Ashleigh Washington, T. Stephens, Caterina Pisciotta
{"title":"Space, Place, and Time: The Family Court Experiences of Child Welfare–Involved Parents","authors":"Ashleigh Washington, T. Stephens, Caterina Pisciotta","doi":"10.1177/10443894221109207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221109207","url":null,"abstract":"There is no Family Court (FC) without families. However, historically and presently, families have not been centered in child welfare (CW) and family unification practices. This article aims to increase knowledge of parents’ experiences with CW and FC to illustrate how these institutions operate in the lives of the families they were built to serve. Data collected from in-depth interviews with parents ( n = 4) and parent advocates ( n = 6) illustrate how space, place, and time were recreated once parents engaged with CW and FC. These emergent findings show the FC’s replication of racial and social inequities among poor mothers of color and how the FC facilitated punitive pathways to reunification. This article ends with a call for institutional reforms to align FC practices with their stated purpose of supporting and centering families.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81509706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Promoting Social Visibility for Single-Father Families Created by Surrogacy","authors":"H. Pereira, Colleen Beatriz","doi":"10.1177/10443894221118767","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221118767","url":null,"abstract":"The phenomenon of single-father families created by surrogacy is a social event that lacks visibility. The dominant thinking regarding parenting is framed by heteronormativity, which establishes couplehood of different sexes as the acceptable and biologically grounded way to reproduce and raise children, leading to the lack of visibility of single men who want to be or are already fathers. For these men, there are two main possible paths: adoption or surrogacy. In this occasional essay, we will discuss the importance of creating social visibility for single men who want to become or are already fathers through surrogacy to provide enlightening information about the phenomenon, creating positive models for single gay or straight men who choose this method to fulfill their parenting ambitions. We will begin by establishing some introductory social considerations, followed by some explanations for why single men wish to pursue surrogacy and their experiences. We then provide research results from the field and respective conclusions. We argue that creating social visibility for single parents through surrogacy is a form of social change that could facilitate the deconstruction of traditionalist views of the concept of family.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"104 1","pages":"234 - 239"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48139786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily K. Miller, Kari O'Donnell, Anna E. Bender, Kylie E. Evans, M. Holmes
{"title":"Mothers’ Experiences of Emotional Connection During COVID-19 in the United States: A Thematic Analysis","authors":"Emily K. Miller, Kari O'Donnell, Anna E. Bender, Kylie E. Evans, M. Holmes","doi":"10.1177/10443894221094504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221094504","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the role of social support in mitigating the stress associated with disease outbreaks is imperative. This qualitative study explored how mothers with children between the ages of 5 and 12 years (N = 185) in the United States drew on social support resources to maintain emotional connections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were gathered through an online survey. Technology and physically distanced, in-person interactions with a close group of friends or family were two primary ways participants maintained emotional connection. Participants reported that important qualities of emotional connection included empathy, acceptance, and value agreement. Implications for practice include identifying technology-based and safe, in-person strategies for clients and patients to connect with family members and close friends to maintain vital emotional and social support resources.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"11 1","pages":"489 - 502"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77843710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"One Father’s Journey Toward Peace: Integrating the Qur’an Into Narrative Therapy to Address Loss From Parent–Child Estrangement","authors":"Mary Beth Ali","doi":"10.1177/10443894221087192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221087192","url":null,"abstract":"Islamic culture values strong family bonds and rupturing family relations is not often an option for family members, leading to estrangement. For Muslim parents, the failed familial repair, compounded with estrangement, may lead to isolation and become an obstacle to seeking therapeutic aid. Teaming a non-pathologizing intervention of narrative therapy (NT) with a bibliotherapy tool, the Qur’an can be explored as a therapeutic support. NT guides individuals to share their dominant problem-saturated narratives as the clinician listens for alternate strength-based narratives. This case study will augment NT to include the Qur’an as a bibliotherapy tool in reconstructing a father’s journey of loss as he seeks resolution and meaning from his daughter’s permanent estrangement. Pairing NT and the Qur’an to reshape the father’s loss narratives aids in externalizing the problem narrative and reconstructing a meaning-making narrative.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"32 1","pages":"463 - 474"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85350396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multispecies Families: Pets, Community, and Social Action","authors":"N. Dolby","doi":"10.1177/10443894221094495","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221094495","url":null,"abstract":"In this essay, I reflect on what I learned about human–animal relationships, families, and community through volunteering at an animal shelter, and how I translated these insights into founding a nonprofit community organization, Animal Advocates of Greater Lafayette (AAGL). I first discuss the increasing research and scholarship in the social work field that examines the role of pets in human lives. I describe my methodological frame, drawing on the fields of autoethnography and personal narrative in qualitative research. I then relate both animal and human stories from the field (in this case, an animal shelter), and tell the story of the founding and current activities of AAGL. In conclusion, I suggest that AAGL, as a community organization, models how to rethink families through a multispecies lens.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"104 1","pages":"397 - 403"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46369372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Greetings From the New Editor-in-Chief","authors":"A. Ono","doi":"10.1177/10443894221109263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221109263","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"49 1","pages":"255 - 256"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82742504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Qualitative Exploratory Study of Family Inclusion in Assertive Community Treatment: Challenges and Possibilities","authors":"Lance T. Peterson, Michelle Gricus","doi":"10.1177/10443894221074670","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221074670","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to understand the unique challenges of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) service providers to actively include natural supports in treatment. The qualitative approach was guided by the participatory intervention model and tenets of critical realism. Interviews included focus groups of different stakeholders on ACT teams (e.g., case managers) and individual interviews with ACT clients. Through thematic analysis, we identified themes demonstrating how state funding requirements, demands on staff schedules, and psychosocial barriers make it challenging to include clients’ natural supports. We derived two implications which may enhance future possibilities for natural support inclusion: community-based psychoeducation family groups coupled with state funding streams that better support the ACT model.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"104 1","pages":"111 - 124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48959280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michèle L. Hébert, D. Nicholas, L. Lach, Wendy Mitchell, Jennifer D. Zwicker, Wenda Bradley, Sandy Litman, Emily Gardiner, A. Miller
{"title":"Lifespan Navigation-Building Framework for Children/Youth With Neurodisability and Their Families","authors":"Michèle L. Hébert, D. Nicholas, L. Lach, Wendy Mitchell, Jennifer D. Zwicker, Wenda Bradley, Sandy Litman, Emily Gardiner, A. Miller","doi":"10.1177/10443894221081609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894221081609","url":null,"abstract":"This study served to conceptualize neurodisability (ND) navigation-building. Capacity-building toward wide-reaching ND navigation or help-seeking service lacks empirical evidence. Researchers widely agree that a system-wide framework is absent. While research emphasizes service-level findings, other jurisdiction- and policy-level insights are lacking. Using Collective Community Impact and Participatory Action Research, government and nongovernment organizations in three Canadian regions implemented novel cross-jurisdictional initiatives to improve navigation capacity. Family-partners and other stakeholders systematically engaged in discussions. Grounded in qualitative thematic design, we sought to unveil connections between emerging themes. These themes led to stakeholders co-constructing an intersectoral navigation-building conceptualization. A framework was essential for highlighting change-levers and potential replication in other jurisdictions/landscapes. Finally, practice and policy implications compatible with an ecosystem model are presented.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"42 1","pages":"281 - 298"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82160291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Justice Conversations: Using Critical Dialogue to Unpack Oppression","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/10443894211062647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10443894211062647","url":null,"abstract":"Dialogues can bring people together across social divides to develop mutual understanding, generate empathy, and challenge oppression. Yet, all too often, these conversations derail and merely reinforce rather than challenge the social divides they are designed to bridge. We piloted a brief small group program aimed at fostering dialogue about racism and other forms of oppression with 100 undergraduates. A thematic analysis of the resulting 37 group transcripts found that the critical dialogue process helped participants unpack the nature and complexity of oppression, deepen their understanding of privilege, and begin to share and challenge the experience of oppression itself. Sharing thoughts, feelings, and personal experiences, participants used the critical dialogue process to work together to disrupt oppression in their lives.","PeriodicalId":47463,"journal":{"name":"Families in Society-The Journal of Contemporary Social Services","volume":"22 1","pages":"377 - 393"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82757482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}