Aug. 25, 2022
Emphasizing empathy: strengthening the bond between incarcerated mothers and their children
Ashley Givens first got into social work because she wanted to help underserved youth. During her years of study and research, her focus turned to working with mental health and the adult criminal legal system. Now an assistant professor of social work at Mizzou, Givens’ interests have come full circle: She recently received a Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grant to study using structured journaling to strengthen the bond between incarcerated mothers and their children. “It’s a way for these women to reconnect with their kids and maintain the mother-child bond in a directed, meaningful way,” Givens says. Givens’…
Aug. 25, 2022
Surprising snapshot of trafficking survivors
Contrary to common belief, the portrait of a human-trafficking survivor in Missouri is not that of a young, white teenager who is abducted and forced into the sex trade. Instead, Kathleen Preble’s survey of the state’s social service providers found that survivors usually are Black or brown (46%) and Asian (10%). The assistant professor of social work also found that 18- to 35-year-olds make up the bulk of the survivors (56%). The vast majority were not immigrants but rather poor or working-class U.S. citizens trafficked for sex (83%), labor (5%) or both (13%). In considering survivors’ prospects for…
Aug. 25, 2022
Loren Bauerband receives $411,000 NIH grant to address social gender dysphoria
The National Institutes of Health awarded Loren Bauerband, assistant professor, $411,000 to study the relationship between external experiences and internal responses for transgender and gender non-binary individuals. Their research will help practitioners tailor mental health interventions for individuals with social gender dysphoria. Dr. Bauerband is co-PI on the project, “Gender Dysphoria as a Measure of Proximal Stress: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Novel Measure of Social Gender Dysphoria,” with Dr. Paz Galupo of Towson University. The two-year project will examine gender dysphoria as a proximal stressor (an internal response to social pressures or prejudices), rooted in a dynamic…
Aug. 25, 2022
Stepping In2Action for former inmates
Dan Hanneken photo by Rob Hill Dan Hanneken knows all too well that releasing a person from prison doesn’t free him from the problems, habits and environment that led to incarceration. Before learning that lesson, the assistant teaching professor in the School of Social Work served three sentences as a violent offender. Today, Hanneken, BSW ’06, MSW ’08, not only turns life experiences into teachable moments for social work students but also helps newly released inmates get back on their feet. In2Action, the residential transition program he founded and directs, provides drug-free housing for up to 50 former offenders…
Aug. 25, 2022
Location matters: Neighborhood shapes youth exposure to firearm violence and substance use
Illustration by Blake Dinsdale A youngster’s neighborhood often shapes their exposure to firearm violence or substance use — situations that raise their risk of becoming homeless, says Hsun-Ta Hsu, associate professor of social work. For earlier studies on suicide and HIV prevention among people experiencing homelessness, Hsu walked block by block identifying signs of blight — broken windows, sidewalks in disrepair, piles of garbage — because neighborhood-level data are difficult to find. The scarcity of information prevented him from conducting research on a larger scale. To help remedy the problem, Hsu and Jianlin Cheng of the College of Engineering developed…
Aug. 24, 2022
Bill Janes awarded $760,000 grant to advance ALS research and intervention
The Department of Defense awarded Bill Janes, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, a two-year $760,000 grant, alongside his collaborators at the University of Missouri, to advance ALS prevention and early intervention. This interdisciplinary project will combine an in-home sensor system, wearable smartwatch and electronic medical records to predict health outcomes for people living with ALS. “We are hopeful that this project can close a critical gap in ALS care. If we are successful, this system could help interdisciplinary ALS care teams to identify changes in health status before someone with ALS winds up sick, hospitalized or…
Aug. 24, 2022
An innovative model of social work
At the Integrative Behavioral Health Clinic, graduate students get real-world experience working with clients.
Aug. 24, 2022
Mizzou Social Work: Now and looking ahead
The School of Social Work plans reach out to ever broader bases of students and clients.
Aug. 24, 2022
Not just in case
Over the past century, social work has expanded to be about much more than casework.
Aug. 22, 2022
Botswana Blackburn named Health Sciences department chair
The MU School of Health Professions is pleased to announce that Botswana Toney Blackburn, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Health Sciences (DHS). She has served as associate department chair since 2020. In addition to her role as department chair, Dr. Blackburn is a teaching professor and Honors-affiliated faculty member. “I am most excited about continuing to work with my DHS colleagues to teach the next generation of health care professionals,” Dr. Blackburn said. “By standing steady in times of change, I can help foster and build a collaborative learning environment between faculty, staff and students.” Dr.