Introduction

Author(s):  
Eileen A. Dombo ◽  
Christine Anlauf Sabatino

Chapter 1 explains the basic assumption of the book: that school social workers are in a position to provide leadership, knowledge, and skills to create trauma-informed schools and foster resilience in schoolchildren. Trauma-informed schools aim to address students’ dysfunctional academic and behavioral performance driven by affective and physiological arousal. The correlation between high rates of trauma exposure and poor academic performance is established in the scholarly literature, as is the need for trauma-informed schools and communities. However, researchers are now finding negative effects on school outcomes for children who have not directly experienced trauma, but whose classmates have. This means that all children benefit from trauma-informed schools. School social workers are in a prime position to prevent and address trauma, and this book provides current knowledge and concrete skills to guide development of trauma-informed schools, helping students succeed in school.

Author(s):  
Eileen A. Dombo ◽  
Christine Anlauf Sabatino

Creating Trauma-Informed Schools: A Guide for School Social Workers and Educators provides concrete skills and current knowledge about trauma-informed services in school settings. Children at all educational levels, from Early Head Start settings through high school, are vulnerable to abuse, neglect, bullying, violence in their homes and neighborhoods, and other traumatic experiences. Research shows that upward of 70% of children in schools report experiencing at least one traumatic event before age 16. The correlation between high rates of trauma exposure and poor academic performance has been established in the scholarly literature, as has the need for trauma-informed schools and communities. School social workers are on the front lines of service delivery through their work with children who face social and emotional struggles in the pursuit of education. They are in a prime position for preventing and addressing trauma, but there are scant resources for social workers to assist in the creation of trauma-informed schools. This book will provide an overview of the impact of trauma on children and adolescents, as well as interventions for direct practice and collaboration with teachers, families, and communities. Readers of this book will discover valuable resources and distinct examples of how to implement the ten principles of trauma-informed services in their schools to provide trauma-informed care to students grounded in the principles of safety, connection, and emotional regulation. They will also gain beneficial skills for self-care in their work.


Author(s):  
Eileen A. Dombo ◽  
Christine Anlauf Sabatino

For a school to be considered trauma-informed, the services and care must be provided in the context of an organization-wide approach grounded in an understanding of trauma and its consequences, with a focus on strengths, healing, and resilience. This requires a shift in the questions that are asked about children who have trouble learning or who interrupt the learning of others. Instead of asking a child, “what’s wrong with you?” the question becomes, “what happened to you?” Chapter 5 addresses the ten principles of trauma-informed services and delves into ways school social workers can create trauma-informed environments in educational settings to prevent children from being triggered and experiencing trauma in schools. Information and resources on self-care and vicarious trauma for school personnel are provided. The connection between culture and trauma is also explored.


Author(s):  
Michael S. Kelly ◽  
Rami Benbenishty ◽  
Gordon Capp ◽  
Kate Watson ◽  
Ron Astor

In March 2020, as American PreK-12 schools shut down and moved into online learning in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was little information about how school social workers (SSWs) were responding to the crisis. This study used a national online survey to understand how SSWs ( N = 1,275) adapted their school practice during the initial 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Findings from this study indicate that SSWs made swift and (relatively) smooth adaptations of their traditional practice role to the new context, though not without reporting considerable professional stress and personal challenges doing so. SSWs reported significant concerns about their ability to deliver effective virtual school social work services given their students’ low motivation and lack of engagement with online learning, as well as significant worries about how their students were faring during the first months of the pandemic. Implications for school social work practice, policy, and research are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3649
Author(s):  
Patricia Ramos-Ramírez ◽  
Omar Tliba

Glucocorticoids (GCs) act via the GC receptor (GR), a receptor ubiquitously expressed in the body where it drives a broad spectrum of responses within distinct cell types and tissues, which vary in strength and specificity. The variability of GR-mediated cell responses is further extended by the existence of GR isoforms, such as GRα and GRβ, generated through alternative splicing mechanisms. While GRα is the classic receptor responsible for GC actions, GRβ has been implicated in the impairment of GRα-mediated activities. Interestingly, in contrast to the popular belief that GRβ actions are restricted to its dominant-negative effects on GRα-mediated responses, GRβ has been shown to have intrinsic activities and “directly” regulates a plethora of genes related to inflammatory process, cell communication, migration, and malignancy, each in a GRα-independent manner. Furthermore, GRβ has been associated with increased cell migration, growth, and reduced sensitivity to GC-induced apoptosis. We will summarize the current knowledge of GRβ-mediated responses, with a focus on the GRα-independent/intrinsic effects of GRβ and the associated non-canonical signaling pathways. Where appropriate, potential links to airway inflammatory diseases will be highlighted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Powell ◽  
Kathy Morrison

Family violence (also referred to as Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence) describes violence that occurs within an intimate relationship, whether a current or former partner. Children can experience a range of abuses (emotional, physical, sexual and neglect) within the context of family violence, and harm is cumulative and may present as complex trauma. This paper is based on a practice presentation delivered at the International Childhood Trauma Conference in Melbourne (Australia) in June 2016. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the impacts for children who have experienced family violence, to enhance understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to their trauma presentation, and to highlight the specific practice issues and considerations in providing therapeutic support to this client population, with the ultimate aim of improving diagnostic and treatment outcomes for children impacted by family violence. Sufficient safety and stability are required for children to experience therapeutic change, and if family violence is current, the initial response needs to be protective. Identification of family violence should prompt practitioners to use trauma-informed assessment and trauma-focused evidence-based treatments within a family therapy and systems framework. Family violence is complex and there are many barriers to treatment and practice considerations. Expansion of practitioner knowledge and skills in family violence trauma will enhance outcomes for children who have experienced family violence.


Despite their academic preparation and lived experiences, new school social workers face a learning curve when moving from entry-level practice to proficiency. The Art of Being Indispensable: What School Social Workers Need to Know in Their First Three Years of Practice is the first book focusing specifically on the needs of new school social workers as they transition to this complex role. Each of the book’s 20 chapters features an academic scholar and at least one school social work practitioner; overall, there are 18 academics and 42 practitioners from 28 different states. The diversity of the authors’ experiences, representing all variations of schools and districts, ensures that the content is applicable to a variety of practice contexts. Each chapter addresses the challenges of a public health pandemic and the impact of racial injustice. There is a timeless quality to this text since every year, new school social workers are being hired, whether from master of social work and bachelor of social work programs or from the ranks of professional social workers changing fields and becoming school social workers. This indispensable guide will help new school social workers to effectively execute their roles and responsibilities.


Social workers have played a key role in political settings from the profession’s historic roots to present day. Their knowledge, skills and values position social workers to practice in political settings. Social work faculty and students were interviewed to assess a) how field placements in legislative offices and participation in Campaign School and NASW-sponsored Legislative Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD) impacted students’ professional development and perspectives on political social work, and b) social work faculties’ perception of these activities in students’ social work education and necessary political social work knowledge and skills. Initial results demonstrate a high level of support for these activities among faculty and students with opportunities to further include them in the explicit and implicit social work curriculum.


Affilia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel C. Casey

As the number of women incarcerated in the United States continues to rise and their complex needs become more apparent, social workers must fortify their historical commitment to criminal justice reform. However, crafting more effective and compassionate responses to the needs of justice-involved women may very well require a more nuanced understanding of the holistic impact of incarceration on women’s well-being than the current literature offers. Utilizing the framework of feminist standpoint epistemology, the researcher engaged in qualitative content analysis to examine published personal accounts from 43 women to better understand their experiences in prisons and jails in the United States. Two overarching themes emerged from the analysis. First, the personal accounts illustrated that women experience prisons and jails as environments of denial insofar as these carceral environments deny women’s basic needs, their sense of humanity, and their personal power. The second overarching theme pertains to the holistic impact of the carceral environment upon women’s lives, meaning it has expansive effects on women’s biopsychosocial–spiritual functioning. Social workers should dedicate efforts to dramatically reducing the number of women behind bars and engaging in holistic intervention approaches that might counteract the negative effects of incarceration across domains of well-being.


1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Marion Huxtable

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