Qualitative Social Work Research

It was neither simple nor straightforward when it came to overlook those current events. When it comes to mental health problems like studies of anxiety, moods, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders (Neighbors, 1984; Williams & Earl, 2007). Which was all found inconsistent and not well understand in blacks. It’s about the different patterns in racial differences were they vary based on their particular health status. Meanwhile, to the world, they say African Americans have a disadvantage regards to mental health care. Well compared to whites it’s whether the main focus measures out on mental health symptoms, psychotic disorders, psychological distress, or psychological well-being. There is a lot of evidence in the united states on mental health status of those blacks. The fact of complexities being possibly related to those social contexts.

Snowden, Lonnie R, Barriers to Effective Mental Health Services for African Americans, Vol. 3, Issue 4, 181-187 (Dec. 2001). Social Services and Welfare, Psychology

13.2% of the United States population identifies themselves as Black as African Americans, and of those over 16% had an mental illness that was diagnosable. The socio economic impact of a history of slavery, sharecropping and race-based exclusion from health, racism, spiritual beliefs, social and economic resources, education and other factors are key factors that contribute to African American disparities today. Many of these things are linked to mental health. According to the US department of health, African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than in non-Hispanic whites (. Despite knowing this, African Americans are less likely to seek mental health services than white Americans.

The study’s findings will contribute to the body of knowledge of clinical social work. Increased research evidence would lead mental health practitioners to assess the problems and treatment needs of African American couples. Furthermore, practitioners could possibly advocate for appropriate interventions and policies to improve services to this identified population.

Though it has been apparent that people of color have been treated as a subclass within the medical field for centuries; as was brought to light in The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the recognition of forced hysterectomies and sterilizations of African American women in the 20th century and, to “The Negro Project” which worked to reduce the African American population through eugenics (Feagin & Bennefield, 2014). With even these three examples it is clear that the medical field has played a large role in creating both psychological and physical disadvantages and trauma for minority groups in America. Yet, it seems to be a subject that many professionals refuse to address. A meta-analysis conducted by Mayberry, Mili and Ofili found that,

Article Review 2 results stated that overall every day discrimination showed higher odds of any psychiatric disorder, anxiety, mood and more lifetime DSM- IV disorders. Furthermore it tends to agree with Article review one, in that, depression is a major factor for the older African American.

“African Americans have the worst health profile. Disparities in health status are well documented and widely known. However, research on race, ethnicity, and health is controversial. The reason for this is probably linked to the thorny role that race has played in American history and contemporary culture. Because of this history, race engenders emotion, and emotion is the antidote to rationality. Some have called for the end of research on race and health” (Isaac, L pg.

In the interviews African Americans shared how on a daily basis they found themselves dealing with anxiety, fear, humiliation, shame, and stress.”(Thompson-Miller 3). Everyday with feeling all of these emotions is in no way how a life should be lived. “The ‘stress hormone’ cortisol is believed to create a domino effect that hard-wires pathways between the hippocampus and amygdala in a way that might create a vicious cycle by creating a brain that becomes predisposed to be in a constant state of fight-or-flight”.(Christopher Bergland 1). All of the other emotions combined also triggered a PTSD like syndrome called “segregation stress syndrome” .“segregation stress syndrome are similar to PTSD symptoms documented in psychiatric literature. However, “segregation stress syndrome” differs from PTSD because the traumatic experience was not a one-time occurrence; it was sustained, over time, in African American communities. In addition, the racial violence that occurred was a form of systematic chronic stress, the type that has been shown to have a detrimental impact on a person’s psychological well-being”. (Thompson-Miller

African Americans as a whole agree that racial segregation has affected their chances of employment, residency, education and access to proper health facilities. Many have stories and experiences of being qualified for a job but being turned down for being African American. Several experiments have been conducted where an African American would attempt to view homes in diverse neighborhoods and be turned down and white co-workers or friends would call immediately after and be invited to come in. Many African Americans have experienced mental health institutions and health clinics closed down in their neighborhoods while liquor stores, tobacco companies and fast food companies continue to market and open rapidly. The unequal separation of

because the findings may be used to provide unbiased and competent service delivery for persons of color, develop trusting relationships between counselor and client, and allow clients to understand how microaggressions may be impacting their psychological and physical health. (Torres-Harding and Turner, 2015) The hypothesis of the research was to seek if the reliability and validity of the RMAS distress subscale and “RMAS distress subscales were found to exhibit positive correlations with all additional subscales that assessed stressfulness or distress.” (Torres-Harding and Turner, 2015) According to the data, “significant positive moderate-level correlations” were found. (Torres-Harding and Turner, 2015) Data was collected from 374 individuals who “were from a medium-sized private Midwestern university setting,” excluding individuals who identified as White or Caucasian, and the individuals were asked to complete an anonymous online survey.

Over the year?s minorities have been treated differently in America. There was a point in time when people did not understand people of color and even made assumptions about them. Because of this systemic factors have been established both in the mental health and education system. Counselors had their own perception

One of the main aims of a study is to articulate a research problem; there is a need for this because it justifies to the reader, why the research is taking place. Both articles successfully articulate their research problem because they clearly emphasis a problem that has lack of current research and how there study could add to the existing literature. They address issues that pertain to society and explain why the problem is important to study. The researchers create a hook towards reading about the study by explaining the potential it will have for furthering the research field. However, even though the research problem hooks the readers, there are still some key differences between each research problem. Thompson, M. N. et al. (2012) qualitative study is interested in exploring and understanding the psychotherapy experiences of low-income clients. Whereas the other

The team made appropriate comparisons by involving other qualitative studies. These studies were over women’s experiences and responses with Congestive Heart Failure. There were compatible comparisons to the overall topic, but not specifically to coronary artery bypass graft surgery. It did help build onto the discovery of why women feel the way they do not only with the surgery, but the illness in general. If the race was broader the data collection would seem more acceptable. They did not gather the diverse population they intended, and had to work with what they could

The article, Proactively Addressing the Shortage of Blacks in Psychology: Highlighting the School Psychology Subfield by Daphne R. Chandler was used as a resource. The author’s point of view is written in first person. The author has gathered other resources relevant to the research question in efforts to support new findings from new research and evidence. The main concept that the author is trying to express is that there is a shortage of black psychologists. The author is also expresses reasoning for the shortage, and ways to increase the number of school psychologists. The author also expresses the importance of diversity in psychology and mental health settings. The author’s claims are supported by previous studies listed in her literature review as well as her on research and findings. Chandler used questionnaires formed from recent studies Rennie’s (1994) model of the GT constant comparative approach was used to help analyze responses from her questionnaire (Chandler, 2011, p 104). The article is relevant to my research question, it primarily addresses my research question and provides research and evidence. It states the issue and presents other concerns that may not have been recognized before reading the article. It relates to psychology because the research seeks to understand groups, such as the black community as well graduate

Psychological research may be undertaken on a subset of society; however the importance of the results may have an effect way beyond the group tested. The value of psychological research varies and the same results can be used in different ways by different groups of society.