Mary S. Jackson

Revisiting the Need for Feminism and Afrocentric Theory When Treating African-American Female Substance Abusers:

African-American women who are addicted to illicit substances are disproportionately over-represented in jails, prisons, and treatment programs. In addition, this group suffers greater deleterious physical and mental health effects of alcohol and drug abuse (McNeece & DiNitto, 1998). When African-American female substance abusers enter treatment or are the focus of intervention research, clinicians and researchers have a distinct opportunity to serve these women in a culturally competent manner and assist in the healing and recovery process. Black feminist theory and Black family theoretical perspectives are explicated as the theoretical underpinnings of the Afrocentric treatment paradigm, which is beneficial in developing culturally sensitive interventions for this group of women. Culturally appropriate treatment tools and interventions are suggested as a means of empowering substance dependent African-American women.

Afrocentric Treatment of African American Women and Their Children in a Residential Chemical Dependency Program

Since the late 1970s and early 1980s when the so-called war was declared on drugs in America, little attention to treatment has been focused on African American women. Even less attention has been given to their children in treatment. Even when the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) made an attempt to refocus attention by awarding more funding to research and treatment (Rosenbaum & Murphy, 1981), these funds focused on women, but did not specify treatment and research with their children. Current drug treatment programs continue to make attempts to measure treatment outcomes based on an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) model of treatment. It is possible that this model alone produces barriers to treatment of African American women and their children rather than yielding success. It is widely known that African American women are disproportionately represented among the ranks of those who suffer from the abuse of alcohol or other drugs. Consequently, many African American women eventually find themselves in some form of treatment because of these problems and the added fear of losing their children. Professionals are increasingly realizing that many substance abuse treatment programs may not serve the needs of their female African American clients because (a) there is a focus on the AA model only, (b) there are few agencies that provide

A Study of Drug Abusing African-American Pregnant Women

Many studies have focused on pregnant women who have used crack cocaine and other drugs during pregnancy, but few studies have conducted interviews with the women either during pregnancy or after delivery while undergoing residential care and the recovery process to determine what they feel their program needs are in an effort to ensure successful treatment. This exploratory study was undertaken specifically to consider not only drug-use patterns and sexual risk behaviors, but primarily to consider what characteristics the women felt would make drug treatment intervention strategies more effective for them and their families, including the significant other in their lives. Interviews were conducted at three residential treatment facilities for women as well as at home, after program discharge. Eighty-three women participated in this project, which was both quantitative and qualitative. There is discussion of the nurturing program that should be considered for use with this population.

Training SWAT teams: implications for improving tactical units

As terrorism and other forms of violence continue to increase in American society, there is a growing need for law enforcement agencies to utilize Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) or Tactical Teams. There is, however, very little research available on SWAT units, and even less information on the training needs of these specialized divisions. This article describes the results of an exploratory study conducted to consider the training needs of SWAT units in North Carolina. A survey was administered to sixty-five law enforcement organizations. Results and implications are discussed.

Participation in Teleconference Support Groups: Application to Drug-Using Pregnant Patients

This paper describes our experience using telephone conference calls to conduct support groups for chemically-dependent women. Forty-seven women agreed to participate in regular, weekly support groups that were conducted by two chemical dependency counselors. Counselors attempted to conduct 59 support groups via a telephone conferencing system. Our data indicated that attendance at these sessions was poor. Seventeen sessions had no participants. No group sessions were attended by 4 or more women, and only 3 sessions (7.1%) included 3 participants. Very few clients made regular use of the support groups. Only 4 clients (8.5%) participated in more than 3 group sessions. Our findings suggest that teleconferencing may not be the most effective method for providing support services to chemically-dependent women.

Assessing Change in Psychosocial Functioning of Incarcerated Girls with a Substance Use Disorder: Gender Sensitive Substance Abuse Intervention

The objective of this preliminary study was to determine the effectiveness of a female gender-specific substance abuse treatment intervention (Holistic Enrichment for At-Risk Teens, or HEART) in improving problems related to personal and social functioning. A quasi-experimental, 2-group pretest and posttest repeated measures design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment intervention with 101 incarcerated girls who met DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence. A repeated measures MANCOVA revealed that the HEART program appeared to be more effective in reducing problems related to social functioning than the standard treatment substance abuse intervention. At posttest, significant differences were found between the treatment and comparison groups on three of the four measures of social functioning: problems with family, problems with friends, and problems with school. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups on 3 posttest measures of personal functioning. A critical need exists for gender-sensitive substance abuse interventions in female juvenile correctional facilities. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Female Juvenile Offenders with HEART: Preliminary Findings of an Intervention Model for Female Juvenile Offenders with Substance Use Problems:

This pilot study examined the effectiveness of an intensive, gender specific substance abuse treatment program, Holistic Enrichment for At-Risk Teens (HEART), on the psychosocial functioning of 30 incarcerated girls. A single-group multiple repeated measures design method was used to determine the effectiveness of the HEART program in reducing psychosocial problems associated with the behaviors of problem substance use and delinquency. The results showed that participants in the HEART program displayed significant improvement in eight of ten areas of psychosocial functioning: mental health, family relation, peer relations, educational status, vocational, leisure and recreational skills, and decreases in aggressive behaviors. The conclusion is that it is critical for juvenile correctional facilities to become sites where effective, empirically based treatment is provided.

Faculty Experiences of Merger and Organizational Change in a Social Work Program

Social work programs are experiencing unprecedented organizational changes due to budget cuts, dwindling resources, global, and technological challenges. However, there is limited information in the literature about the merger experiences of faculty in social work programs. On one hand undergoing merger and reorganization provides the opportunity to reorganize, reprioritize, re-assess, develop strategies, and explore previously untapped opportunities for social work programs. Conversely, merger experiences have caused frustration, intention to quit, confusion, and loss of professional identity for social work faculty. In this article the authors utilize a journaling method and sense-making approach of the merger experiences of some of the faculty members of a social work program in the United States. The authors suggest a framework to understand how the faculty confronted the challenges, overcame the pitfalls, and maximized the opportunities offered during the merger and organizational change process.

The Characteristics of Effective Cancer Education Media Interventions among African Americans: A Systematic Review.

Cancer incidence and mortality is a significant area of health disparity between African Americans and Caucasians. In the current article the authors used a systematic review design to examine the characteristics of different cancer media education intervention (CMEI) to increase access to cancer screenings for African Americans within a 30 year period (1980–2010). Ten computerized databases were searched using inclusion–exclusion criteria. Consequently, 179 potential studies were identified, and later reduced to 41 eligible studies through the inclusion–exclusion criteria. The eligible studies had a combined sample size of N = 12,764 respondents. The findings revealed that multi-media intervention strategies were the most common media intervention that led to increased cancer screenings among African Americans. The authors conclude with a call for social workers to be more involved in developing and following up with culturally appropriate media strategies that can increase the likelihood of early detection and successful treatment, thus reducing this important area of health disparity.

Support Systems Provided by Faith-Based Organizations to Families of Clients Undergoing Substance Use Disorder Treatment

We articulate the manner in which some faith-based organizations assist families to maintain or resume appropriate social functioning while their family members are undergoing substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The application of systematic intervention methods by faith-based organizations to assist families is discussed. In addition, the roles that religion and spirituality play in overcoming the duo of substance use disorder and family dysfunction are delineated. Other interventional strategies that faith-based organizations deploy in ensuring family cohesion during SUD treatment for a family member are discussed. Implications for social work practice and identified knowledge gaps for further research are explored.