Correlation between Group Home Caregiver Gender and Organization Outcomes
Keywords:
Group home, trauma informed care, rate classification level, Likert scale, Ordinal scale, ANOVA, Chi-Square test, correlation analysis, regression analysis.Abstract
When agencies such as the Child Protection Services, Department of Probation or Child Welfare Services place children in out-of-home care, there seems to be incidents where clients are not afforded adequate protection. Children and youths are further injured and a cycle of maltreatment by caregivers working at these care agencies starts. System-generated trauma from stressful and emotionally overwhelming experiences such as multiple placements, frequent changes in schools, and peer groups has called for the research of studies leading to evidenced-based practices that prove effective in the treatment of this population. The purpose of this quantitative research is to explore the correlation between caregiver gender and adolescents’ trauma related behaviors in nine group homes. Independent t-test procedures were conducted to determine the mean differences between genders. A two tailed significance level of .05 was specified. The findings revealed that gender was significantly related to trauma related behaviors. Male staff members reported experiencing more client aggressive behaviors than female staff members. It is recommended that further study be conducted on group homes to understand how organization characteristics impact client successes while in out-of-home treatment and care.References
Hurley K.D., Trout, A., Chmelka, M.B., Burns, B.J., Epstein, M.H., Thompson, R.W. & Daly, D.L. (2009). The changing mental health needs of youth admitted to residential group home care: Comparing mental health status at admission in 1995 and 2004. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 17(3), 164-176.
Costello, E.J., Angold, A., Burns, B.J., Stangl, D.K., Tweed, D.L. & Erkanli, A. (2006). The Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth: Goals, designs, methods, and the prevalence of DSM-III-R disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53(12), 1129-1136.
Roberts, R.E., Attkisson, C.C., & Rosenblatt, A. (1998). Prevalence of psychopathology among children and adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 715-725.
Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Dulcan, M.K., Davies, M., Piacentini, J. & Schwab-Stone, M.E. (1996). The NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 2.3 (DISC-2.3): Description, acceptability, Prevalence rates, and performance in the MECA Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 865-877.
Drais-Parrillo, A.A. (2004). The Odyssey Project: A descriptive and prospective study of children and youth in residential group care and therapeutic foster care. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, 8.
McMillen, J.C., Zinma, B.T., Scott, L.D., Auslander, W.F., Munson, M.R. & Ollie, M.T. (2005). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among older youths in the foster care system. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44(1), 88-95.
Pottick, K.J., Warner, L.A., Isaacs, M., Henderson, M.J., Milazzo-Sayre, L. & Manderscheid, R.W. (2004). Children and adolescents admitted to specialty mental health care programs in the U.S., 1986 and 1997. In R.W. Manderscheid & M.J. Henderson (Eds.). Mental health, United States (pp. 314-326). 2002 DHHS Publication No. SMA04-3938. Provided under child welfare services. Child Welfare, 87(3), 5.
Pottick, K.J., Warner, L.A. & Yoder, K.A. (2005). Youths living away from families in the US mental health system opportunities for targeted intervention. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 32(3), 264-281.
Weiner, D.A., Abraham, M.E., & Lyons, J. (2001). Clinical characteristics of youths with substance use problems and implications for residential treatment. Psychiatric Services, 52(6), 793-799.
Breland-Noble, A.M., Elbogen, E.B., Farmer, E.M.Z., Dubs, M.S., Wagner, H.R. & Burns, B.J. (2004). Use of psychotropic medications by youths in therapeutic foster care and group homes. Psychiatric Services, 55, 706-708.
Handwerk, M.L., Smith, G.L., Thompson, R.W., Spellman, D.F. & Daly, D. (2006). Psychotropic medication utilization at a group-home residential facility for children and adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology.
Achenbach, T.M., Dumenci, L., & Rescorla, L.A. (2003). Are American children’s problems still getting worse? A 23 year comparison. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31(1), 1-11.
Burns, B.J., Phillips, S.D., Wagner, H.R., Barth, R.P., Kolko, D.J., Campbell, Y. & Landsverk, J. (2004). Mental health need and access to mental health services by youths involved with child welfare: A national survey. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(8), 960-970.
Kaylor, P.J. (2008). Wraparound: Medicalization and governmentality. (Doctoral Dissertation) Retrieved from School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College, March, 2008.
www.CWSCMS/REPORTS/REFERRALS/RATES.ca.gov
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (1999). Retrieved from www.sdprc.net
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2005). Retrieved from http://www.usa .gov/directory/federal/department-of-health-and-human-services.shtml
Barth, R.P., Green, R., Webb, M.B., & Wall, A. (2008). Characteristics of out-of-home
Reed, D.F., & Karpilow, K.A. (2009). Understanding the child welfare system in California. A primer for service providers and policymakers (2nd Ed.). Berkeley, CA: California Center for Research on Women and Families. Available on the CCRWF website: www.ccrwf.org.
Kann, R.T. & Hanna, F.J. (2000). Disruptive behaviors disorders in children and adolescents: How do girls differ from boys? Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 267-274.
Braxton, E.T. (1995). Angry children, frightened staff: Implications for training and staff development. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 13, 13-28.
Moses, T. (2000). Attachment theory and residential treatment: A study of staff client relationships. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 474-490.
Ward, A. (2004). Working with young people in residential settings. Youth in Society: Contemporary Theory, Policy, and Practice, 235-244.
LeBlanc, L. (2009). Group home placement for children with serious emotional disturbance: A grant proposal project. A Thesis Presented to the Department of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach, California. May 2009.
Farmer, E., Southernland, D., Musttillo, S. & Burns, B. (2009). Returning home in systems of care; rates, predictors, and stability. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 17(3), 133-146.
Larzelere, R.E., Dinges, K., Schmidt, M.D., Spellman, D.F., Criste, T.R. & Connell, P. (2001). Outcomes of residential treatment: A study of the adolescent clients of girls and boys town. Child and Youth Care Forum, 30(3), 175-185.
Altman, J.C. (2008). Engaging families in child welfare services: Worker versus client perspectives. Child Welfare, Washington: 87(3), 41.
Cahalane, H., & Sites, E. (2008). The climate of child welfare employee retention. Child Welfare, 87(1), 91.
Hill, R. (2008). Gaps in research and public policies. Child Welfare, 87(2), 359.
Patton, M. (2005). Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials (5th Ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak.
Gay, L.R. (Ed.). (1992). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application. New York: Macmillian.
Babbie, E. (1989). The practice of social research (5th Ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Inc.
Babbie, E. (2007). The basics of research (4th Ed.). New York.
Kline, B. (2011). The Bayesian and Frequentist Approaches to testing a one-sided hypothesis about a multivariate mean. Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, 141(9), 3131-3141.
Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn and Bacon.
Cronk, (2008). How to use SPSS: A step-by-step guide to analysis and interpretation (5th Ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
- Papers must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by any other publisher.
- It is also the authors responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular source are submitted with the necessary approval.
- The authors warrant that the paper is original and that he/she is the author of the paper, except for material that is clearly identified as to its original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required.
- The authors ensure that all the references carefully and they are accurate in the text as well as in the list of references (and vice versa).
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.
