization members’ collective perceptions of organizational policies, procedures, and practices within the organization) was assessed using the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM) (See Appendix B), a reliable and valid questionnaire (Patterson et al., 2005) designed to measure the four organizational climate models of the Competing Values Framework (Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983) (See Appendix A). Accrual data were obtained from the 2016 Cancer Research Management System (CRMS) data and 2017 Accrual rates. Uni- and bi-variate analyses were employed to provide descriptive statistics and examine relationships among variables. Frequencies and percentages of demographic variables, and mean scores of all study variables were examined and used to describe the sample. Correlations among the independent variables and between the independent and dependent variables were conducted using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). Multicollinearity was examined among all the study variables.Accrual of people-of-color was found to vary considerably between research groups, with the prostate cancer research group accruing far higher levels of participants (overall and people-of-color). No differences in the organizational climates of the various research groups was found using one-way ANOVA analysis, except for the Pressure to Produce scale of the prostate cancer research group (statistically significantly lower relative to other research groups). The prostate cancer research group had far higher accrual rates compared to other research groups studied, suggesting that this group’s success in accrual flows from an organizational ethos that all patients are potential cancer clinical trial candidates. Pearson’s correlation analysis to examine the relationship between the OCM and percent people-of-color accrued found a significant negative relationship for the Outward Focus scale. This surprising finding suggests that an external organizational focus, alone, is insufficient to increase the accrual of people-of-color. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that education level was the only predictor of cancer clinical trial knowledge.

Social work

Health sciences

Organizational behavior

Cancer Clinical Trials, Organizational Climate, Participation, People of Color, Recruitment, Retention

Social Work

Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America

Degree awarded: Ph.D. Social Work. The Catholic University of America

Cultural competence is essential to sound social work practice (Boyle & Springer, 2001) and social work professionals are expected to provide culturally competent practice (NASW, 2001). The President's [George W. Bush] New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) called for transforming social service systems to provide culturally and linguistically competent services to facilitate improved quality of life for all Americans, "from all communities" to help eliminate disparities in service delivery and to advance a vision for social services for all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups (National Center for Cultural Competence [NCCC], n.d.; italics in original). Studies have shown that practitioners perceive themselves as being culturally competent (Armour, Bain, & Rubio, 2004; Delva-Tauili'ili, 1995). However, the extent to which clients perceive practitioners as culturally competent in their service delivery remains unclear as very few studies have investigated this question (Switzer, Scholle, Johnson, & Kelleher, 1998). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships between client's perception of their cultural interaction with mental health provider and the clients' levels of cultural self-awareness, cultural self-determination, and range of assimilation on client satisfaction. To do this, a secondary data analysis was conducted using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003. The researchers developed composite variables for independent variables: cultural self-awareness, cultural self-determination, range of assimilation, cultural interaction, and the dependent variable, client satisfaction to determine the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. With a sample size of 5,002, it was hypothesized that: Clients with high cultural self-awareness, high cultural self-determination, those at the high range of assimilation, and positive cultural interaction will report higher levels of client satisfaction with their mental health providers.Findings indicated that cultural self-determination had the strongest relationship with client satisfaction and with the other independent variables, as clients exhibit more cultural self-determination they experience more client satisfaction. Cultural competence strongly influences client satisfaction with mental health services. Further research is strongly suggested to examine more deeply the relationships between the independent variables, the constructs that contribute to each of the independent variables, and enhanced methods to gather such data from cross-cultural clients.

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