Search

Relationships are central to the profession of social work; relationships with allied disciplines, among professional social work organizations, and between classroom and field education. However, embedded within these relationships are historical tensions, and contemporary opportunities that can advance both the science of social work and the status of the profession. This article mainly highlights opportunities for advancing professional relationships between Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and National Association of Social Work (NASW) and provides exemplars for strengthening relationships between the classroom, field education, and practicing social work professionals. We argue that deepening the connections between CSWE and NASW as well as the Society for Social Work Research (SSWR) require parallel efforts to link research, evidence-based practices, and the training and education of future social workers.

This interpretive study examines how childhood history and the personal experience of being mothered impact the meaning attributed to motherhood among young mothers aging out of the child welfare system. Through the use of an interpretive approach, findings are derived from interviews with 15 females who reported an experience of pregnancy or parenting at the time of the interview. In the midst of the strain and challenge of motherhood, these young women report that motherhood has the potential to provide opportunities relevant to their own identity as well as to healing from their pasts. Findings aim to inform ways of understanding and responding to the unique and dual experience of mothering and aging out of the child welfare system. (Contains 1 table.)

There are increasing numbers of multiracial families created through marriage, adoption, birth, and a growing population of multiracial persons. Multiracials are a hidden but dominant group of transracially adopted children in both the United Kingdom and the United States. This paper introduces findings from an interpretive study of 25 transracially adopted multiracials regarding a set of experiences participants called "being raised by White people." Three aspects of this experience are explored: (1) the centrality yet absence of racial resemblance, (2) navigating discordant parent-child racial experiences, and (3) managing societal perceptions of transracial adoption. Whereas research suggests some parents believe race is less salient for multiracial children than for Black children, this study finds participants experienced highly racialized worlds into adulthood.

Evidence remains limited on culturally competent practices that enhance the engagement of Asian American immigrants in mental health services. This study examines engagement practices by social service providers in community-based organizations, using secondary qualitative data from six provider focus groups (N = 47) and five Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian immigrant client focus groups (N = 36). Thematic analysis revealed that culturally attuned engagement involved provider (a) practice wisdom and (b) practice behaviors calibrated to the unique illness experiences of individual clients. The findings illuminate how cultural competent practice manifests in real-world contexts where providers encounter culturally anchored yet uniquely individualized illness experiences of Asian American immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01306.x Byline: GINA MIRANDA SAMUELS (*) Keywords: Bicultural Socialization; Cultural Groundedness; Enculturation; Multiracial; Racial Identity; Transracial Adoption Abstract: To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full-text page on Wiley InterScience (http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp). This study uses the case of transracially adopted multiracial adults to highlight an alternative family context and thus process of African American enculturation. Interpretive analyses of interviews with 25 adult multiracial adoptees produced 4 patterns in their bicultural identity formation: (1) claiming whiteness culturally but not racially, (2) learning to 'be Black'-peers as agents of enculturation, (3) biological pathways to authentic Black kinship, and (4) bicultural kinship beyond Black and White. Conceptualizing race as an ascribed extended kinship network and using notions of 'groundedness' from bicultural identity literature, the relational aspects of participants' identity development are highlighted. Culturally relevant concepts of bicultural identity are proposed for practice with multiracial adoptees who have multiple cultures of origin and for whom White mainstream culture is transmitted intrafamilially as a first culture. Abstract (Spanish): RESUMEN En este estudio se utiliza el caso de personas multirraciales adoptadas interracialmente para destacar un contexto familiar alternativo y, por consiguiente, un proceso de endoculturacion afronorteamericana. Los analisis interpretativos de entrevistas con 25 adultos multirraciales adoptados presentaron cuatro patrones en su formacion de identidad bicultural: (1) declararse blancos culturalmente pero no racialmente, (2) aprender a 'ser negros' (pares como agentes de endoculturacion), (3) busqueda biologica del parentesco negro autentico, y (4) parentesco bicultural mas alla de la raza negra y blanca. Se destacan los aspectos relacionales del desarrollo de la identidad de los participantes mediante la conceptualizacion de la raza como una red extendida de parentescos atribuidos y la utilizacion de nociones de 'groundedness' ('sentirse conectado') tomadas de la literatura de identidad bicultural. Se proponen conceptos de identidad bicultural relevantes culturalmente para poner en practica con personas multirraciales adoptadas que tienen varias culturas de origen, y para quienes la cultura blanca dominante se transmite intrafamiliarmente como primera cultura. Palabras clave: Adopcion interracial; socializacion bicultural; persona multirracial; identidad; 'sentirse conectado' culturalmente; endoculturacion Author Affiliation: (*)School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gina Miranda Samuels, School of Social Service, Administration University of Chicago, 969 E. 60 St., Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: gmsamuels@uchicago.edu

Increasingly, multiracial research calls upon scholars to reconcile and clarify their stances on race as a biological versus a social construct and to situate their theorizing of racialized identities historically, socio-politically and as experienced subjectively. While multiracial scholarship offers both critiques against and support for a so-called 'multiracial' identity, few have outlined the methodological implications of pursuing inquiry responsive to this diverse body of work. This paper highlights the methodological challenges posed by empirical inquiry pursuing non-essentialist but structurally and subjectively grounded analyses of multiracial identity. The extended case method (Burawoy 1998) is introduced as one approach that epistemologically reflects these conceptual challenges in the field. Three elements of its application within a study of black-white multiracial adoptees are offered: 1) use of fluid concepts of race and identity; 2) conducting multi-systemic analyses; and 3) using interpretative findings to extend existing theory. Keywords: Multiracial; identity; interpretative methods; extended case method; transracial adoption; child welfare. DOI: 10.1080/01419870902749117

Recent scholarship indicates that youth homelessness is a significant problem outside urban areas. However, previous studies have not examined how local contexts shape the experiences of youth who are homeless in rural areas and small towns with high rates of poverty and epidemic drug use. To address this gap, this analysis draws from two components of a large national study of homelessness among youth, using data collected in a small non-urban setting in the Northwest including (1) a subset of 41 (out of 215 nationally) in-depth interviews with youth and (2) a subset of 16 surveys (out of 523 nationally) with service providers. We explored availability of services and how youth navigate housing instability and the service landscape in small communities. We discovered that current or prior addictions sometimes posed risks to the safety of youth and compromised their ability to rely on family supports – a support proving critical in the absence of a formal service infrastructure. Our results suggest that youth experiencing housing instability in the context of high rates of drug use and limited formal services must often choose between meeting competing needs: a place to stay versus sobriety. We discuss the implications for policy, practice, and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]