Christine M. Rine

The Intersection of Social Process and Social Structure Theories to Address Juvenile Crime: Toward a Collaborative Intervention Model

Juvenile crime has long been a pervasive social problem and the target of various intervention efforts. These efforts are ultimately orchestrated by the theoretical lens through which juvenile crime is viewed. This article illustrates the utility of examining theoretical perspectives to inform interventions by presenting a critical analysis and proposed synthesis of two major theories in this area; social learning theory and social disorganization theory. Results of this analysis suggest that both be considered and merged in developing potential solutions. Removing professional silos and developing interdisciplinary approaches aimed at improving outcomes for youth, their families, and communities are critical.

Content and Process in a Teaching Workshop for Faculty and Doctoral Students

Teaching in higher education is often not addressed in doctoral education, even though many doctoral graduates will eventually teach. This article describes a biweekly teaching workshop, presents pitfalls and challenges that beginning instructors face, and advocates pedagogical training for doctoral students. Led by a well-known social work scholar Lawrence Shulman, the workshops were a place for participants to share their concerns and process solutions. Here, each student’s scenario serves as a backdrop for Dr. Shulman’s explanation of classroom content and process, for which the workshop served as a parallel process. This discussion is framed by the extant literature on preparing higher education instructors during the course of doctoral education.

Using GIS Mapping to Assess Foster Care: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become widely used outside of traditional mapping applications, expanding their reach to social service organizations. The purpose of this article is to describe and explore the benefits of GIS mapping in identifying strengths and needs of foster care systems in rural settings through graphically assessing service usage and delivery. Herein, authors present their project as an example of such efforts to inform applications for practice providing a model that encourages others to explore methods of this nature. Focus is placed on rural characteristics that bring particular challenges for child welfare stakeholders.

A Review and Application of Existing Theories in Neighborhood Research: Toward a Model for Social Work Practice

The application of existing theory in regard to assessing and addressing neighborhoods from a social work perspective is largely unexplored. Current theories informing neighborhood-level interventions draw little on social work literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore literature from varied fields to assess their utility and inform neighborhood-level intervention methods for social workers. Examining neighborhood theory from all fields and comparing it to those most commonly used in social work is helpful to understanding how practitioners can advance this work and research.