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- All Subjects: Social Work
- Creators: Marsiglia, Flavio
- Creators: Jackson, Kelly F
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
HIV/AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death worldwide and the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age living in low-income countries. Clinicians in industrialized nations monitor the efficacy of antiretroviral drugs and HIV disease progression with the HIV-1 viral load assay, which measures the copy number of HIV-1 RNA in blood. However, viral load assays are not widely available in sub-Saharan Africa and cost between 50-$139 USD per test on average where available. To address this problem, a mixed-methods approach was undertaken to design a novel and inexpensive viral load diagnostic for HIV-1 and to evaluate barriers to its adoption in a developing country. The assay was produced based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Blood samples from twenty-one individuals were spiked with varying concentrations of HIV-1 RNA to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of LAMP. Under isothermal conditions, LAMP was performed with an initial reverse-transcription step (RT-LAMP) and primers designed for HIV-1 subtype C. Each reaction generated up to a few billion copies of target DNA within an hour. Presence of target was detected through naked-eye observation of a fluorescent indicator and verified by DNA gel electrophoresis and real-time fluorescence. The assay successfully detected the presence of HIV in samples with a broad range of HIV RNA concentration, from over 120,000 copies/reaction to 120 copies/reaction. In order to better understand barriers to adoption of LAMP in developing countries, a feasibility study was undertaken in Tanzania, a low-income country facing significant problems in healthcare. Medical professionals in Northern Tanzania were surveyed for feedback regarding perspectives of current HIV assays, patient treatment strategies, availability of treatment, treatment priorities, HIV transmission, and barriers to adoption of the HIV-1 LAMP assay. The majority of medical providers surveyed indicated that the proposed LAMP assay is too expensive for their patient populations. Significant gender differences were observed in response to some survey questions. Female medical providers were more likely to cite stigma as a source problem of the HIV epidemic than male medical providers while males were more likely to cite lack of education as a source problem than female medical providers.
ContributorsSalamone, Damien Thomas (Author) / Jacobs, Bertram L (Thesis advisor) / Marsiglia, Flavio (Committee member) / Stout, Valerie (Committee member) / Johnson, Crista (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Communication skills within dating contexts are developed during the adolescent years, and are associated with a lifelong ability to have satisfying, enduring, and non-violent partnerships. As such, they are currently and increasingly implemented into both more general forms of healthy relationship education, as well as that targeting the prevention of teen dating violence specifically. Reaching Mexican American youth with culturally and developmentally appropriate relationship education, including communication skills, may be particularly important given their earlier transitions to marital and parenting relationships, acculturative stressors that present them with unique coupling challenges, and their higher rates of teen dating violence as compared to European American youth. We know very little about how Mexican American dating couples communicate about areas of conflict. This dissertation research utilizes Bell and Naugle's (2008) framework of interpersonal violence to explore how cultural and developmental considerations may be integrated in order to better understand how communication behaviors contribute to Mexican American middle adolescents' experiences with dating conflict. I use an observational study design in order to 1.) Qualitatively explore the communication strategies used by a sample of committed couples, including integration of culturally- and developmentally-relevant contexts, 2.) Quantitatively examine whether couple-level discrepancies in acculturation are associated with observed negativity, including whether this relationship may be mediated by dissimilar gender-related beliefs, and to 3.) Review empirical findings pertaining to the communication behaviors of Mexican American adolescents and to integrate ecodevelopmental theory in said framework as informed by Papers 1, 2, and literature specific to this topic area. The ultimate aim of this dissertation research is to generate findings that may improve the dating health of Mexican American adolescents living in the United States.
ContributorsAdams, Heidi (Author) / Rankin Williams, Lela (Thesis advisor) / Marsiglia, Flavio (Committee member) / Anthony, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Exiting prostitution is a process whereby women gradually leave prostitution after a number of environmental, relational, and cognitive changes have taken place. Most women attempting to leave street prostitution reenter five or more times before successfully exiting, if they are able to at all. Prostitution-exiting programs are designed to alleviate barriers to exiting, but several studies indicate only about 20-25% of participants enrolled in such programs are successful. There is little quantitative knowledge on the prostitution exiting process and current literature lacks a testable theory of exiting. This mixed-methods study defined and operationalized key cognitive processes by applying the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (IMBP) to measure intentions to exit street-level prostitution. Intentions are thought to be a determinant of behavior and hypothesized as a function of attitudes, norms, and efficacy beliefs. The primary research objective was to measure and test a theory-driven hypothesis examining intentions to exit prostitution. To accomplish these aims, interviews were conducted with 16 men and women involved in prostitution to better capture the latent nuances of exiting (e.g., attitudinal changes, normative influence). These data informed the design of a quantitative instrument that was pilot-tested with a group of former prostitutes and reviewed by experts in the field. The quantitative phase focused on validating the instrument and testing the theory in a full latent variable structural equation model with a sample of 160 former and active prostitutes. Ultimately, the theory and instrument developed in this study will lay the foundation to test interventions for street prostituted women. Prior research has only been able to describe, but not explain or predict, the prostitution exiting process. This study fills a gap in literature by providing a quantitative examination of women's intentions to leave prostitution. The results contribute to our understanding of the cognitive changes that occur when a person leaves prostitution, and the validated instrument may be used as an intervention assessment or an exit prediction tool. Success in predicting an individual's passage through the exiting process could have important and far-reaching implications on recidivism policies or interventions for this vulnerable group of women.
ContributorsCimino, Andrea N (Author) / Gerdes, Karen E. (Thesis advisor) / Sun, Fei (Committee member) / Gillmore, Mary R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
ABSTRACT The relationships between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of gender roles in predicting substance use were examined in a sample of 955 (450 boys, 505 girls) Mexican American 7th and 8th grade adolescents participating in a school-based substance use intervention. The moderating effect of linguistic acculturation, the mediating effects of antisociality, depressive symptoms, and adaptive and avoidant coping on gender role-substance use relationships were examined. Correlational and path analyses supported the Functional Model of Gender Roles that considers these roles as adaptive or maladaptive social coping strategies. For boys, the path analyses yielded significant direct paths from aggressive masculinity to composite alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use measures, with all other effects of gender roles on substance use operating through the mediators. Bootstrapped mediation tests yielded significant indirect paths, where for boys the positive relationships between assertive and aggressive masculinity with substance use and the negative relationship of affective femininity with substance use were mediated through antisociality, which is predictive of increased substance use. For girls, the positive relationship between aggressive masculinity with cigarette and alcohol use and the negative relationship of affective femininity with alcohol and cigarette use were also mediated by adaptive coping, which is predictive of decreased substance use. A different set of significant indirect paths through avoidant coping connected assertive masculinity and submissive femininity to alcohol use for boys. For boys, the paths from affective femininity to antisociality and adaptive coping were found to be moderated by linguistic acculturation, with the negative correlation of affective femininity with antisociality and positive correlation of this gender role with adaptive coping being stronger in boys low in acculturation. In turn, the pathway from this acculturation by affective femininity interaction to substance use was found to be mediated by antisociality. The present analyses confirmed the importance of gender roles and their interaction with acculturation in predicting substance use in Mexican American adolescents. The analyses also were important in delineating functional mechanisms through which these gender roles have their effects, with implications for the design of interventions to reduce substance use in this population.
ContributorsNagoshi, Julieann Lynn (Author) / Kulis, Stephen (Thesis advisor) / Marsiglia, Flavio (Committee member) / Gillmore, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Black queer women and nonbinary people (BQWNB) living with mental distress are an important sub-group in the Black community in need of greater attention in mental health research. However, the majority of health research about the Black community focuses on Black cisgender men who have sex with men and people who have or are at risk of having HIV/AIDS. To expand the knowledge about BQWNB, I applied critical and transformative approaches to understand mental distress. Using a Black queer feminist mental health framework and transformative healing justice lens, this phenomenological qualitative study set out to explore and describe how BQWNB living with mental distress navigated their mental health and wellbeing with a sample of 17 participants. Data were collected using one-on-one audio-recorded semi-structured interviews. There were three major findings that emerged from participants’ narratives: (1) contributors to mental distress, (2) impacts of mental distress, and (3) positive responses to mental distress. Contributors to mental distress included individual and collective trauma experiences, embodying strength and independence, and experiencing stereotypes about their sexual and multiracial identities. The impact of mental distress resulted in lowered quality of life and reported self-harmful thoughts and behaviors. Finally, positive responses to mental distress included body, mind, and spirit and community-centered responses as well as resistance to cultural norms and expectations and non-disclosure as a form of self-preservation. These findings led to an integrative (not) being-in-distress framework and a new critical approach to mental health and healing that informed anti-oppressive social work research, practice, and education.
ContributorsThomas, DeShay (Author) / Holley, Lynn C (Thesis advisor) / Jackson, Kelly F (Committee member) / Mendoza, Natasha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Approximately 89 million Americans will be age 65 and older by 2050 in the United States. This older adult population is especially vulnerable to loneliness as a result of numerous age-related risk factors including loss of social support and declining health. In addition to these common risk factors, refugee older adults may face increased loneliness as a consequence of war-related trauma, loss, and marginalized cultural values in their host country. Despite their heightened vulnerabilities to loneliness, the experiences of refugee older adults remain understudied.
This is the first study aimed at understanding the loneliness experiences of community-dwelling Hmong older adults, an ethnic group resettled in the United States as refugees over 40 years ago. A constructivist grounded theory method guided by an intersectionality framework was used to address three aims: 1) to understand the concept of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, 2) to explore the premigration, displacement, and postmigration experiences of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, and 3) to examine how community-dwelling Hmong older adults cope with loneliness. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 17 Hmong older adults age 65 and older residing in Sacramento and Fresno, California. Analysis of the data was an iterative process between coding the data, generating focused codes, and connecting the categories to establish a conceptual pattern.
Participants conceptualized loneliness as a negative experience represented through physical and emotional expressions and intensity, which were influenced by an intersectional identity. Factors that influenced their experiences of loneliness in the premigration, displacement, and postmigration phase were discussed as trust, loss, aging-related issues, isolation, sense of community, access to cultural community, instability, violence, and cultural adjustments. Their narratives offered several coping mechanisms including religious and spiritual beliefs, social support, wandering, activity engagement, and control and avoidance. These findings informed a conceptual model of loneliness that incorporated an intersectional identity, influencing factors, and coping mechanisms. Overall, the results provide nuanced cultural meanings and insight into the loneliness experiences of Hmong older adults. Implications for social work research, practice, and policy suggests the need for greater culturally- and linguistically-competent services informed by Hmong older adults.
This is the first study aimed at understanding the loneliness experiences of community-dwelling Hmong older adults, an ethnic group resettled in the United States as refugees over 40 years ago. A constructivist grounded theory method guided by an intersectionality framework was used to address three aims: 1) to understand the concept of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, 2) to explore the premigration, displacement, and postmigration experiences of loneliness among community-dwelling Hmong older adults, and 3) to examine how community-dwelling Hmong older adults cope with loneliness. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 17 Hmong older adults age 65 and older residing in Sacramento and Fresno, California. Analysis of the data was an iterative process between coding the data, generating focused codes, and connecting the categories to establish a conceptual pattern.
Participants conceptualized loneliness as a negative experience represented through physical and emotional expressions and intensity, which were influenced by an intersectional identity. Factors that influenced their experiences of loneliness in the premigration, displacement, and postmigration phase were discussed as trust, loss, aging-related issues, isolation, sense of community, access to cultural community, instability, violence, and cultural adjustments. Their narratives offered several coping mechanisms including religious and spiritual beliefs, social support, wandering, activity engagement, and control and avoidance. These findings informed a conceptual model of loneliness that incorporated an intersectional identity, influencing factors, and coping mechanisms. Overall, the results provide nuanced cultural meanings and insight into the loneliness experiences of Hmong older adults. Implications for social work research, practice, and policy suggests the need for greater culturally- and linguistically-competent services informed by Hmong older adults.
ContributorsVang, Cindy (Author) / Jackson, Kelly F (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Serge (Committee member) / Lopez, Kristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
All ethnic groups in the U.S. have suffered from elder maltreatment (EM), but literature on this topic among Chinese Americans is sparse. Only one group of researchers has exclusively focused on the EM experiences of Chinese Americans in the U.S. A recent study indicated the prevalence rate of EM was 24% among residential-dwelling Chinese American elders and the most prevalent forms of EM are psychological maltreatment (10%) and financial maltreatment (10%). However, the effect of family relationship and cultural factors on EM have not yet been explored. The traditional Chinese culture emphasizing family cohesion and filial piety, along with the acculturation stress and language barriers may increase the risks of EM in this population.
This exploratory research aimed to understand EM perpetrated by family members in residential settings among Chinese American elders and the risk factors of EM in this population, focusing on the Phoenix metropolitan area. Particularly, understanding EM through both a cultural lens and a legal lens shed light on the roles of socio-cultural variables (family support and cultural variables) associated with EM among Chinese American elders, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S.
To achieve these research aims, a larger quantitative component building on a small qualitative component was utilized. In Phase I, focus groups were conducted to ensure subsequent survey questions were culturally and linguistically appropriate. Feedback from the focus groups was used to refine the questionnaire designed for this study. In Phase II, revised questionnaires were distributed to 266 Chinese American older adults to detect EM prevalence and to identify the factors associated with victimization. The ecological theory provides guidance for the study.
In the end, one of ten Chinese American elders experienced general EM perpetrated by family members. The dominant forms of EM, elder neglect and emotional maltreatment, may have serious emotional outcomes and threaten the well-being of Chinese elders. To prevent the occurrence and recurrence of EM, service professionals and gatekeepers in the community need to work with Chinese American families to reduce elders’ depression levels, promote family cohesion and eliminate the intergenerational culture/acculturation differences.
This exploratory research aimed to understand EM perpetrated by family members in residential settings among Chinese American elders and the risk factors of EM in this population, focusing on the Phoenix metropolitan area. Particularly, understanding EM through both a cultural lens and a legal lens shed light on the roles of socio-cultural variables (family support and cultural variables) associated with EM among Chinese American elders, one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S.
To achieve these research aims, a larger quantitative component building on a small qualitative component was utilized. In Phase I, focus groups were conducted to ensure subsequent survey questions were culturally and linguistically appropriate. Feedback from the focus groups was used to refine the questionnaire designed for this study. In Phase II, revised questionnaires were distributed to 266 Chinese American older adults to detect EM prevalence and to identify the factors associated with victimization. The ecological theory provides guidance for the study.
In the end, one of ten Chinese American elders experienced general EM perpetrated by family members. The dominant forms of EM, elder neglect and emotional maltreatment, may have serious emotional outcomes and threaten the well-being of Chinese elders. To prevent the occurrence and recurrence of EM, service professionals and gatekeepers in the community need to work with Chinese American families to reduce elders’ depression levels, promote family cohesion and eliminate the intergenerational culture/acculturation differences.
ContributorsGao, Xiang, Ph.D (Author) / Sun, Fei (Thesis advisor) / Bonifas, Robin (Committee member) / Marsiglia, Flavio (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
There are a number of factors known to influence the occurrence of child maltreatment, including parental history of child maltreatment. Youth aging out of the foster care system have been shown to experience a number of challenges associated with the transition to adulthood, including early unintended pregnancy and parenting. However, despite the presumed risks associated with being in foster care and having a history of child maltreatment, very little research has been conducted to examine the parenting attitudes among youth aging out. This study explored the parenting attitudes and parental risk of child maltreatment among youth aging out of foster care in Arizona and examined the relationship between relational support and parenting. Foster youths' parenting attitudes and parental risk of child maltreatment across five constructs: parental expectations, parental empathic awareness of children's needs, beliefs regarding the use of corporal punishment, parent-child roles, and children's power and independence were assessed. Linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between youths' perceived social support from friends, family, and significant others and their parenting attitudes and youths' current living arrangements and their parenting attitudes. Findings indicate that youth had lower than the median normed sample scores on two out of the five parenting constructs, parental empathic awareness of children's needs and parent-child roles. Overall, 17% of youth in the sample were considered high risk of child maltreatment as parents, while 79% were considered medium risk. Perceived social support from friends was significantly associated with higher scores regarding youths' attitudes about the use of corporal punishment and children's power and independence. Youth living with foster parents had significantly higher scores than youth living on their own across three out of the five parenting attitude constructs. Youth living with relatives had higher scores than youth living on their own on the empathic awareness of children's needs parenting construct. Findings suggest that youth may rely on friends for social support and may develop more nurturing parenting attitudes if residing with foster parents or relatives. Implications for policy, intervention, and practice are discussed.
ContributorsGeiger, Jennifer Mullins (Author) / Segal, Elizabeth A. (Thesis advisor) / Gerdes, Karen E. (Committee member) / Lietz, Cynthia A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The number of interracial marriages and multiracial individuals continues to increase rapidly in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Black Female (BF) /White Male (WM) marriages are increasing, but not as quickly as other interracial marriages (Wang, 2012) leaving this population void in social science literature available to social workers. Consequently, there is a lack of information available to understand factors that contribute to these couple identities and how they navigate in the monoracialized systems they encounter. This qualitative study explored how BF/WM partners married in different generational cohorts experience and navigate race and identity as a couple through video recorded interviews where couples shared their narrative as a dyad. The secondary data analyzed was originally collected through snowball and convenient sampling to find BF/WM married couples that were married different generational cohorts living in the Phoenix area. Couples were asked to respond to starter questions (Linhorst, 2002) that encouraged them to share experiences as a couple interacting with community, social, and family systems. Ecological systems framework and social construction were used to guide analysis. Results from the multimodal transcript analysis and detailed review of the video data found themes of invisibility of the couples' relationships from community and family. Differences between cohorts were identified with movement from separation of racial identities within the couple identity to an infusion of both identities represented within the couple. Additionally, insights into the benefits of videography as a data collection method and its usefulness in to connecting social work research to practice were identified and align with the NASW Cultural Competence standards (NASW, 2001).
ContributorsCrudup, Chandra (Author) / Jackson, Kelly F (Thesis advisor) / Gerdes, Karen (Committee member) / Guevarra Jr., Rudy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Recent studies have investigated reproductive coercion, a form of intimate partner violence (IPV) defined as when one partner attempts to control another through pregnancy; however, research has focused only on female victim-survivors. Accordingly, the purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to explore the context of male- and female-perpetrated reproductive coercion via interview data from perpetrators of this abuse. The objective of the first paper was to gain a more complicated understanding of male-perpetrated reproductive coercion, with attention to why the phenomenon only sometimes co-occurs with other forms of IPV. A multiple case study analysis framework was used to interpret interview data from men who self-identified as having perpetrating reproductive coercion (n=5). Several men attempted to impregnate non-consenting partners because they perceived value in fatherhood, or the label of "family man." Many justified their behavior by positioning themselves as the rightful "head of household" and minimized their actions by noting their partners' love for their children. The purpose of the second paper, a close narrative analysis of one male participant's interview (n=1), was to gain deeper understanding of how enactment of a certain type of masculinity influences articulations of power within an intimate relationship. Four interview excerpts were organized into stanzas, which were analyzed for narrative disjuncture as well as minimizations and justifications of coercive behavior, with the finding that desire for biological offspring and enactment of power and control may both be tied to a need to perform masculine identity. Finally, the aim of the third paper was to develop an understanding of the contexts in which women perpetrate reproductive coercion. A modified grounded theory approach was used to interpret interview data from women who self-identified as having perpetrated reproductive coercion (n=8), and an initial explanatory model was developed to illustrate a pathway leading to this behavior. Pregnancy appeared to be a means to end (meeting a critical unmet need) more than an end in itself. Preliminary findings suggest that differences exist between female- and male-perpetrated reproductive coercion. Generalizable research that investigates the function of gender in the perpetration of reproductive coercion can inform the development of targeted, gender-appropriate interventions.
ContributorsThaller, Jonel (Author) / Messing, Jill T (Thesis advisor) / Jackson, Kelly F (Committee member) / Durfee, Alesha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014