Peter A. Kindle

Student Perceptions of Financial Literacy: Relevance to Practice

ABSTRACT The relevance of financial literacy to social work has been framed almost exclusively in the context of poverty relief, but this study expands this framework to the evidence linking financial stress, not merely poverty, to adverse client outcomes. Using a new 15-item, quantitative instrument, student (N= 1,506) perceptions were collected. Respondents demonstrated a moderate awareness of the relevance of financial literacy in 11 of 15 problem issues commonly encountered in practice, indicating a moderate receptivity to financial education. Future research should clarify the contours of financial knowledge that is required to assist clients.

Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Families: An Exploratory Study of Family Functioning, Adoptive Child's Behavior, and Familial Support Networks

ABSTRACT Traditional legal and social forces have hindered the adoption of children by gay and lesbian individuals and couples. Using a convenience sample drawn from gay and lesbian support groups and Internet sites, this exploratory study examines adoptive families with gay and lesbian parents in terms of family functioning capabilities, childs behavior, and family support networks. Data were gathered from 47 gay and lesbian parents and 68 of their adopted children. The results suggest that these adoptive families are performing within the healthy ranges established by scales measuring family functioning and adopted childs behavior. Additionally, the results of this study suggest these families have adequate levels of help from their support networks. Finally, those families who adopted siblings and those who adopted older children with a history of abuse reported higher levels of family functioning. The results of this exploratory study, in combination with previous studies of gay and lesbian families, support the practice of adoption by gay and lesbian adults.

Perceptions of Social Support Among Heterosexual and Homosexual Adopters

Social support is a key variable in adoptive family functioning, however, few have addressed this in reference to gay and lesbian adoptive families. Comparison of responses between gay and lesbian adoptees (n = 47) with heterosexual adoptees (n = 25) on a modified version of the Family Support Scale did not indicate differences in overall levels of family support. Differences did exist between the levels of social support in individual categories with heterosexuals relying on my relatives and my own children and gay and lesbians relying on partners and day care centers. Results supported the hypothesis that heterosexual adoptive parents relied more on family, but did not support the hypothesis that gay and lesbian adoptive parents relied more on friends.

Diversity, Oppression, and Change: Culturally Grounded Social Work (2nd ed.)

Marsiglia and Kulis, both on the faculty at Arizona State University, have provided a masterful work worthy of a wide social work audience. Their postmodern understanding that culture as a dynamic ...

The Financial Literacy of Social Work Students

The financial literacy of social work students has become the focus of curriculum development and research, but no study to date has attempted to assess the financial knowledge possessed by social work students. This study addressed that gap by assessing the level of objective financial knowledge reported by social work student respondents (N = 1,506) to an Internet-based survey. Results indicated that the majority of social work student respondents scored more than 70% correct on a 48-item measure of financial literacy. Multiple regression analysis explained 33.7% of the variance and suggested that the dominant pathway to acquiring objective financial knowledge is through personal experience. Accordingly, financial education programs for social work students may be most appropriate for traditional undergraduates.

School Selection Preferences of Public and Private University MSW Students: A Retrospective Study

A convenience sample of MSW students responded to an Internet-based survey (N=2,289) retrospectively reporting their reasons for enrolling in a specific social work graduate program. Reponses indicate that MSW students who enroll in private graduate programs are younger and reported reputation-related and employment-related reasons for specific school selection more often than students enrolled in public schools. Students enrolled in public schools reported location-related reasons as more important. Bifurcation of the applicant pool into private and public preference-groups presents a recruitment challenge. Other findings include that enrollment rates are substantially higher than previously anticipated, which suggests that most applicants to graduate social work programs are likely to be admitted if they apply to multiple programs.

The Blame Index: Exploring the Change in Social Work Students’ Perceptions of Poverty

ABSTRACT This study reports the development of a new Blame Index to determine attributions of the causes of poverty along a single structural-to-individual dimension. A multisite pre-/post-group design tested the degree of change in social work students’ (N = 177) perception of poverty as a result of taking a single BSW social policy course or an MSW foundation social policy course. Student respondents reported a significant shift toward structural and away from individual attribution of the causes of poverty, more support for government antipoverty benefit programs, increased awareness of the inadequacy of existing government antipoverty programs, and increased awareness of the difficulty in accessing government antipoverty benefits. Linear regression explained 17% of the change in the Blame Index with only race/ethnicity and the change in adequacy of benefits as significant predictors.

Rural Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage

This study explored rural perspectives on same-sex marriage with a nonprobability sample (N = 156) of adult respondents recruited in a largely rural state in the upper Midwest. A new 6-item instrument with strong internal consistency (α =.943) found that support for same-sex marriage was widespread without significant differences based on relationship status, education level, rural residence, or biological sex. Sexual orientation predicted support for traditional family values and same-sex marriage which were inversely associated. Findings suggest that the presumption of rural bias and hostility toward alternative sexualities has mitigated in the upper Midwest. Social work practitioners should infer from this study that there is more to rural culture than remoteness, isolation, poverty, stigma, and conservative religious values. The malleability of rural culture may be an unrecognized strength that may provide encouragement to rural social workers advocating for and serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

Personal Accounts of Poverty: A Thematic Analysis of Social Media

ABSTRACT The field of social work seeks to enhance human well-being by addressing the needs of people living in poverty. Three billion people around the world use the internet daily, and 65% of them use social media. This article qualitatively identifies emergent themes about the lived experiences of poverty from people who reported either being poor or having have been poor, using selected social media posts (N = 1,495) on the website Reddit. We found that the experiences of poverty bring arduousness and hardship, which necessitates an arsenal of survival strategies and skills. It was also found that some people who were poor experienced the saving grace of unexpected charitable acts, which eased their burden. Moreover, these experiences manifest in vestigial feelings and behaviors even when one is no longer poor. An understanding of the lived experiences by poor people themselves is a foundational task for social work educators, practitioners, and researchers.

Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh: (2006). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Paperback.

Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, professor of sociology at Columbia University in New York City, spent parts of 8 years getting to know Maquis Park, a pseudonym for an undisclosed south-Chicago neighborhoo...