News Archive
Research
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As the profession of social work becomes increasingly specialized and focused on clinical practices that help individuals and groups, two faculty members at the USC School of Social Work are hoping to bring renewed attention and energy to a wider perspective of the field.
A new book authored by Clinical Professor Murali Nair and Assistant Professor Erick Guerrero seeks to increase understanding of the higher-level forces that affect social work practice and impart proven strategies that help professionals work closely with communities, agencies and other complex entities.
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By age 12, Maurissa Sorensen had experienced abuse, depression and much uncertainty. She knew something needed to change. So Sorensen made an adult decision: she advocated to enter herself into the foster care system to seek a better life, one that didn’t include mental hospital visits and an abusive home.
“I figured out early on in life that I needed the support of people, and I knew if I stayed with my mom that I would have never gotten better,” Sorensen said.
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Iris Chi, the Chinese-American Golden Age Association/Frances Wu Chair for the Chinese Elderly at the USC School of Social Work and a senior scientist at the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, has been named a fellow to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the first national society honoring excellence in the research and practice of social work.
“It’s a great honor to be elected to the academy,” said Chi, who also holds a joint appointment in the USC Davis School of Gerontology. “It is one of the highest honors in the social work profession.”
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Transitioning into new schools and coping through a parent’s wartime deployment can increase the risks that military children are victimized by other students and are carrying weapons to school, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Southern California.
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When Scoba Rhodes went to the hospital for a routine procedure to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which occurs when the aorta becomes abnormally enlarged, he thought he would be back on his feet in no time. Eleven days later, he woke up paralyzed from the waist down.
Rhodes was overcome with shock, depression and hopelessness.
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Returning to the USC School of Social Work after a stint as the inaugural director of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research, Kathleen Ell had a burning desire to pursue a rigorous research career.
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Nearly 900,000: That’s how many infants, toddlers and preschoolers are in Los Angeles County right now.
Disturbingly little is known about the circumstances of these most vulnerable members of the community. Many are at home, but others are in child care centers and preschools that run the gamut from high quality to abysmally low quality.
Troubled by so much uncertainty, Jacquelyn McCroskey wanted to help.
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The tragedy in Sandy Hook has become a watershed moment that's changing the way we perceive our society. How could innocent young children be killed so senselessly in a seemingly safe school and quiet community?
This atrocity, along with the dozens of highly publicized mass homicides—such as Columbine—seen in the past decades worldwide have raised questions about the schools our children attend. Are they safe from inside and outside threats? What can be done to make schools safer?
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The Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) at the USC School of Social Work has received a grant from Prudential to build on its community engagement efforts to strengthen veterans’ reintegration into the civilian community.
The $300,000 award will allow CIR to continue its mission to train behavioral health practitioners on the best practices that will help returning veterans develop meaningful careers—the biggest challenge to a successful transition home.
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A young couple raising an infant in Los Angeles County may rely on dozens of social service agencies and public departments, from assistance with child care and food costs to preventive health examinations and parenting classes. But that continuum of support can be disjointed, overwhelming, and even ineffective.
Limited data are available to policy makers or agencies to help determine how young children and their families move from one public system to another.