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Social work professionals experience job-related stressors often associated with compromised mental health. In low-resource, conflict settings, such as the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), structural and environmental obstacles pose additional challenges. This qualitative study identified stressors faced by 237 Palestinian social workers, current organizational strategies to reduce worker stress, and recommendations for new strategies. Content analysis identified 12 categories of stressors within five domains: role-related, interpersonal, organizational, societal, and miscellaneous. Current stress reduction efforts are perceived as ineffective, but numerous suggestions were offered for new initiatives. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed. Practice Points Palestinian public sector social workers face a litany of stressors at multiple levels, including role-related, interpersonal, organizational, and societal. In addition to the types of workplace stressors typically associated with social worker burnout and secondary traumatic stress, Palestinian social workers must also contend with stressors related to operating in a low-resource setting and under Israeli military occupation. While the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development is limited in its capacity to address many of the structural factors that contribute to worker stress, opportunities exist to promote worker well-being at an organizational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging adulthood, the developmental stage between ages 18 and 25, presents unique barriers to former foster youth, who experience higher rates of unplanned pregnancy and homelessness and poorer educational attainment than their peers during this time. This study uses interviews with 20 youth formerly in foster care who exhibit better-than-average outcomes to explore contextual aspects of resilience during emerging adulthood, elucidating how both relational and organizational support contribute to their resiliency. Implications for social work policy and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long-standing belief in the value of independence has led to an emphasis on self-sufficiency in our programming, policy, and practice responses toward youth aging out of the foster care system—an ideal that often is difficult for young people to achieve. How-ever, a growing body of research on interdependence suggests that healthy connections to trusted adults may better help youth navigate the transition to adulthood. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 youth explored conceptualizations of independence in the context of emancipation. Using thematic content analysis, themes indicate contradictory and deterministic ideas about self-sufficiency and adulthood. Findings imply tensions between independence and a developmentally normative need for interdependence during the period of emerging adulthood [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]