Ann M. Aviles

Life Skill Service Needs: Perspectives of Homeless Youth

The present study describes the service needs related to life skill development from the perspective of sheltered homeless youth. Qualitative semistructured life narrative interviews addressing the use of services at an emergency shelter were administered to 30 youth. All youth were residig in an emergency shelter located in a large metropolitan area at the time of interview. Youth identified factors that influence their ability to access and utilize services, categorized as service availability, factors serving as access and/or barriers to services and lack of available services. Youth identify service delivery approaches and staff characteristics as impacting service delivery. Services such as counseling and childcare were identified as facilitating development and acquisition of life skills.

Life skill interventions with homeless youth, domestic violence victims and adults with mental illness

SUMMARY This paper presents three exploratory studies of life skills interventions (employment, money management or food/nutrition) with 73 homeless individuals from four shelters and supportive housing programs located in the urban Midwest for youth, victims of domestic violence and adults with mental illness. The Ansell Casey Life Skills Assessment was administered prior to the eight group and individual sessions. Quizzes and posttests indicated clinical change in all groups, with statistical significance in the domestic violence group. The intervention implementation, challenges encountered, and strategies developed for implementing shelter-based interventions are discussed. Recommendations for successfully providing collaborative university-shelter clinical interventions are provided.

Domestic Abuse Across the Lifespan: Definitions, Identification and Risk Factors for Occupational Therapists

ABSTRACT Domestic abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Occupational therapists working in many different settings will encounter children, adults, elders and individuals with disabilities who have experienced intimate violence and abuse. This article presents common definitions and illustrative examples of each type of violence. Issues related to the difficulty inherent in identifying victims of abuse are discussed with an elaboration of indicators that are likely to be seen by an occupational therapist in the clinical setting. Risk factors for becoming a victim or an abuser for each population group and the effects of violence on victims are presented. A brief discussion of the legal and ethical implications of identifying and treating abuse victims concludes the article.

Afro-Puerto Rican Primas: Identity, Pedagogy, and Solidarity

Authors highlight their shared lived experiences, examining how their identities as scholars who identify as Afro-Puerto Rican primas (cousins) intersect and mingle within institutional spaces. Authors begin by reflecting on their upbringing, highlighting the contradictions inherent in their familial dynamics, and how they choose to deliberately focus on the power of matriarchy. Furthermore, the authors explore their conscious and deliberate decision to honor and embrace their connections to Blackness given their positionality within the African diaspora. The chapter also provides narratives that demonstrate their pedagogical work given their philosophical beliefs in critical, justice-centered education. The authors aim for students and faculty to better understand collective histories and how those histories impact current realities, pedagogical practices and collaborative, justice-based praxis.