Carolyn Bradley

Unraveling the link between trauma and delinquency: The mediating role of negative affect and delinquent peer exposure.

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of negative affect and delinquent peer exposure on the link between trauma and juvenile delinquency. Using a nationally representative sample of 2,065 males, a secondary data analysis was conducted to test a mediation model based on general strain theory. Mediation analyses revealed that negative affect (i.e., anger) and delinquent peer exposure exerted an intervening influence on the pathway between trauma and delinquency. These findings have important implications for collaboration efforts among the child welfare, social service, mental health, and criminal justice fields. Understanding the multiple pathways that connect trauma to delinquency can help to develop or improve prevention, assessment, and intervention efforts geared toward helping at-risk youth, their families, and their communities.

Social Work Students and the Research Process: Exploring the Thinking, Feeling, and Doing of Research

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore how social work students enrolled in a research course report their thoughts, feelings, and satisfaction with the research process. A pretest and posttest, self-report measures, the State-Trait Anxiety Scale (Y1), and subscales of the Research Process Survey were used to track the thoughts. feelings, and actions of 111 social work research students during a fifteen-week semester. Results of paired sample t-tests revealed that although social work students experienced a decrease in negative thoughts and feelings (e.g., anxiety) about the research process, they were not satisfied with it. These findings have important implications for social work education. Helping students increase not only their positive thoughts and feelings about research but also their satisfaction level can assist with the long-term educational goal to educate social work professionals who can provide high-quality services, evaluate practice, and improve practice, policy, and social servi...

Women in AA: “Sharing Experience, Strength and Hope” The Relational Nature of Spirituality

This article examines how specific practices within Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) assist women to develop an understanding of spirituality that promotes and sustains sobriety. AAs conceptualization of alcoholism as an illness that only a spiritual awakening can conquer seems outdated and irrelevant to many especially with the pharmacological advances that have been made in the addiction recovery field (Sanders, 2006). Using data from a qualitative exploratory study of womens experiences in AA, this paper reports that for some women in the program it is the spirituality learned and experienced through the relationship of sponsorship that has allowed them to achieve sobriety (Sanders, 2006).

One Woman's Life Journey : A Case Study of Spirituality and Activism

Abstract This qualitative study examines the life history of an 80 year old woman grassroots peace activist through the lens of spirituality (Borysenko, 1996; Canda & Furman, 1999) and relational theory (Belenky, Clinch, Goldberger, Tarule, 1986; Covington & Surrey, 1997). Using a case study design and multiple data sources, the major psychological, social, and historical events of her life were reviewed. Major theoretical themes that emerged from the interview are described. These findings provide useful insights about how the quest for inner peace and spirituality motivates and sustains community activism, an area critical to social workers who use peaceful diplomacy to organize efforts for social justice outcomes.

“How Could I Have Done This?” Thoughts of Mothers of Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Biological mothers of children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) must cope with the struggles of parenting a child with special needs with the knowledge that their children’s problems are due to their alcohol use during pregnancy. Qualitative interviews were conducted by telephone with 11 biological mothers of children with FAS. This group of mothers understood their use of alcohol during pregnancy through reliance on the disease model, inaccurate or incomplete knowledge of the consequences of drinking during pregnancy, the advice of others, and a lack of awareness of the pregnancy.