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News Items – November 25, 2015

ThinkstockPhotos-103577382NASW Press’s journal Social Work is mentioned:
The hijab can be a feminist act
Oxford University Press blog
A study I conducted which has recently been published in Social Work set out to explore how Muslim women living in America who willingly chose to practice hijab responded to questions about feminist identity, female empowerment, and body image.  Do Muslim women who choose hijab embrace values at odds with feminism or have we as a society merely bought into a limited image of what feminists look like?  The answer was unanimous amongst participants-such women may indeed challenge the image of feminism but are not in contradiction of its core philosophy of gender equality and personal autonomy.  Moreover, many women voiced the opinion that the hijab was not only a refusal to be defined by their physical bodies, but that it also demands others focus on the quality of their intellect and personality.

Carolee Tustin is a member:
Student Spotlight: Carolee ‘Jessie’ Tustin
University of New England
Jessie’s current Field Placement: is at the New Hampshire Veterans’ Home, working as an Admissions Social Worker and Intergenerational Program Administrator.
1. How would you describe your future social work practice?
I am a veteran myself, so this is an extra rewarding endeavor for me. I see my future as a social worker, working with veterans along several different spectrums. My goal is to help improve the quality of life and functioning with the LGBT veterans. I would also enjoy the opportunity to work with female veterans. I foresee working with different organizations to make this possible. I also intend to maintain a connection with the veterans of the geriatric population.

William A. Dávila is a member:
CHD social worker on talking to kids about Paris attacks: Know your own emotions first
masslive.com
How do you talk to your children about war, terror attacks and other acts of violence? It was a topic much in the news in the aftermath of 9/11 and is beginning to again surface with the recent massacres in Paris, the abduction of young girls in Nigeria and the migrations of millions of individuals fleeing the ongoing violence in the Middle East, as well as killings in this country, with the July shooting at military centers in Tennessee. Licensed clinical social worker William A. Dávila, vice president of clinical services for CHD (Center for Human Development), advises adults to address their own emotions to violent acts like the terror attacks Friday in Paris that left 500 people dead or wounded.

Susan Shanley is a member:
Saratoga Springs social worker a mural artist, too
Times Union [Albany, NY]
Susan Shanley, a clinical social worker from Saratoga Springs, is helping students paint a 100-foot mural in the entrance hallway of Schuylerville High School. “One of my great joys is engaging young people and communities in mural projects,” Shanley says on her website. “Since 1995, I have led more than sixty indoor and outdoor murals, including four international projects in El Salvador, Ecuador, and Mexico.”

Larry E. Davis is a member:
“Why Are They Angry With Us?”
University of Pittsburgh
Now, more than at any time since the 1960s, issues about race have taken center stage in America. A new book by University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Dean Larry E. Davis, titled Why Are They Angry With Us? Essays on Race (Lyceum Books, 2015), responds to many of the timely, sensitive, and often uncomfortable conversations that are taking place on our television screens, newspaper front pages, social media, and in homes across the country.

Heather Evans, the author, is a member:
What refugees in your neighborhood need from you
Christianity Today
In 2014, I traveled to Rwanda with a team of psychologists, social workers, and counselors to meet with local caregivers, offering training in trauma healing. We visited the Kigeme Congolese refugee camp. There, children greeted us and followed us around, holding hands. The conditions were humbling and sobering. Most of the camp’s 18,000 refugees had already lived there for two years. They had been separated from their families and unsure when or if they’d be able to go home. Yet, they sang for hope of return. A year later, some refugees like those we met in Rwanda have made their way to us. The United States plans to resettle approximately 50,000 Congolese refugees, and this year, 250 of them relocated to Kentucky. As I visited these new immigrants in Louisville, as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker focused on trauma, I began to see their dramatic transition firsthand.

Jack Richman is a member:
UNC School of Social Work receives $1 million gift to support students, faculty and innovation
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a $1 million gift from philanthropists Prudence F. and Peter J. Meehan of Chapel Hill, longtime supporters of the school. The gift will support student scholarships, assist in the recruitment and retention of promising junior faculty, and fund new innovation initiatives to meet emerging needs in the field. “Receiving a gift of this size will make a lasting impact on the School of Social Work,” said Jack Richman, dean of the school. “We are honored that the Meehans chose us to benefit from their generosity. This gift is a testament to their ongoing support and commitment to our school and the important work in which our faculty and students are engaged.”

Nicholas Cooper-Lewter is a member:
Tattoos help USC’s Matulis chronicle his life and views
The State [Columbia, SC]
His favorite professor at South Carolina was Dr. Nicholas Cooper-Lewter, a minister and psychotherapist and author of “Soul Theology: The Heart of American Black Culture.” Matulis took Cooper-Lewter’s social work course “Overcoming the Odds in Sports and Beyond.” The course came during the time Matulis had his second shoulder surgery and was considering giving up football, and it was the most influential of his life, he said. “He sat up front. He was always on time if not a little early. He would sometimes stay after class and ask for additional help and additional information,” Cooper-Lewter said. “He definitely was shining in the area of character. I told him if he never played football again, he was going to make a contribution to the world that was his calling.”

John Mauro is a member:
Adoption a lengthy but rewarding process
Visalia Times-Delta [Visalia, CA]
The desire to provide a loving home to a child in need can lead Tulare County residents in two directions: to a private adoption agency or to Child Welfare Services, the county agency charged with placing children in permanent homes. In either case, the adoption process can be lengthy but often is rewarding for both the child and the adoptive family. When an individual or couple reaches out to CWS, it signals the start of a process lasting 18 months or more, said John Mauro, CWS Deputy Director. Whether looking to adopt an infant, a young child or a teenager, all prospective parents must go through a legal process that will eventually add a permanent member to their family.

Edward J. Mullen, the author, is a member:
Should social work be evidence-based?
Oxford University Press blog
In “Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies, and Debates,” I have reviewed both arguments for and arguments against using the evidence-based framework in social work. In this blog I focus on one issue which I think is basic, and depending on one’s point-of-view, the relevance of EBP to social work stands or falls. I would phrase the question: “Is social work practice fundamentally an art form in which change is achieved through establishment of a personal relationship between a practitioner and a client relying on interpretation of the meaning-carrying expressions of others or; is social work practice better viewed as a scientific discipline in which change is achieved through specific intervention methods and technologies subject to verifiability through empirical research?”

Arizona says ‘no’ to refugees
Eastern Arizona Courier
Arizona joined with 25 other states this week to call a halt to acceptance of any refugees from the Middle East.… The National Association of Social Workers also called on [Governor Doug] Ducey to rescind his order, calling it “a knee-jerk reaction” that ignores human dignity, human rights and American values.

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