College of Social Work and Criminal Justice

This study aimed to examine the relationship between licensed clinical social workers' (LCSWs) skepticism and knowledge about dissociative identity disorder (DID) and their accurate diagnosis of the disorder as moderated by specialized training about DID and/or postmaster’s experience with diagnosis and treatment of the disorder. The following research questions guided the study.
• RQ1a. Is there a relationship between LCSWs’ level of skepticism and level of knowledge about DID.
• RQ1b. Is there a relationship between LCSWs’ level of skepticism and accurate diagnosis of the disorder?
• RQ1c. Is there a relationship between LCSWs’ level of knowledge about DID and accurate diagnosis of the disorder?
• RQ2a. Does specialized training about DID affect the diagnostic accuracy of the disorder?
• RQ2b. Does post-master’s clinical experience with diagnosing and treating DID affect the diagnostic accuracy of the disorder?
Using a cross-sectional research design and informed by philosophical underpinnings of epistemology and skepticism and Kahneman’s model of diagnostic reasoning (Kahneman, 2011), the data for this study were collected via an online survey of randomly selected LCSWs (N=85) in Florida. The survey consisted of a diagnostic vignette with a very short answer (VSA) response, the Skepticism and Knowledge Scales (SKS) comprising 11 items that assess skepticism, six items that assess knowledge, and 13 distractor items (Hayes & Mitchell, 1994), and a demographic questionnaire with 12 items, two of which quantified specialized training about and clinical experience with DID.

Delinquency is a major social and public health problem for families, young people themselves, and law enforcement agencies, and it is a threat to public safety. Juveniles often present with multiple issues during arrest, such as mental illness, substance abuse, low socio-economic status, family dysfunction, academic problems, and poor peer relationships. One of these justice-involved youths more prevalent mental health issues is conduct disorders (CD). Research has shown that 50%-90% of justice-involved youth are diagnosed with CD. Growing research supports the integration of spirituality into professional social work practice. This study aims to bring awareness that spirituality is essential to these justice-involved youths’ lives through the lived experiences of Direct Service Providers. This study aimed to understand better programming designed to meet the spiritual needs of juveniles with CD who were in juvenile residential treatment programs. This study examined the following questions: RQ1: How do DSPs describe the current spirituality programming offered to juveniles diagnosed with Conduct Disorder (CD) who are in a juvenile residential treatment facility? RQ2: What recommendations do DSPs have for enhancing programming to better meet juveniles’ spiritual needs?
A cross-sectional qualitative research study utilized a thematic analysis to explore DSP’s perceptions of the role of spirituality in the lives of juveniles diagnosed with CD and impacted by juvenile justice services. This study’s results showed spirituality was critical and impactful to the lives of justice-involved youth. It also demonstrated the usefulness of Fisher’s four-domain model in assessing spirituality in justice-involved youth. This study concluded six primary themes from the analysis. The researcher deductively coded the first two themes to explore the research questions in this manuscript. The last four themes resulted from inductive coding of the interviews: (a) programming and resources available to youth (RQ1); (b) recommendations for enhancing spirituality programming and resources for youth (RQ2); (c) viewing spirituality as religion; (d) support for religion and spirituality for youth; (e) facilitators to youths’ spiritual development; and (f) barriers to youths’ spiritual development.

The current use of social media platforms has expanded to wider audiences, including police departments and other law enforcement agencies. The vast material being posted online may lead to it being used by police departments due to social media information being open-sourced. The following study will investigate the police’s use of social media data by collecting qualitative data from crime analysts through the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA). Participants completed an openended survey describing their experience with collecting data from online social media sources and how it is used to assist with police activity. The results have implications for future research, such as further exploring the methods by which police are expanding their data collection. Caution may be required when sharing information online. Results from the study may inspire future research regarding the privacy and ethical considerations of using social media data collected from the public.

The purpose of this study was to explore older adults’ perception of relational empathy in their healthcare providers and its relationship to medication adherence. In addition, the study examined whether older adults’ perception of relational empathy in their healthcare providers was associated with medication adherence, beyond predictive factors including medication beliefs, gender, and level of education. The sample consisted of 72 participants in a community-based program in an adult day center setting in South Florida. Correlation and linear regression analysis were used to test the two research questions. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between older adults’ perception of relational empathy in their healthcare provider and medication adherence (p = .344) and no significant predictor variables of change in medication adherence, with all p values in the regression model greater than .202. Although present study findings were inconclusive in supporting the association between relational empathy and medication adherence, secondary findings or considerations related to the low perception of relational empathy with healthcare providers and moderately low medication adherence provided a context for a thoughtful consideration of the implications of this study. Ideas for designing future research initiatives, specifically initiatives that promote a framework for understanding and practice of empathy during the clinical encounters with older adults are also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with academic achievement in at-risk high school students attending one of four charter schools in south Florida geared toward dropout prevention. Several factors were identified through a thorough review of the literature to identify the common demographic variables associated with lower academic achievement including race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and an identified learning disability. Each of these variables became the control variables in this study. More recent research has examined the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resilience (via protective factors) in predicting academic outcomes. None of the studies found examined the role of ACEs, resilience, and academic achievement in a student population that has been identified as being at risk for high school dropout. In addition, it was explored whether ACEs (by type) and resilience (by type) varied by life stage.
Administrative data was collected on 160 randomly selected students, 80 of whom were considered adolescents (15-17), and 80 who were considered emerging adults (18-21). Descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, and standard deviation) were examined. Multiple regression with hierarchal entry was then used to test the first two research questions, and 5 hypotheses, analyzing the impact of total ACEs (and then ACEs by type) and total resilience (and then resilience by type) on academic achievement. Results were not statistically significant for either question. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was then run to explore whether ACEs by type or resilience by type varied based on life stage (adolescence or emerging adult). The results were not statistically significant. Outcomes of the study are discussed as are the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.

This thesis is a single ethnographic qualitative case study on gender, focusing on the parallels between gender and historical inequities of social, economic, political, and power oppression. The study metaphorically examines the systolic and diastolic reading of approximately 100 years of injustices. Virginia Artrip Snyder, the subject of this study, is a woman, practitioner, and advocate. The timeframe is from the 1920s to the present. The researcher examined a variety of samples, which included Virginia's documents, files, news clippings, books, letters, community involvement, and the criminal justice system. Virginia's family donated the data to the Spady Museum in Delray, Florida, and Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Virginia’s alma mater. The results demonstrated that Virginia was a victim of both domestic violence and the criminal justice system. Virginia sharpened the saw by educating and serving, thus demonstrating that one person can make a difference. As activist George Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Sex Offender Registry and Notification (SORN) and Sex Offender Residency Restrictions (SORR) laws and policies were developed and implemented with the intention of keeping communities and children safe, however many studies illustrate that these policies are in fact resulting in negative consequences for registrants and their families. All the existing studies focused on both registrants and family members, in most cases, spouses. A gap in the literature about the possible impacts on mothers of adult registrants was identified. Further, there was a lack of qualitative research, which, in highlighting the lived experiences and stories of mothers, is powerful and can have a significant impact on increasing social awareness.
The number of registered citizens continues to grow in Florida each year, and there are increasing numbers of families and loved ones of registered citizens that will need supportive and specialized therapeutic services. As a doctoral capstone, this qualitative narrative research involved one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 15 mothers of registered citizens throughout the state of Florida between March and November 2021. The aims of the study were to determine if mothers experienced the same impacts as other family members, or if their experiences were unique to mothering a registered adult child; to learn about how mothers coped with having an adult child on the Florida registry; and finally, what service providers need to know to adequately support this population.

High-profile police use-of-force events, like the deaths of Trevon Martin, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, and George Floyd, have increased scrutiny towards law enforcement, and many believe that racial disparities in the justice system are caused by biased decision-making. The subsequent protests and civil unrest have furthered the divide between the police and members of the public, which has damaged police legitimacy and led to depolicing and militarization. This study pilot tests the impact of implicit bias on decision-making for a student sample with a decision-making simulator and an experimental design with random assignment. Simulated police-public contacts, substantively, were found to be very complex and largely guided by legal factors; however, stressful stimuli can affect decision-making. The forthcoming protocol and methodology, moreover, provide insight to decision-making and create a framework to guide future research.

Wrongful convictions have occurred throughout the United States’, but it was not until the creation of the Innocence Project in 1992 that these cases were re-examined. Like other facets of the criminal justice system, racial disparities are present in exoneration research. Studies have found the rate of exoneration is slower for African Americans compared to other races and represent a disproportionate number of rape exonerations relative to their share of the population. Actual compensation is rarely included in analysis, because total compensation awarded has been a black box till now. This is the first study addressing these gaps, by calculating actual compensation for wrongfully convicted sexual assault exonerees and examine racial disparities between awarded compensation. Findings indicate African American exonerees receive significantly more, around $574,657, compared to white exonerees. Implications include evaluating interrogation techniques, updating DNA databases, testing forensic evidence, and calling for states and territories to have compensation statutes.

This study examined drug court participants’ lived experiences with addiction and recovery from the southern part of the U.S.. Results of the study answered the following: how do drug court participants discuss their lived experiences with each of the following key recovery concepts: accountability, unmanageability, and relapse?
Recorded focus groups explored the a priori recovery concepts. Focus groups were used for identifying themes, and how participants apply these themes to recovery. Audio files were transcribed and coded using NVivo 1.5 software for data analysis.
The findings also present emergent themes which allowed participants to articulate their lived experiences as more than a disease, but as a recovery process. Drug court programs must prioritize the curriculum to reflect on the experiences depicted to effectively aid in recovery. Lastly, conducting the same focus groups throughout the duration of the program may be beneficial to properly track progress.