News
Jim Martin named member of Maryland’s Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board
Professor Jim Martin has been named a member of Maryland’s newly established Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board. Jim serves on the Board as the representative of the Maryland Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs. This Board was established by the Maryland Governor in May 2008 and is chaired by Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown. The Board was the result of a new Maryland law intended to identify behavioral health service gaps impacting Maryland veterans and to make recommendations to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the Secretaries for the expansion or development of behavioral health services for Maryland veterans and their families. This law includes the establishment of a behavioral health initiative with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to assist veterans in rural Maryland with access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs care and where needed to fill any voids with state resources.
Cynthia Bisman is the U.S. Associate Editor for the journal Ethics and Social Welfare.
Bisman is the U.S. Associate Editor for the journal Ethics and Social Welfare. Papers are published that represent diverse perspectives reflective of cultures internationally as well as a range of genres, from ethics as moral philosophy, to topical debates about values and issues in practice of concern to practitioners and service users. Attention is to multi-professional perspectives, hence ‘social welfare’ rather than ‘social work’ in the title.
The aim of the journal is to encourage dialogue and debate across social, intercultural and international boundaries on ethical issues relating to professional interventions into social life. Through this the hope is to contribute towards deepening understandings and to further ethical practice in the field of social welfare.
Please e-mail Cynthia (cbisman@brynmawr.edu) if you are interested in writing or serving as a reviewer for the journal or wish to be contacted about international conferences focusing on the above issues.
Professor Dana Becker article publication
Professor Becker recently had two articles critiquing the positive psychology movement published in Theory & Psychology and Social and Personality Psychology Compass .Co-authored with Jeanne Marecek, Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore.
Becker, D., & Marecek, J. (2008). Positive psychology: History in the remaking? Theory & Psychology, 18 (5), 591-604.
Becker, D., & Marecek, J. (2008). Dreaming the American dream: Individualism and positive psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2 (5), 1767-1780.
Sandy Schram presenter at Symposium in England
Sandy Schram, Visiting Professor of Social Work and Social Research, presented a paper at a symposium at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, September 24-25, 2008. The symposium was entitled "The Pedagogical State: Education, Citizenship, Governing," and the paper was titled "Neoliberal Poverty Governance: The Punitive Turn in U.S. Welfare Policy." Schram's presentation and the others delivered at the symposium will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal of Citizenship Studies.
Professor Thomas Vartanian receives grant from US Dept. Agriculture
Thomas Vartanian has received a two year grant for $110,605 from the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The study is titled "Long-term Effects of Food Stamp Receipt during Childhood on Adult Outcomes." The goals of this project are to determine whether food stamp receipt during childhood within different types of neighborhoods affects adult outcomes such as Body Mass Index, overweight, obesity, food insecurity, health, and economic outcomes. Linda Houser, a doctoral student in the program, is included in the grant and will be conducting analyses for the project.
Jim Martin to serve as a member of the Council on Social Work Education’s Military & Veterans Joint Taskforce
Fall 2008, Professor Jim Martin was invited to serve as a member of the Council on Social Work Education’s Military & Veterans Joint Taskforce (and to Co-Chair of the Family Health Working Group). The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), in its national leadership role, has a mission to maintain quality educational programs and stimulate the development of knowledge, clinical practice and service effectiveness, which enhances international, national, community and individual well-being while promoting social justice. To address the mounting needs of veterans, CSWE convened a joint task force with representatives from the national social work educational associations, including the Baccalaureate Program Directors, Council on Social Work Education, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education, National Association of Social Work Deans and Directors, and the St. Louis Group. The Task Force charge includes four over-arching areas: examine relevant social work educational issues relating to veterans; determine how these issues will be addressed; develop appropriate responses to these issues; and seek appropriate legislative support for policy and educational opportunities to realize these fundamental necessities for our veterans and their families.
Dr. Kevin Robinson receives award from the Centers for Disease Control
Dr. Kevin Robinson and two of his colleagues at the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), formerly Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, were awarded approximately $1 million from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop and evaluate a theory-based 6-session individual-level intervention, named “Connections”, to assist Black MSM/W to reduce their risk for acquiring and transmitting HIV infection. The evaluation design is a randomized controlled trial, using Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit and interview 250 HIV-positive and HIV-negative Black bisexually-active men in Philadelphia. The research aims to examine and describe individual factors, interpersonal network factors, and socio-cultural factors that may affect risk behaviors for HIV infection and transmission among Black MSM/W. Moreover, the research will use these findings to develop recommendations for recruiting Black bisexually-active men and providing them with targeted HIV prevention interventions. The research will be conducted over four years.
Dr. Kevin Robinson presenter at APHA 136th Annual Mtg. & Expo
Dr. Kevin Robinson will be attending and presenting at the American Public Health Association's 136th Annual Meeting & Exposition, October 25-29, 2008 in San Diego, CA. "Getting The Facts: Using a Local Community Health Survey for Community Mobilization around HIV/AIDS" is scheduled for Tuesday, October 28, 2008.
Dr. Kevin Robinson faculty representative at reception with President McAuliffe
Dr. Kevin Robinson accepted the invitation offered by new Bryn Mawr College President, Jane D. McAuliffe, to join her for an alumnae/i reception at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, followed by a faculty/student panel discussion entitled, "Bryn Mawr's Philadelphia Classroom." The purpose of the September 18, 2008 event was to introduce alumnae/i to President McAuliffe and to exciting faculty and students at the college.
Sandy Schram wins award for best paper on public policy
For the second time in three years, the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research’s Sanford Schram has won the American Political Science Association’s annual award for the best paper on public policy.
Schram and GSSWSR doctoral student Linda Houser presented the paper at the annual APSA meeting last year and received the award in Boston on Aug. 28. The paper, co-authored with Joe Soss of the University of Minnesota and Richard Fording of the University of Kentucky, is titled: “Deciding to Discipline: A Multi-Method Study of Race, Choice and Punishment on the Frontlines of Welfare Reform.”
The paper will also appear in a forthcoming issue of the American Sociological Review. A book based on this research, co-authored by Schram, Soss and Fording, is to be published by the University of Chicago Press. It is titled Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race.
Professor Toba Schwaber Kerson received the Mary Hale Chase Chair
At Commencement 2008, Professor Toba Kerson was given the Mary Hale Chase Chair in Social Science and Social Work and Social Research. The chair, held for five years, is awarded to a full time faculty member for excellence in teaching and scholarship. Kerson, a graduate of Chatham College with an MS from Columbia University School of Social Work, holds a DSW and a PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of several books including Social Work in Health Care Settings: Practice in Context and Boundary Spanning: An Ecological Reinterpretation of Social Work Practice in Health and Mental Health Systems, and numerous articles, including some relating to her special interest in the depiction of seizures in film. She serves on several editorial boards and is Book Review Editor of Social Work in Health Care. Kerson serves on the board of the Gladwyne Free Library, and on several advisory boards including Jefferson Home Health and Hospice, the Planning Committee, of the Fourth International Conference of Social Work in Health Care, the Health Promotion for Women with Disabilities Project at Villanova University’s College of Nursing, the Center for Social Work Education in Maternal and Child Health. She is an active member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women. Kerson teaches Foundation Practice, Practice with Individuals, Families and Groups, Social Service Management and Health Care and Social Work Practice in the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.
Dr. Kevin Robinson presenter at Race and Disparities Research Forum in South Africa
Dr. Kevin Robinson was invited to present "Power of the Possible: A Case Study of an African-American Gay Man Living with AIDS" at Race and Disparities: A Research Forum at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business and The Breakwater Lodge located in Cape Town, South Africa. The forum, held July 14-16, 2008, focused on empirical and theoretical research of race and disparities in education, community development, healthcare, and other policy areas.
Littell Presenter New Zealand Ministry of Youth Development
This summer, Julia Littell has been invited by the New Zealand Ministry of Youth Development to conduct a series of workshops on "Systemic Reviews: Credible Evidence for Youth Related Policy and Practice." Julia Littell is the co-author of a new book, Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, published by the Oxford University Press in February 2008.
Addressing the mental health needs of today's citizen-soldiers
In December 2007 Professor James “Jim” Martin, as the Health Care 
Team Leader of the Citizen-Soldier Support Program, organized and lead a day long conference workshop, “Building Support for Our Citizen Soldiers and Their Families: A Mental Health Response." The presentation, in Pinehurst, NC, targeted medical directors and clinicians, physicians, psychiatrists, counselors and other service providers, to train them on the challenges and consequences of military service.
The Citizen-Soldier Support Program is a civilian, community-based initiative aimed at reaching all military personnel and their families, especially those in the National Guard and Reserve. Its mission is to mobilize community organizations and services to support and strengthen local citizen soldiers, their families, and loved ones. As retired Army Colonel, with a 26 year career in the Army Medical Department, Jim brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to the Program.
Becker Presenter at Association for Women in Psychology Annual Conference
Professor Dana Becker delivered a presentation at the Association for Women in Psychology Annual Conference in San Diego, Three Gendered Discourses and the Illusion of Choice. Her presentation: Women's Work and the Societal Discourse of Stress
Littell Keynote Speaker at International Conference
Professor Julia Littell gave the Keynote Address at an The JBI 2007 International Convention, Pebbles of Knowledge: Evidence for Excellence in Adelaide, South Australia, November 26th - 28th. Her presentation addressed research for practice and policy and how we know what works. Littell's other Fall speaking engagements included the Epidemiology and Health Research Conference, Cork, Ireland; Comparative Effectiveness Conference, Washington, DC; Global Forum for Health, Beijing, China; Campbell Collaboration Social Welfare Series, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Baumohl guest host on "Morning Jazz" radio
Professor Jim Baumohl was Gary Walker's guest host on "Morning Jazz" from 9-10 a.m. on Friday, November 2nd. Walker's show originates on WBGO, Newark, New Jersey. It's 88 on the FM dial and a live stream can be found at http://www.wbgo.org/. The Tom Tallitsch Quintet,"Ceasefire" is one of Baumohl's selections for the play list and includes Paul Gehman on bass. Paul's partner, Joan Davitt, got her PhD from Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and is currently social work faculty at U of Penn.
Becker publishes second book
Associate Professor Dana Becker recently published her second book, The Myth of Empowerment, Women and the Therapeutic Culture in America, NYU Press, New York, NY. Becker argues that ideas like empowerment perpetuate the myth that many of the problems women have are medical rather than societal; personal rather than political. Becker recounts the story of where women have been led and where the therapeutic culture is taking them. Her first publication, Through the Looking Glass, Women and Borderline Personality Disorder, Westview Press, offers a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between gender, the experience of psychological distress that we currently call borderline personality disorder, and the borderline diagnosis as a classification of psychiatric disorder.
Martin collaborator on What We Know About Army Families 2007 Update
Associate Professor Jim Martin was a collaborator on the What We Know About Army Families 2007 Update report in the summer of 2007 as well as on the first report that was undertaken in 1993 by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. The goal was to disseminate research-based information and recommendations about Soldiers and their families throughout the Army community to help strengthen retention, readiness, and family adaptation to Army life. The Update provides a summary of findings from recent social science research produced for the most part after the 1993 publication. The need for the 2007 Update is driven by the substantial changes that have occurred within the Army and its families, the U.S. military, and American society in general since the early 1990s.
Martin interviewed for New York Times Article
Associate Professor Jim Martin was recently interviewed by Lisa W. Foderaro of The New York Times for an article she was writing, Old Enough Now To Ask How Dad Died at War. Martin, a retired Army colonel and Associate Professor at GSSWSR has researched and written extensively on families of military personnel.
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