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Social workers have long been active in social and political organizing to ensure a living wage. Yet recent social work research largely neglects efforts to raise wages and effective means for organizing to do so. This paper draws on in-depth interviews from a longitudinal study of low-wage hospital workers who formed a union and negotiated annual, incremental wage increases to achieve a $15 minimum wage floor to understand their perceptions of the effects of the initial wage increase. Results show workers have a wide spectrum of perceptions, with many feeling no effect or even a negative effect due to losses in public benefits. A visualization used to aid interpretation of results identifies race and family structure as salient factors, pointing to the role of structural discrimination in experiences and perceptions of wage increases. Given that this workplace, like many other employers and localities, has implemented a $15 minimum wage through incremental raises across time, it is important that social workers be aware of the experiences of workers at each stage of this process. This study examines the impact of the first raise, establishing a framework from which future research can examine how individuals' perceptions and experiences develop over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Legal socialization is the process through which young people develop beliefs in the legitimacy of the law and legal system. Research has examined how perceptions of interactions with authority figures influence beliefs regarding the legitimacy of laws and legal system, thereby shaping compliance with the law (Fagan and Tyler in "Soc Justice Res" 18:217-242, 2005). Child welfare caseworkers play an integral role in children and youths' experiences in the child welfare system. However, limited research exists examining the relationship between youths' perceptions of caseworkers and outcomes such as delinquency. Objective: The goal of this study is to address how perceptions of a youth's child welfare caseworker influence legal socialization and whether it is related to self-reports of delinquency. Methods: The sample (n = 113) is from youth in two juvenile justice residential facilities. Least trimmed square regressions examine the relationship between perceptions of child welfare caseworkers and legal socialization as a composite measure and its components. The overall measure and individual components are then regressed on self-reports of delinquency. Results: Results indicate youth with more negative perceptions of caseworkers view the legal system as less legitimate and exhibit lower overall legal socialization. Legal socialization is significantly related to delinquency. Conclusion: Findings suggest that, similar to other authority figures, perceptions of child welfare caseworkers are linked to young people's legal socialization and that legal socialization is related to delinquent behavior. Thus, professionals should be aware of the important role of their relationships when working with children and youth.

Recent legislative enactments have altered the boundary between US juvenile and criminal justice systems. Youth that were previously adjudicated as juveniles are increasingly being labeled "adults" and tried in the criminal court. This article begins with a review of policy and practice changes in the transfer of children to the criminal court. Through a discussion of relevant social and political discourses, the author examines the meanings of these changes for constructions of childhood and the contestation of childhood that they represent. The article concludes with a framework for analyzing and reconfiguring the trying of children as adults.

Social workers seek to address numerous forms of oppression. While our research has focused on extensively documenting problems, solutions often remain out of grasp. Many schools of social work remain entrenched in traditional academic structures focused on narrow measures of academic success and impact. This article critiques these measures, proposing a framework for using research to build community power for societal impact. Using the Pittsburgh Wage Study as a case study, it argues engaged research offers an opportunity to move from documenting problems to demonstrating how research can build the power of community groups involved in developing solutions. Based on our experiences, we offer a framework for using research to build power, arguing we need to build relationships by showing up and listening, center the questions our partners want answered, use multiple methods and approaches, move quickly when asked, develop a broad set of products outside of journal articles, and embrace politics where needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether and how wage increases are associated with hardships experienced by low-wage workers and their strategies to manage these hardships. Data are drawn from a survey of 166 hospital service, clerical, and technical workers at a large hospital in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Following an initial wage increase, workers experienced fewer hardships and used fewer strategies to make ends meet, such as financial support from family and public benefits programs. Hardships decreased more for workers making above $15 an hour. These results suggest that raising the wages of low-wage workers can help reduce the hardships they experience and the need to use a variety of strategies to make ends meet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.05.008 Byline: Jeffrey J. Shook (a), Rosemary C. Sarri (b) Keywords: Juvenile; Structured decision making; Juvenile court; Juvenile justice Abstract: Legal actors in juvenile courts are required to make numerous decisions about the intake, processing, and disposition of juvenile offenders within limited time frames and with limited information. Structured decision making (SDM), a formal and standardized procedure for guiding decision makers that defines the criteria they must use in their deliberations and decisions, has the potential to make decision making more fair and effective. However, this study of 12 courts in four states reveals that SDM is not systematically implemented in juvenile justice case processing and its use is inhibited by a lack of training, appropriate instruments, and service options. Judges and probation officers reported overriding SDM recommendations in a significant portion of their caseloads due to their own disagreement with the recommendations or due to external constraints. Although judges and probation officers agreed with general goals for the implementation of SDM, they generally did not believe that SDM was achieving these goals in their courts. While the extent to which judges and probation officers valued different SDM components (risk assessment, needs assessment, and security classification) and found them useful at different decision-making points varied, the results of this study indicate a positive relationship between perceptions of value and frequency of use. These results indicate a need for attention not only to the development of appropriate instruments to aid in decision making but also to the implementation of these instruments in case processing. Author Affiliation: (a) University of Pittsburgh, 2117 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States (b) University of Michigan, United States Article History: Received 27 March 2007; Revised 2 May 2007; Accepted 9 May 2007

Many service, clerical, and technical hospital workers deemed essential during the pandemic have wages that do not reflect the essential nature of their work and do not earn enough income to cover basic expenses. Thus, many experience material hardships related to food, housing, and medical care. Previous studies have shown strong relationships between material hardships and health; however, they do not fully explain the role of stress as an intervening mechanism. This cross-sectional study analyzes an online survey with 257 lower-wage hospital workers to examine the relationships between hardships and health, and how perceived stress mediates these relationships. Path analysis revealed that financial and food hardships were related to mental health through perceived stress, while medical hardship was directly associated with physical health. These findings add to the evidence that workers' hardships either directly or indirectly contribute to negative mental and physical health outcomes through perceived stress. Future investigations should further examine relationships among material hardships, stress, and health, and advocacy efforts should focus on raising wages for essential hospital workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research is increasingly focusing on how young people interpret their experiences with the legal system and whether and how this shapes attitudes and beliefs about the system. This study adds to the extant literature by examining the relationship between perceptions of procedural justice and attitudes toward the law and legal system for a sample of youth (N = 227) in residential placements. Specifically, it focuses on how youths' perceptions of their defense attorneys shape their attitudes toward the legal system. Results demonstrate that youth who feel they were treated more fairly by their defense attorneys viewed the police and courts as more legitimate. White youth viewed the police as more legitimate than did youth of color and girls viewed courts as less legitimate than did boys. Attitudes toward the legal system were also related to other contextual characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of child welfare, mental health, and drug/alcohol system experiences on jail involvement, as mediated by juvenile justice placement, for Black and White youth/young adults. The sample was comprised of individuals born between 1985 and 1994 with child welfare involvement in an urban Pennsylvania county (N = 37,079) and an out-of-home placement (OOHP) subsample (n = 8,317). Four path models were estimated (two full samples, two subsamples; separate models for Black and White youth). For all models, juvenile justice placement was positively related to jail involvement. For the full samples, out-of-home child welfare placement was associated with an increase in juvenile justice placement. Within the Black placement sample, child welfare placement experiences had complex relationships with juvenile justice placement. Providing drug/alcohol services may be a protective factor for Black youth prior to juvenile justice contact. Articulating these relationships helps identify youth most at risk of justice system involvement and better targets services, especially mental health and drug/alcohol services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work has long been committed to eliminating poverty, which is at the root of many of the social issues and challenges we address. Over 40% of the U.S. workforce makes less than $15/hour, and the accumulating evidence suggests this is not enough to meet basic needs. In this introduction to a special issue about low-wage work, we describe what is known regarding the experiences and well-being of low-wage workers, as well as promising policy and practice ideas to better support working families. We provide an overview of the included articles and conclude with encouragement for social workers to move beyond a narrow focus on poverty and more broadly consider the struggles and well-being of low-wage workers and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out-of-home placement in the child welfare system is related to justice system involvement. Yet, few studies address the similarities and differences of child welfare placement types in relation to justice system involvement within the same sample of youth, which can provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the two. Utilizing a sample of child welfare youth with substantial out-of-home placements (N = 794), we investigate trajectory group experiences on each of three child welfare placement types, and cross-tabulate each with justice system trajectory groups to examine subgroups. The five-group model fits best for foster homes and group homes; four groups for residential facilities. Relationships between justice system groups and placement types were significant. Youth with chronic justice system involvement had more experiences in group homes and residential facilities; youth with less justice system contact tended to have foster home experiences. Implications for policy and practice are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiences of juveniles in adult prisons have gained increased attention over the last several decades. This article adds to understandings of these experiences by examining the relationship between age and prison behavior among transferred juveniles (N = 763). Results reveal that juveniles committed to prisons at younger ages accumulate more misconducts than those committed at older ages. Results also indicate that African American youth, youth with mental health issues, youth with more extensive prior histories in the juvenile system, and youth committed for property and weapons offenses accumulated more prison misconducts. Policy and practice implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although studies have found that young adults who sell drugs are more likely to be involved in risky behaviors than those who do not sell drugs, there has been relatively little research that has explored heterogeneity among young adults who sell drugs. Methods: Using a pooled sample of 18 to 25 year olds from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2006-2010) who report past-year drug selling ( N = 5,373), this study employs latent profile analysis to specify latent groups and assess the correlates of group membership. Results: Findings indicate substantial differences among young adults who sell drugs. In particular, the analysis found four groups of drug sellers: normative (49.6%), club drug users (23.6%), polysubstance users (16.0%), and criminal offenders (10.8%). Club drug users were characterized by high levels of ecstasy and hallucinogen use, polysubstance users were more likely to be depressed and anxious, White and female than the other groups. Criminal offenders were overwhelmingly male and more likely to be comprised of African-Americans and Hispanics. Conclusions: Results indicate that drug selling in early adulthood varies substantially. Contrary to media and popular notions most drug sellers are not involved in crime and polysubstance using drug sellers are in clear need of mental health services. Further, most drug sellers in this age range are White. Findings suggest that policy efforts that operate under the assumption of homogeneity of drug selling may be misguided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral engagement produces strong emotions that help individuals refrain from serious criminal behavior, but what if a youth is unable to experience these emotions. Based on a sample of adjudicated delinquents and using a series of structural equation models, we test whether moral disengagement varies by level of psychopathy in relation to criminal onset and assess this stability across gender. Psychopathic personality features, moral disengagement, and family stress intermixed in diverse ways depending on the severity of psychopathic personality and gender. At higher levels of psychopathy, the effect of psychopathy on criminal onset was unmediated. However, moral disengagement was found to have mediating effects on criminal onset at lower levels of psychopathy. Study findings lend support to the hypothesis that due to core emotional deficits, youth high on psychopathy are unaffected by the mechanisms of moral disengagement. Results are discussed in light of theories of morality and psychopathy and the treatment of moral deficits among youthful offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the consequences of legislative changes that eased the process of treating juveniles as adults. Overall, it finds evidence that there has been an increase in the number of juveniles sent to the criminal court and the majority either remain in the community or return to the community shortly after serving a jail or prison sentence. In light of geographic and racial/ethnic disparities in transfer, differences in the programs and services offered to youth in the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and higher rates of recidivism among transferred offenders, the article supports the contention of many scholars and advocates that there is a need for policy and practice reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At least one third of youth involved with juvenile justice experienced child maltreatment. Child welfare samples thus provide a means to examine how child welfare services moderate the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency, producing information essential for tailoring services to disrupt this link. This article contributes to understandings of which youth are likely to become involved with juvenile justice by examining its relationships with child welfare experiences and mental health and substance abuse service receipt, with particular attention to racial and gender differences. In multivariate analyses of a birth cohort of child welfare-involved youth, mental health services are associated with juvenile justice, and substance abuse services are predictive for White boys and out-of-home placement for girls. For youth experiencing out-of-home placement, mental health services are associated with increased likelihood of juvenile justice and substance abuse services with decreased likelihood, while congregate care predicts juvenile justice for girls and White youth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Violent video game playing is correlated with aggression, but its relation to antisocial behavior in correctional and juvenile justice samples is largely unknown. Based on a data from a sample of institutionalized juvenile delinquents, behavioral and attitudinal measures relating to violent video game playing were associated with a composite measure of delinquency and a more specific measure of violent delinquency after controlling for the effects of screen time, years playing video games, age, sex, race, delinquency history, and psychopathic personality traits. Violent video games are associated with antisociality even in a clinical sample, and these effects withstand the robust influences of multiple correlates of juvenile delinquency and youth violence most notably psychopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have compared correctional service experiences of youth in adult prisons and juvenile facilities. This study compared 47 youth in juvenile facilities and 49 youth in adult prisons in Michigan. Controlling for offence history, socioeconomic background, and demographic characteristics, juvenile placement was found to be associated with more positive responses for counseling, medical services, and staff quality. Experiences with the quantity of education and work programs were similar, although the quality of education and work might have differed. Poor correctional services in adult prisons might be a reason for less effective rehabilitation, leading to lower deterrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the various roles of social workers in juvenile detention and adult criminal justice system in the U.S. According to the author, there are several opportunities and challenges for social workers in criminal justice despite of their absence in present years. It is stated that social workers played vital roles in the development of national policies to contract incarceration and poverty while increasing resources for education, employment and treatment in the community. Moreover, they play an important role in the development of treatment programs in prisons, jails and residential treatment centers.

This narrative considers the story of a family bearing the label of "grandparents raising grandchildren." The authors argue that families bearing this label are quite complex with regard to their circumstances, roles of family members, and issues of race, class, and gender. Policy makers, social services providers, and educational institutions must become aware of the numerous complexities these families present in order to provide supports and resources both through child welfare and other social service institutions. Additionally, the circumstances and complexities of these families must be considered within the dominant political discourse over family and family policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]