Lockdown and stay-at-home orders related to COVID-19 have exacerbated pressure on families in a t... more Lockdown and stay-at-home orders related to COVID-19 have exacerbated pressure on families in a time of public health threat and economic insecurity. Public child welfare (PCW) workers, inundated with job demands even in normal times, face cases complicated by the added stressor of a pandemic. The lockdown and economic crisis heighten the risk of abuse and neglect for children in precarious situations and shared trauma for PCW workers dealing with increased work and personal stressors. Symptoms of shared trauma can impede PCW workers from fulfilling job demands and responsibilities, which leads to inadequate resources for children in need of permanency and can potentially harm service delivery outcomes. The risk of significant shared traumatic stress among PCW workers thus needs to be mitigated with protective factors. Staff-focused policies and practices need to be created, utilized, and upheld through multilevel leadership, for the good of individual workers, their clients, and the larger society.
This chapter explores the systemic and psychological manifestations of racial and medical trauma ... more This chapter explores the systemic and psychological manifestations of racial and medical trauma symptoms associated with COVID-19 and parental incarceration and lays the groundwork for the implementation of relational-cultural and attachment theory and practice within a clinical community-based setting to treat this population. The overwhelming prevalence of infection of COVID-19 in correctional facilities further heightens the collateral trauma responses of children grieving the loss of their loved ones due to hyper-incarceration. Trauma symptoms exhibited by children and adolescents generally follow a similar symptomatology: depression, anger, aggression, self-isolation, and self-harming behaviors. As with other vulnerable populations impacted by various forms of trauma, children of incarcerated parents will likewise benefit from mental health providers employing attachment theory-based interventions during the global pandemic. Clinicians working with children of incarcerated parents often experience secondary trauma, and in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, the term shared trauma is more aptly applied.
ABSTRACT Relatively little has been written encouraging social workers to use communication techn... more ABSTRACT Relatively little has been written encouraging social workers to use communication technologies for community service purposes, such as education and advocacy with general populations, and empowerment of individuals, groups and communities, especially marginalized and voiceless populations traditionally served by social workers, to tell their own stories using these media. This paper reviews relevant literature on the use of media in social work, presents examples of ways visual technologies have been used to serve populations-at-risk, and briefly describes a course jointly offered by a school of social work and a school of the arts intended to teach students the use of various technologies for community service purposes. The application of social work practice, theory, research and policy to media production reflects a little-explored potential modality for micro and macro intervention, and thus is an innovation in the field, combining service learning, inter-disciplinary collaboration and application of social work knowledge through technology. We also argue that social workers should become competent in using media to harness their power for intervention with and on behalf of clients, and to positively and actively shape the way clients and our profession are portrayed and viewed in the larger world.
Confronting the challenge to provide sound clinical treatment in brief therapy, this timely book ... more Confronting the challenge to provide sound clinical treatment in brief therapy, this timely book will enrich the practices of all psychotherapists. Designed and arranged according to the DSM-IV diagnostic categories, each chapter addresses the short-term treatment of a specific condition or patient population. Starting from the premise that psychodynamically trained clinicians already possess the requisite skills to conduct short-term treatment, the editors demonstrate how to adapt these skills to a time-limited approach.
The direct and indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual performance has often... more The direct and indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual performance has often been studied. Yet scholars have failed to fully explore the degree to which two motivators (i.e., public service motivation [PSM] and mission valence) interact with this leadership practice to influence employee performance. To close this lacuna in the literature, a nationwide survey was administered to federal, state, and local government employees in the United States. The findings revealed that transformational leadership and PSM had a direct, positive effect on employee evaluations. They also revealed that mission valence strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and performance. However, PSM did not have the same influence on the association between transformational leadership and performance. The implications these findings have for theory and practice are discussed in the article.
ABSTRACT Contemporary clinical practice requires social workers to keep abreast of and apply evid... more ABSTRACT Contemporary clinical practice requires social workers to keep abreast of and apply evidence-based practice approaches. This may be a more difficult challenge for psychodynamically oriented social workers who focus on the therapeutic relationship as the principal mechanism of change. Research supporting the efficacy of the therapeutic relationship is presented, as is a case vignette that illustrates the core principles of relational social work, a postmodern contextual approach that focuses on the mutuality inherent in the therapeutic endeavor. Emphasis is placed on examining the ‘client and clinician-in-situation’ and the interactional nature of the intrapsychic, interpersonal and macro social systems in which the client and clinician operate.
Journal of Technology in Human Services, May 18, 2006
ABSTRACT This article describes and critiques the creation of a student-centered, reality-based t... more ABSTRACT This article describes and critiques the creation of a student-centered, reality-based training video undertaken by students and faculty from the departments of social work and visual arts at a northeastern university. There are several key and innovative aspects to this video. It is a collaboration between faculty and students of the schools of social work and the arts: social work students play themselves and students and affiliates of the school of the arts play clients and were responsible for all technical aspects of the video. The interactions portrayed are based on real social work student process recordings, and client-worker interactions are followed by a supervisory session, underscoring the importance of feedback for learning. The relevant literature on a variety of teaching techniques on which we based our work, including the use of role plays, simulated clients, and video technology, is reviewed. Social work educators are encouraged to develop their own videos depicting their students' unique experiences, using the interdisciplinary, collaborative, problem-based process presented. The technological capacity to deliver video on the web further enhances the accessibility and flexibility of this teaching strategy.
Lying is a ubiquitous feature of everyday social convention and also permeates the intimate bonds... more Lying is a ubiquitous feature of everyday social convention and also permeates the intimate bonds of romantic and family life. This article reviews the research literature on the gender-based motivations for lying and the contexts in which it occurs, along with relevant psychoanalytic perspectives, which help to explain how lying is related to one’s experience of self. Emphasis will be placed on contemporary psychoanalytic formulations, which emphasize the subjective nature of truth and the multiplicity of self-experience. A case illustration is offered to demonstrate the applicability and complementarity of various viewpoints on the topic.
This qualitative study was a thematic analysis of categories of meaning-making contained in the w... more This qualitative study was a thematic analysis of categories of meaning-making contained in the written narratives of 139 clinical social workers living and working in New York City on September 11, 2001 (9/11) related to their personal and professional experiences of the World Trade Center attack. Themes included personal growth and benefit found in the wake of 9/11, the ongoing experience of adversity, and professional growth and lessons learned. Situated in the context of the literature on narrative and meaning-making, the findings offer further support for meaning-making as an intrinsic human activity and shed light on the various ways clinicians integrate an experience of shared trauma. Implications for theory, practice, policy, and future research are suggested.
Lockdown and stay-at-home orders related to COVID-19 have exacerbated pressure on families in a t... more Lockdown and stay-at-home orders related to COVID-19 have exacerbated pressure on families in a time of public health threat and economic insecurity. Public child welfare (PCW) workers, inundated with job demands even in normal times, face cases complicated by the added stressor of a pandemic. The lockdown and economic crisis heighten the risk of abuse and neglect for children in precarious situations and shared trauma for PCW workers dealing with increased work and personal stressors. Symptoms of shared trauma can impede PCW workers from fulfilling job demands and responsibilities, which leads to inadequate resources for children in need of permanency and can potentially harm service delivery outcomes. The risk of significant shared traumatic stress among PCW workers thus needs to be mitigated with protective factors. Staff-focused policies and practices need to be created, utilized, and upheld through multilevel leadership, for the good of individual workers, their clients, and the larger society.
This chapter explores the systemic and psychological manifestations of racial and medical trauma ... more This chapter explores the systemic and psychological manifestations of racial and medical trauma symptoms associated with COVID-19 and parental incarceration and lays the groundwork for the implementation of relational-cultural and attachment theory and practice within a clinical community-based setting to treat this population. The overwhelming prevalence of infection of COVID-19 in correctional facilities further heightens the collateral trauma responses of children grieving the loss of their loved ones due to hyper-incarceration. Trauma symptoms exhibited by children and adolescents generally follow a similar symptomatology: depression, anger, aggression, self-isolation, and self-harming behaviors. As with other vulnerable populations impacted by various forms of trauma, children of incarcerated parents will likewise benefit from mental health providers employing attachment theory-based interventions during the global pandemic. Clinicians working with children of incarcerated parents often experience secondary trauma, and in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, the term shared trauma is more aptly applied.
ABSTRACT Relatively little has been written encouraging social workers to use communication techn... more ABSTRACT Relatively little has been written encouraging social workers to use communication technologies for community service purposes, such as education and advocacy with general populations, and empowerment of individuals, groups and communities, especially marginalized and voiceless populations traditionally served by social workers, to tell their own stories using these media. This paper reviews relevant literature on the use of media in social work, presents examples of ways visual technologies have been used to serve populations-at-risk, and briefly describes a course jointly offered by a school of social work and a school of the arts intended to teach students the use of various technologies for community service purposes. The application of social work practice, theory, research and policy to media production reflects a little-explored potential modality for micro and macro intervention, and thus is an innovation in the field, combining service learning, inter-disciplinary collaboration and application of social work knowledge through technology. We also argue that social workers should become competent in using media to harness their power for intervention with and on behalf of clients, and to positively and actively shape the way clients and our profession are portrayed and viewed in the larger world.
Confronting the challenge to provide sound clinical treatment in brief therapy, this timely book ... more Confronting the challenge to provide sound clinical treatment in brief therapy, this timely book will enrich the practices of all psychotherapists. Designed and arranged according to the DSM-IV diagnostic categories, each chapter addresses the short-term treatment of a specific condition or patient population. Starting from the premise that psychodynamically trained clinicians already possess the requisite skills to conduct short-term treatment, the editors demonstrate how to adapt these skills to a time-limited approach.
The direct and indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual performance has often... more The direct and indirect impact of transformational leadership on individual performance has often been studied. Yet scholars have failed to fully explore the degree to which two motivators (i.e., public service motivation [PSM] and mission valence) interact with this leadership practice to influence employee performance. To close this lacuna in the literature, a nationwide survey was administered to federal, state, and local government employees in the United States. The findings revealed that transformational leadership and PSM had a direct, positive effect on employee evaluations. They also revealed that mission valence strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and performance. However, PSM did not have the same influence on the association between transformational leadership and performance. The implications these findings have for theory and practice are discussed in the article.
ABSTRACT Contemporary clinical practice requires social workers to keep abreast of and apply evid... more ABSTRACT Contemporary clinical practice requires social workers to keep abreast of and apply evidence-based practice approaches. This may be a more difficult challenge for psychodynamically oriented social workers who focus on the therapeutic relationship as the principal mechanism of change. Research supporting the efficacy of the therapeutic relationship is presented, as is a case vignette that illustrates the core principles of relational social work, a postmodern contextual approach that focuses on the mutuality inherent in the therapeutic endeavor. Emphasis is placed on examining the ‘client and clinician-in-situation’ and the interactional nature of the intrapsychic, interpersonal and macro social systems in which the client and clinician operate.
Journal of Technology in Human Services, May 18, 2006
ABSTRACT This article describes and critiques the creation of a student-centered, reality-based t... more ABSTRACT This article describes and critiques the creation of a student-centered, reality-based training video undertaken by students and faculty from the departments of social work and visual arts at a northeastern university. There are several key and innovative aspects to this video. It is a collaboration between faculty and students of the schools of social work and the arts: social work students play themselves and students and affiliates of the school of the arts play clients and were responsible for all technical aspects of the video. The interactions portrayed are based on real social work student process recordings, and client-worker interactions are followed by a supervisory session, underscoring the importance of feedback for learning. The relevant literature on a variety of teaching techniques on which we based our work, including the use of role plays, simulated clients, and video technology, is reviewed. Social work educators are encouraged to develop their own videos depicting their students' unique experiences, using the interdisciplinary, collaborative, problem-based process presented. The technological capacity to deliver video on the web further enhances the accessibility and flexibility of this teaching strategy.
Lying is a ubiquitous feature of everyday social convention and also permeates the intimate bonds... more Lying is a ubiquitous feature of everyday social convention and also permeates the intimate bonds of romantic and family life. This article reviews the research literature on the gender-based motivations for lying and the contexts in which it occurs, along with relevant psychoanalytic perspectives, which help to explain how lying is related to one’s experience of self. Emphasis will be placed on contemporary psychoanalytic formulations, which emphasize the subjective nature of truth and the multiplicity of self-experience. A case illustration is offered to demonstrate the applicability and complementarity of various viewpoints on the topic.
This qualitative study was a thematic analysis of categories of meaning-making contained in the w... more This qualitative study was a thematic analysis of categories of meaning-making contained in the written narratives of 139 clinical social workers living and working in New York City on September 11, 2001 (9/11) related to their personal and professional experiences of the World Trade Center attack. Themes included personal growth and benefit found in the wake of 9/11, the ongoing experience of adversity, and professional growth and lessons learned. Situated in the context of the literature on narrative and meaning-making, the findings offer further support for meaning-making as an intrinsic human activity and shed light on the various ways clinicians integrate an experience of shared trauma. Implications for theory, practice, policy, and future research are suggested.
Contemporary studies show that women play multiple roles in armed conflict. Only rarely are they ... more Contemporary studies show that women play multiple roles in armed conflict. Only rarely are they passive bystanders or victims. Women are often part of the events that lead to armed conflict, and they may engage in combat. They have also led peace movements that have ended conflict. Nevertheless, the multiple roles that women play in war and peace are oftentimes not recognized, and their experiences, beyond victimhood, have been disregarded in post-conflict reconstruction. Drawing upon research with conflict-affected women, this paper focuses on how women ex-combatants in Burundi and Northern Uganda conceptualize and operationalize psychosocial well-being and articulate the specific contributions they can make to the peacetime community.
Uploads
Papers by Carol Tosone