Susan Saltzburg

Institutions of Youth Development: The Significance of Supportive Staff-Youth Relationships

Abstract Youth development organizations are key institutions that contribute to healthy outcomes for youths. The development of caring staff-youth relationships is one key youth development program strategy. Using structural equation modeling, the present study examined the importance of these relationships on impacting school-related attitudes and behaviors among 149 youth participants in a Boys & Girls Club program. Results indicate that staff-youth relationships are positively related to the development of pro-social school behaviors, and negatively associated with the display of anti-social school behaviors. Findings point to the importance of supportive staff-youth relationships within institutions serving youths.

Co-Authoring Gender-Queer Youth Identities: Discursive "Tellings" and "Retellings".

For youth who challenge the culturally fixed gender dichotomy through nonconventional gender expression, societal reaction can be harsh. Uncovering these youth voices as they pioneer new gender frontiers through pathways of language and social dialogue provides the focus for this manuscript. Drawing from discursive, narrative practices, we sat in on a transgender youth conversation group and positioned ourselves as outsider witnesses. The manuscript presents the tellings of the youth and our retellings, as reflective listeners, of their narratives of identity and social relevance. This research offers readers the opportunity to step into the lives of gender-nonconforming youth who are at a very different place in understanding gender identity than most professionals working with youth populations.

Assessing Community Needs of Sexual Minority Youths: Modeling Concept Mapping for Service Planning

Research devoted to interventions and other attempts to buffer the negative experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (GLBTQ) youths is lacking. This study used Concept Mapping to explore the psychosocial support needs of diverse sexual minority youths served in a GLBTQ youth-focused center and brings youth voice to currently limited literature on GLBTQ service planning. Conceptual maps generated represent the types of supports youths believe are needed to meet their needs. Three primary areas for service planning—developing protective supports, mental health-related supports, and culturally relevant services—were identified from the 58 statements and 5 clusters generated.

Youth participation in qualitative research: Challenges and possibilities

Research often excludes youth participants, omitting their social and psychological realities, undermining their rights to participate and benefit from research, and weakening the validity of research. Researchers may be discouraged from including youth due to logistical (e.g. gaining access) or ethical (e.g. coercion risks based on developmental level) concerns. Increased discussion is needed around appropriate methods to use with child and youth participants that manage challenges related to developmental capacities, legal status, power differentials, and unpredictable aspects of qualitative research. This paper pools experiences of six researchers, describing solutions we have developed in studies employing varied qualitative methodologies with varied vulnerable youth subpopulations. We detail successful approaches to access, compensation, consent, assent, and confidentiality. Social work researchers are wellsuited to navigate the challenges, and we share our examples with the aim of facilitating increased youth participation in research.

Using Live Supervision in Field Education: Preparing Social Work Students for Clinical Practice

This article presents a qualitative study exploring respondents’ perceptions of live supervision as the primary field instruction method for MSW students participating in an internship that emphasized family therapy. Participants were specifically asked in what ways live supervision supported and facilitated learning clinical practice. Identifying live supervision as important for bridging the pedagogical gap between teaching theory and practice learning stood out as an important metatheme of the study, not previously discussed in the literature. Important emergent categories included learning-in-action pedagogy, feedback loop for integrative learning, the safety net in parallel observation, transparency in the supervision process, and building capacity for entering the workforce. Incorporating the principles of adult learning theory, live supervision offers an important contribution to social work field education.

A nietzschean perspective on church affiliation and self-esteem among same-sex-attracted members of the mormon church

The conflict between self-identity and religious doctrine is underinvestigated in lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons. This article examines the association between religious affiliation and self-esteem in a sample of 150 same-sex-attracted current and former members of the Mormon Church and proposes a Nietzschean perspective for clinical social work in this population. Cross-sectional data were collected through a Web-based 18-item survey composed of the Mormon Affiliation Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Analysis methods included univariate analysis using a Dunnett C post hoc test and Pearson correlation. We found a slightly positive association between ceasing church affiliation and improved self-esteem. Recommendations for practice and future research are discussed.