Bibhuti K. Sar

Preparation for Adoptive Parenthood with a Special-Needs Child: Role of Agency Preparation Tasks.

ABSTRACT Mothers of 86 adopted special-needs children were surveyed regarding the tasks they undertook to prepare for parenthood. They engaged in tasks related to learning about the child most often and stated participating in training to be adoptive to be most helpful. Overall preparedness, more so than either the number or type of adoption preparation tasks (APTS) completed prior to the adoptive placement, was found to be positively associated with assessment of child and family functioning. Implications of these findings for the delivery of adoption preparation programs are discussed.

The impact of the within my reach relationship training on relationship skills and outcomes for low-income individuals.

A federal grant was awarded to provide the Within My Reach healthy relationships curriculum to low-income, at-risk individuals involved with various social service agencies. The effectiveness of this curriculum was evaluated for 202 participants through measures of training and relationship outcomes pre-, immediately post- and 6 months posttraining. Participants experienced high levels of training satisfaction; significant increases in knowledge, communication/conflict resolution skills, and relationship quality; as well as a trend in the reduction of relationship violence. An important implication of this research is that MFTs may broaden their service delivery to at-risk individuals by collaborating with community agencies to adapt established relationship enhancement programs, evidence-based tools, and principles that complement traditional couples therapy.

An Evaluation of Healthy Relationship Education to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence

This research evaluated the impact of the Within My Reach healthy relationship education program on intimate partner violence for 419 high-risk adults in an urban area. Key outcomes such as relationship knowledge, communication/conflict resolution skills, relationship quality, and physical and emotional abuse were evaluated through survey research immediately post- and 6-months postprogram participation. Results suggest that participation in the Within My Reach program is associated with a statistically significant decrease in physical and emotional abuse, as well as isolation behaviors. Differences by participant demographics and the role of communication skills and relationship quality as mediators of these outcomes are also discussed.

Impact of Coordinated Response to Intimate Partner Violence on Offender Accountability

ABSTRACT This report presents findings on the impact of a coordinated community response effort on offender accountability. A quantitative analysis approach was applied to dispositional data from all intimate partner violence arrests (1,079) occurring between August 1, 1999 and July 31, 2000. Results of the quantitative statistical analyses support that the community coordinated response under investigation resulted in perpetrators of intimate partner violence being held more accountable. Police officers in the specialized Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) made 35.1% of all intimate partner violence arrests while comprising about 1.6% of the total force. Arrests by the DVU were more likely to be felonies and remain so at disposition; and DVU average jail sentences, probation, and time conditionally discharged were longer.

Intimate Partner Violence Control Scale: Development and Initial Testing

Although control has long been considered central to understanding intimate partner violence (IPV), there continues to be a notable lack of validated scales measuring control (e.g., Strauchler et al. Journal of Family Violence, 19(6), 339–354, 2004). The purpose of this study was to develop and empirically validate a brief assessment tool, the Intimate Partner Violence Control Scale (IPVCS), designed to measure control in the context of IPV. Data from a sample of male undergraduate and graduate students (n = 436) were used to examine the scale’s properties. After reviewing theoretical conceptualizations and measurement issues of control, psychometric properties of the IPVCS and results of exploratory hypotheses tests are presented. The availability of a brief and reliable measure of control offers a tool for professionals in the judicial system, for IPV victims’ advocates, and for human services workers in practice settings to adequately assess for control and fills a gap in this area of research and practice.

From “Producing” to “Consuming” Research: Incorporating Evidence-Based Practice Into Advanced Research Courses in a Master of Social Work Program

Schools of social work have begun to explore teaching evidence-based practice (EBP) across their curriculum. Although the current literature offers ideas on how to incorporate EBP in foundation research and practice courses, the literature seems nonexistent on how to teach EBP in an advanced research sequence, which could clearly address the widespread criticism that research courses are unsuccessful in making the practice–research link more apparent. This article describes the transition of one school from a “producing research” curriculum focus to an EBP focus, which embraces consuming research. In the present article, the authors discuss the benefits and struggles associated with these two different approaches.

Enhancement of Reducing the Risk for the 21st Century: Improvement to a Curriculum Developed to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and STI Transmission

To ensure that Reducing the Risk, a successful teen pregnancy prevention education curriculum, remains relevant for todays youth, covers all information youth need to know in order to make better choices, and is delivered in a standardized way, adaptations were made and enhancements were added. This article describes results of a pilot execution of initial adaptations to Reducing the Risk with 13 youth from impoverished neighborhoods between the ages of 14 and 18. After each pilot day, a focus group was held with these 13 youth and further adaptations and enhancements were added to the curriculum. The full adapted and enhanced version of Reducing the Risk was then tested as part of a larger efficacy study utilizing a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial comparing the enhanced Reducing the Risk curriculum version with another curriculum that embeds sex education in the context of healthy relationship skill building, Love Notes, and a control condition curriculum. In order for other sites to replicate the work, this article details the findings from focus groups with youth participants in the pilot training that led to changes and additions in the curriculum. All changes and additions are described at length in this article.

Professionalizing the Child Welfare Workforce: Kentucky's Credit for Learning (CFL) Initiative

ABSTRACT In this article, we provide an overview of existing university–agency partnerships in child welfare. Then we discuss in detail one states extension of its partnership approach to enhancing professional development system via an initiative called Credit for Learning, where child welfare workers are able to meet agency training requirements while earning graduate course credit that can be applied towards a masters degree in social work. Knowledge gained from the experience of developing and implementing this initiative is also discussed.

Social Justice in the Social Work Classroom: Applying a Professional Value to Social Work Education

Social justice is a primary value of social work and therefore has a place in discussions of social work education pedagogy. This is especially true for conversations pertaining to students who are underprepared, due to educational inequalities, for successful completion of writing assignments at the undergraduate level. If underprepared students are treated as equals to prepared students, then the social inequalities that contributed to or caused a student to be underprepared are perpetuated rather than challenged. The authors explore responses to underprepared students that are consistent with social works professional value of social justice.