Martha Morrison Dore

Identifying substance abuse in maltreating families: A child welfare challenge

Studies of the link between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment suggest that chemical dependence is present in at least half of the families who come to the attention of child welfare authorities for child abuse and neglect. Parental substance abuse is thought to be a primary factor in greatly increased rates of children entering foster care over the past decade. It is also a clear risk factor for child mental health problems and poor developmental outcomes in children. At the same time, however, minimal attention is often given to training child protective services workers and other child welfare personnel in identifying and confronting substance abuse in families on their caseloads. The authors explore standardized methods developed for screening for substance abuse among various populations and suggest ways of adapting these screening devices for families reported for child maltreatment. They identify assessment and treatment considerations in substance abusing families as well.

Women in Recovery Their Perceptions of Treatment Effectiveness

Research with chemically dependent women over the past two decades indicates that women substance abusers have special characteristics and needs that warrant gender-sensitive drug-treatment approaches. While the potential benefit of such treatment seems clear, little empirical data is available on how women perceive the effectiveness of gender-sensitive specialized drug treatment. This article presents findings from an exploratory study of the present and past treatment experiences of 24 women in recovery. Results indicate that while some specialized services such as child care and women-only therapy groups are increasingly available, many drug-treatment programs fail to provide these services in a context which supports and promotes women. As a result, women in drug treatment continue to experience negative stereotyping and sexual harassment as their gender-specific needs remain ignored, silenced, or deemed pathological. Major gaps in drug treatment for women are discussed as are implications for the provision of effective gender-sensitive treatment.

ArticleWomen in recovery: Their perceptions of treatment effectiveness☆

Research with chemically dependent women over the past two decades indicates that women substance abusers have special characteristics and needs that warrant gender-sensitive drug-treatment approaches. While the potential benefit of such treatment seems clear, little empirical data is available on how women perceive the effectiveness of gender-sensitive specialized drug treatment. This article presents findings from an exploratory study of the present and past treatment experiences of 24 women in recovery. Results indicate that while some specialized services such as child care and women-only therapy groups are increasingly available, many drug-treatment programs fail to provide these services in a context which supports and promotes women. As a result, women in drug treatment continue to experience negative stereotyping and sexual harassment as their gender-specific needs remain ignored, silenced, or deemed pathological. Major gaps in drug treatment for women are discussed as are implications for the provision of effective gender-sensitive treatment.

Preserving families at risk of child abuse and neglect: The role of the helping alliance

Family preservation services are increasingly employed to decrease the use of foster care and preserve maltreating families at high risk of child placement. First studies of family preservation services appeared to support their effectiveness in achieving these goals. However, questions are raised increasingly about their effectiveness, particularly with those families whose functioning is impaired by psychopathology and substance abuse. The time has come to seek fuller understanding of family preservation services and their differential successes. In this paper, we draw on current research in the field of psychotherapy--specifically on studies of the helping alliance and its relationship to treatment outcome--to purpose a new look at family preservation services and to inform of treatment of high-risk families.

Feminist Pedagogy and the Teaching of Social Work Practice

Abstract This article draws on feminist social work practice scholarship and on feminist pedagogy, primarily from the field of education, to identify and discuss the application of that literature to the practice classroom in schools of social work. The author describes epistemologies of adult learning, particularly those that identify the unique ways women organize and impart meaning to information; discusses their relevance for integrating feminist pedagogical principles in the practice classroom; and draws parallels between student learning in the feminist “liberatory” classroom and practice with clients.

Making the Parents as Partners Principle a Reality: The Role of the Alliance

We explore the dimensions of the Parents as Partners principle, the widely touted, but somewhat elusive construct in the literature on treating children with serious mental illness, whose poorly defined boundaries, lack of empirical grounding, and overemphasis on instrumental dimensions attenuates its usefulness as a guide for practice and research. Four major barriers to the realization of this principle are outlined, all of which may impede actualizing partnership in practice and may also inhibit the early formation of a positive clinician/parent alliance, a neglected, though key dimension of true partnership practice. The alliance, which has a long clinical and research history in psychotherapy and behavioral research, and more recently, in a variety of community-based interventions, is a precursor to active client partnership with helpers and to treatment participation, as well as therapeutic in its own right. After reviewing relevant alliance research, we close with a beginning research agenda to incorporate the alliance as an integral component of future conceptualization and research about the Parents as Partners principle.

Emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children in the child welfare system: Points of preventive intervention

Abstract Research is demonstrating more clearly than ever before the association between abuse and neglect and serious emotional and behavioral problems in children. Studies suggest that from 30% to 60% of children currently entering the child welfare system demonstrate some form of psychiatric disorder. At the same time, there is evidence that the child welfare system is failing to address the needs of these children in their care. This article proposes three points of preventive intervention for a child welfare system response and describes elements of each.

Child-related dimensions of placement stability in treatment foster care

Research shows increasing numbers of emotionally disturbed children entering foster care nationwide. As a result, there is growing interest in a special form of foster care known as therapeutic or treatment foster care. However, little information is currently available on the kinds of children who can benefit from this form of mental health care or on interactions between child characteristics and placement outcome. This paper begins to address this deficit in the knowledge base by proposing five psychosoical dimensions of child functioning associated with placement stability and outcome in treatment foster care. Current theory and research regarding each dimension are presented along with clinical examples.

The Practice-Teaching Parallel in Educating the Micropractitioner.

Social workers have long perceived the worker-client relationship as a dynamic process through which systems change occurs. The interaction between teacher and student in the micropractice classroom also represents a dynamic process for change. Drawing on common precepts from microlevel social work practice, the author examines the parallels in creating a context for change between the worker-client interaction and the teacher-student exchange, and also explores the application of practice skills, knowledge, and techniques in the classroom setting. She concludes that theories, skills, and the techniques for working with clients can be applied to the teaching of students because the dynamics of human change are the same and because, like the dynamic worker-client interaction, the teacher-student relationship is the medium through which active learning takes place.

Evaluating Students’ Micro Practice Field Performance: Do Universal Learning Objectives Exist?

The current study represents an effort to determine whether a universally recognized set of objectives for field-based learning in micro-level practice exists despite apparently widespread belief to the contrary among social work educators. A review of efforts over the past 50 years to conceptualize field learning and an analysis of current data on student performance criteria identified eight learning objectives for field study. These objectives reflect both traditional concepts and contemporary demands on the profession. Based on these learning objectives, the authors have proposed a method for evaluating student performance in the field.