Based on what you have learned so far from Cleverley & Phillips’ Visions of Childhood, I ask that you first identify each side of the historical debate (those for, and those against corporal punishment) and briefly summarizing what you perceive as the main point of each view.

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Maschio, J. (2014). The unconscious mind and behavior. [Video]. Unpublished.

 

Proceed to this week’s Discussion by discussing the following about theories of how cognition may be linked to mental illness:

LeDoux’s overarching theme for his book The Synaptic Self suggested that “we are what we think” because most behavior originates with a thought, which requires the communication of neurons. For this Assignment, you will be discussing the cognitive approach to understanding the development of abnormal behavior.

  1. Explain one of the theories from the cognitive approach about how thinking is believed to increase a person’s vulnerability to develop a mental disorder (e.g., learned helplessness, negative thinking, etc.).
  2. Explain from the psychoanalytic approach about the unconscious mind and how it is believed to influence or motivate behavior.
  3. Select one of the case studies and refer to either the cognitive approach or the psychoanalytic tradition (unconscious mind) theory and discuss a possible explanation of the individual’s behavior.Our culture is conflicted about childrearing. On the one hand, are people like the conservative Christian psychologist James Dobson who, through his widely syndicated radio show Focus on the Family, has been a prominent critic of permissive parenting and an advocate for the use of spanking and corporal punishment for disciplining children. At the same time, corporal punishment has increasingly come to be regarded as a form of child abuse and is penalized by today’s child protection laws.

     

    In a four to six page essay (double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman), discuss the current controversy about corporal punishment in childrearing with reference to the historical origins of this debate. You may wish to refer to the Cole and Coffin text as a reference.

     

    Based on what you have learned so far from Cleverley & Phillips’ Visions of Childhood, I ask that you first identify each side of the historical debate (those for, and those against corporal punishment) and briefly summarizing what you perceive as the main point of each view. Then discuss within each view, the ways in which development can “derail” or go wrong and secondly, what each view imply about child development and how parents may most effectively foster positive development.

     

    In an additional section, please feel free to explain your personal view. Were you aware of the historical origins of your view?

     

    You must include a REFERENCE Page at the end of your essay. You may refer to Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (new window) for proper formatting if you so wish.

Describe the activities that would take place in the support group sessions that would address needs and lead to improved outcomes

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A logic model is a tool that can be used in planning a program. Using a logic model, social workers can systematically analyze a proposed new program and how the various elements involved in a program relate to each other. At the program level, social workers consider the range of problems and needs that members of a particular population present. Furthermore, at the program level, the logic model establishes the connection between the resources needed for the program, the planned interventions, the anticipated outcomes, and ways of measuring success. The logic model provides a clear picture of the program for all stakeholders involved.

To prepare for this Assignment, review the case study of the Petrakis family, located in this week’s resources. Conduct research to locate information on an evidence-based program for caregivers like Helen Petrakis that will help you understand her needs as someone who is a caregiver for multiple generations of her family. You can use the NREPP registry. Use this information to generate two logic models for a support group that might help Helen manage her stress and anxiety.

First, consider the practice level. Focus on Helen’s needs and interventions that would address those needs and lead to improved outcomes. Then consider the support group on a new program level. Think about the resources that would be required to implement such a program (inputs) and about how you can measure the outcomes.

Submit the following:

  • A completed practice-level logic model outline (table) from the Week 7 Assignment handout
  • A completed program logic model outline (table) in the Week 7 Assignment Handout
  • 2–3 paragraphs that elaborate on your practice-level logic model outline. Describe the activities that would take place in the support group sessions that would address needs and lead to improved outcomes
  • 2–3 paragraphs that elaborate on your program-level logic model and address the following:
    • Decisions that would need to be made about characteristics of group membership
    • Group activities
    • Short- and long-term outcomes
    • Ways to measure the outcomes

 

Required Readings

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.
Chapter 6, “Needs Assessments” (pp. 107–142)

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014a). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
Read the following section:
“The Petrakis Family”

Document: Randolph, K. A. (2010). Logic models. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods (2nd ed., pp. 547–562). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PDF)
Copyright 2010 by Sage Publications, Inc.
Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

United Way of America. (1996). Excerpts from Measuring program outcomes: A practical approach. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20130514153340/http://www.unitedwayslo.org/ComImpacFund/10/Excerpts_Outcomes.pdf

Document: Week 7: Developing A Logic Model Outline Assignment Handout (Word document)

Optional Resources

Donorfio, L. K. M., Vetter, R., & Vracevic, M. (2010). Effects of three caregiver interventions: Support, educational literature, and creative movement. Journal of Women & Aging, 22(1), 61–75
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Larsen, M., Tax, C., & Botuck, S. (2009). Standardizing practice at a victim services organization: A case analysis illustrating the role of evaluation. Administration in Social Work, 33(4), 439–449.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Compare the description of those results with the Social Work Research Qualitative Groups case study located in this week’s resources

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Just as in needs assessments, interviews and focus groups are common tools for obtaining information about the processes involved in the implementation of programs. Process evaluation should include specifics about purpose, questions which the evaluation will address, and methods that social workers will use to conduct evaluations.

Review the many examples of process evaluation results described in Chapter 8 of Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books, or in the optional resources. Select an example of a process evaluation that produced valuable information. Compare the description of those results with the Social Work Research Qualitative Groups case study located in this week’s resources

Post(2 to 3 pages) a description of the process evaluation that you chose and explain why you selected this example. Describe the stage of program implementation in which the evaluation occurred, the informants, the questions asked, and the results. Based upon your comparison of the case study and the program evaluation report that you chose, improve upon the information presented in the case study by identifying gaps in information. Fill in these gaps as if you were the facilitator of the focus group. Clearly identify the purpose of the process evaluation and the questions asked.

 

Required Readings

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.
Chapter 8, “Improving How Programs and Practice Work” (pp. 167–207)

Becker, L. A. (1999). Statistical and clinical significance. Retrieved from https://www.uccs.edu/lbecker/clinsig

Man-Son-Hing, M., Laupacis, A., O’Rourke, K., Molnar, F. J., Mahon, J., Chan, K. B., & Wells, G. (2002). Determination of the clinical importance of study results. Journal of general internal medicine, 17(6), 469-476. 

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014b). Social work case studies: Concentration year. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
Read the following section:
“Social Work Research: Qualitative Groups” (pp. 68–69)

Document: Bliss, M. J., & Emshoff, J. G. (2002). Workbook for designing a process evaluation. Retrieved from http://beta.roadsafetyevaluation.com/evaluationguides/info/workbook-for-designing-a-process-evaluation.pdf (PDF)
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health.

Discussion – This is the best section because it is finally time to talk about what YOU think. After restating your results, talk about what they mean. What are the implications of your findings? Why are they important?  After that, talk about the limitations to your study and give specific ideas for future research. I would expect 1.5 -3 pages

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Instructions

For this assignment, you will complete a research paper on a topic of your choice and you will work with a research group.

You are the researcher who conducted this study!

Once you have completed your study you will need to analyze data and write a lab report (I think it will end up being around 7- 10 pages – this page count does not include the title page or references) in APA style consisting of the following sections:

  • Title Page
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Method
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • References

(More information on each section is located below)

You will write the report as the researcher conducting the experiment. You should try to use as much of your data as possible. Do not discard data unless there is a really good reason to do so.

Careful attention must be paid to APA Style as it represents a significant portion of your grade for the paper and is an intended learning outcome for the course. At the end of the term, you will submit your completed paper to your assignment folder.

Here is the grading rubric for the paper: Rubric

Main components on your research paper

  1. Title page – Make sure that the main points of a title page are included.
  2. Abstract – This is a well written summary of your paper. A reader should be able to get a clear picture of your paper based on the abstract. Include everything from a quick introduction of the topic to a sentence that implies that you will discuss results and implications.
  3. Introduction – This is so much more than a summary of your paper and should not be treated that way. For this paper, your introduction should be 1.5-3 pages of double spaced writing. Start by introducing your topic in general. Then you should discuss research from relevant published studies. Most, if not all, of your 8 references from peer reviewed sources will be cited in this section. Discussing these studies are important as they help provide a rationale for your study. Give that rationale next. Finish by clearly stating your hypothesis.  Remember to paraphrase and summarize rather than using quotes.
  4. Methods – Split this section into participants, materials and procedures subsections. I think with all the sections this may approahc a page in length
  5. Results – Calculate your results as best as you can. Remember that your hypothesis drives your statistics. Think about what statistics you need to include to test your hypothesis. Write out all of your numbers even if you are including them in a table. Don’t forget to include a chart or table!
    1. since you are most likley going to end up fudging data yo have to focus less on the numbers and more on what the numbers you write down, mean and make sense.  For example, correlation cooefficients need to be between -1 and 1 and you should know the meaning of what a negative number and a positive number mean.
    2. You should know how a statistical test would get results.  For example, use a correlation coefficient for correlational studies and a p-value for things like a t-test
    3. If you say something is significant then your fudged numbers should reflect that it is significant at whatever level of alpha you are assigning.
    4. Hard for me to say how long this would be but since it is just the facts ad not your interpretation of the facts, I wouldn’t expect more than a page in any case
  6. Discussion – This is the best section because it is finally time to talk about what YOU think. After restating your results, talk about what they mean. What are the implications of your findings? Why are they important?  After that, talk about the limitations to your study and give specific ideas for future research. I would expect 1.5 -3 pages
  7. References – Don’t forget that your references (and all of your paper) need to be in APA format. You need at least 8 references from peer reviewed sources (e.g., journals).  ONLY use peer reviewed/scholarly sources.