Sarah-Jane Dodd

Building Trauma Informed Practice: Appreciating the Impact of Trauma in the Lives of Women with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems

ABSTRACT This paper examines the lifetime interpersonal abuse experienced by a substance abuse treatment sample of 1,955 women with co-occurring disorders. Substantial rates of intimate and community-based interpersonal abuse and other life stressors are documented. Regression analysis shows that while trauma severity is significantly related to trauma distress, its impact on psychological symptom distress and drug severity is quite modest. The implementation of a trauma informed approach featuring trauma-specific treatment, service integration and consumer empowerment is described as a promising practice model for assisting women seeking help in substance abuse treatment programs.

Expanding Nurses’ Participation in Ethics: an empirical examination of ethical activism and ethical assertiveness

This research project investigated the extent to which nurses engage in two important kinds of ethical behaviours: ethical activism (where they try to make hospitals more receptive to nurses’ participation in ethics deliberations) and ethical assertiveness (where they participate in ethics deliberations even when not formally invited). This research probed not only the extent to which nurses engage in these ethical behaviours but also whether this is influenced by professional, training and organizational factors. A random sample of 165 nurses from three major hospitals in Los Angeles provided the data. Regression analyses indicate that both ethical activism and ethical assertiveness are strongly influenced by nurses’ perceptions of the receptivity of hospitals to their inclusion in ethics deliberations. In addition, nurses’ education in ethics is a significant predictor of ethical activism. The findings have important implications for the content of nurses’ ethics training as well as for expanding the boundaries of nurses’ participation in ethics deliberations. The authors define ethics deliberations as specific meetings of a number of people to discuss an ethical issue, such as one regarding the care of a patient.

Addition and Subtraction

ABSTRACT This paper introduces the use of cost-benefit analysis as a teaching tool for addressing diversity content within social policy courses and advocacy work. Two case examples, the Rockefeller drug laws and the Permanent Partners Immigration Act, are provided to illustrate the methodology. Teaching strategies that utilize cost-benefit analysis to develop student understanding of current policies affecting diverse populations and its usefulness as an advocacy strategy are introduced. In addition, the potential for cost-benefit analysis to foster greater understanding of whose voices seem to be heard in social policy development and whose appear to be silent is discussed.

Activism Before and After Graduate Education: Perspectives From Three Cohorts of MSW Students

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the self-reported participation of three cohorts of students’ activism activities before, during, and anticipated involvement after attending a graduate social work program during the first decade of the 21st century. Given the turbulent domestic and global context of that decade, this study provides insights into whether and how background characteristics affect beginning and ending students’ experiences with activism, and whether and how they anticipate using different activism strategies to effect change in the future. Actual and anticipated activism was more prevalent for those who selected the community organizing practice method, had a radical political affiliation, and identified as a sexual minority. There were very few racial or gender differences and no age differences.