Heidi Kulkin

Suicide among gay and lesbian adolescents and young adults: a review of the literature

Abstract This paper explores the issue of suicide among gay and lesbian adolescents and young adults, as well as provides information to guide clinicians in working effectively with this population. The theoretical perspectives on homosexual identity development by Troiden, Cass, and Lewis are discussed in connection with Durkheims Suicide Theory and various theoretical risk factors, as well as implications for social work practice. This paper is intended to be utilized as a tool during the assessment phase of treatment with an adolescent or young adult who may be questioning his or her sexuality.

A review of research on violence in same-gender couples: a resource for clinicians.

Abstract This paper reviews current research that has primarily focused on domestic violence among same-gender couples. Several key issues pertaining to the identification, assessment, and treatment of domestic violence among same-gender couples are examined and outlined to assist clinicians in effectively working with gay and lesbian clients who may be experiencing domestic violence. Resource information is included to help mental health clinicians recognize specific stressors of marginalized individuals as well as assessment and treatment recommendations are made.Abstract This paper reviews current research that has primarily focused on domestic violence among same-gender couples. Several key issues pertaining to the identification, assessment, and treatment of domestic violence among same-gender couples are examined and outlined to assist clinicians in effectively working with gay and lesbian clients who may be experiencing domestic violence. Resource information is included to help mental health clinicians recognize specific stressors of marginalized individuals as well as assessment and treatment recommendations are made.

Factors enhancing adaptive coping and mental health in lesbian youth: a review of the literature.

Abstract Mental health practitioners who find themselves working with lesbian youth have a limited knowledge base by which to guide them in the helping process. This article explores, examines, and synthesizes current literature in an attempt to uncover factors that serve to enhance adaptive coping strategies for lesbian youth.

Grief and foster parents: How do foster parents feel when a foster child leaves their home?

Foster parents support the child welfare system by looking after children who need to be cared for away from home. They serve as surrogate or substitute parents until the child is reunited with his or her birth parents or an alternate permanent home is found. The experience of foster parents when a child they have cared for leaves their home is rarely recognised or discussed. This study seeks to learn more about the feelings that foster parents experience in such situations. Evaluation instruments include a quantitative scale and an open-ended question. Results from both these analyses suggest that foster parents do experience significant grief upon the loss of their children, and that this emotion takes several forms and affects the recruitment and retention of carers.

Toward a Multicultural Feminist Perspective on Fiction for Young Adults

Feminist social science investigations of childrens books over the past 20 years have employed the liberal feminist assumptions that marked the paradigmatic study by Weitzman, Eifler, Hokada, and Ross. The authors illustrate the value of a multicultural feminist approach to childrens literature by “listening” to themes of oppression and resistance in 16 recent young-adult novels about non-White, non-American, or nonheterosexual characters. Their findings point to a greater variety of such themes than they might have heard if they had used only a liberal feminist lens in their reading of childrens books. The findings also lead to elaborations of current multicultural and global feminist theories themselves.

An investigation of foster parent training needs

256

Attending to foster parent grief: exploring the use of grief awareness training for child welfare workers:

Foster parents often feel irresolvable grief when a child they have loved and nurtured is removed from their home. Their grief response is frequently unrecognised and misunderstood, and can lead to problems regarding the retention of the carers on which the system relies. This article examines the challenge of retaining foster parents and describes the development of a grief awareness training programme for foster care and adoption workers as an effort to improve recruitment and retention. A one-group pre-test/post-test design was used to examine the difference in knowledge enhancement and understanding about foster parent grief after the training was administered to a sample of foster care and adoption workers.