African immigrants in the United States are a population that is rapidly growing and currently composed of about 5% of the U.S. population with 36% of the Africa immigrants in the U. S originating from West and central Africa (Anderson (2017). According to the Pew Research Center, the Black African immigrant population in the United States grew from about 600,000 to 2.0 million Between 2000 and 2019, resulting in people of African origin now making up to 42% of the country’s foreign-born Black population (Tamir, 2022). Ahmed and Rasmussen (2020) emphasize that, immigration comes with rapid changes in social status that have effects on mental health.

During the literature search for the gap, I noticed that research with immigrant populations has identified relevant social status indicators, but these indicators are not sufficient to address changes that are uniquely relevant to immigrants from West/Central African regions. West/ Central African immigrants residing in the United States experience several common mental disorders however, just a few seek appropriate treatment for their mental health condition and studies addressing service use disparities are less common. (Novak et al., 2018). Little is known regarding the barriers of this population’s mental health, particularly the roles played by culture, immigration conditions and the unique transnational practices.

 

Annotated Bibliography

Diaz, E., Ortiz-Barreda, G., Ben-Shlomo, Y., Holdsworth, M., Salami, B., Rammohan, A., Chung, R. Y., Padmadas, S. S., Krafft, T. (2017). Systematic review and meta-analyses interventions to improve immigrant health. A scoping review. European Journal of Public Health, 27(3), 433–439. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckx001

Diaz et al. (2017) investigated the significance of the interventions used to improve immigrants’ health. According to the authors, immigrants are individuals who move away from their country of origin to another for different reasons. Usually, these individuals have poor social-economic status and inadequate educational background, which make them susceptible to health disparities. The authors reviewed a total of 83 studies that investigated various interventions that targeted immigrants to determine their effectiveness in reducing the challenges immigrants faced while accessing healthcare services.

Diaz et al. (2017) highlighted the major healthcare challenges that immigrants often face. According to the authors, the prevalent ailments in this population include T2D and cardiovascular ailments. In addition, they need maternal care for newly born infants and for debilitating conditions such as osteoporosis. Diaz et al. (2017) posited that the interventions that should be used in the population address the barriers that deter the population from accessing adequate healthcare services, such as financial and language barriers and illiteracy. Some of the interventions analyzed in the study included the creation of community awareness, using peer navigators to identify and aid the most vulnerable populations, and initiating access-enhancing interventions.

Rodriguez, D. X., Hill, J., & McDaniel, P. N. (2021). A Scoping Review of Literature About Mental Health and Well-Being Among Immigrant Communities in the United States. Health promotion practice, 22(2), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839920942511

Rodriguez et al. (2021) investigated the lack of mental health services as a significant healthcare challenge that immigrants grapple with. According to the authors, the intricacies involved in moving from one country to another are usually distressing and cause many individuals to develop psychological disorders. The challenges that Rodriguez et al. (2021) mention includes adapting to new learning systems among young people, finding job opportunities, and getting accustomed to foreign cultural inclinations. The authors reviewed qualitative and quantitative studies to determine the challenges immigrants face while seeking healthcare services, including mental health services.

The content documented by Rodriguez et al. (2021) highlighted significant barriers contributing to the healthcare disparities that immigrants face. The authors documented immigration policies as a significant cause of increased mental health problems among immigrants. The policies discriminate against this population, predisposing them to problems such as lack of adequate housing facilities, failure to secure lucrative employment opportunities, and lack of adequate medical coverage. The result is increased mental problems among immigrant communities compared to the general population.

Semprini, J. (2020), “A systematic review on the health of African immigrants in the United States: synthesizing recommendations for future research”, International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 121-136. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-02-2019-0021

Semprini (2020) investigated the health challenges that immigrants of African origin who live in the U. S face. The authors reviewed over four hundred and fifty articles discussing the healthcare issues the target population faced and wrote a comprehensive review of the findings. According to the report, the immigrant faced an increased prevalence of ailments such as gestational diabetes, cancerous growths, HIV infections, and obesity. Subsequently, they have increased cases of negative pregnancy outcomes and are at a higher risk of experiencing female genital mutilation.

Semprini et al. (2020) highlighted the need to investigate the causes of healthcare disparities among immigrants. According to the authors, the issue is a significant cause of concern because of the rising number of immigrants who move into the country yearly. On the other hand, there is inadequate information about the population’s healthcare needs. In addition, adequate investigative research has not been conducted on the population to determine the factors that determine their healthcare needs and the suitable interventions for the population. The process will be fundamental in eliminating the prevailing health disparities in this population.

Martinez, O., Wu, E., Sandfort, T., Dodge, B., Carballo-Dieguez, A., Pinto, R., Rhodes, S. D., Moya, E., Chavez-Baray, S. (2015). Evaluating the impact of immigration policies on health status among undocumented immigrants: A systematic review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(3), 947–970. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9968-4

Martinez et al. (2015) investigated how the newly instigated immigration policies affected the health of immigrants, especially those who were undocumented. The authors conducted an investigative study that reviewed over forty research studies to determine the impact of the tenets on undocumented immigrants’ health-seeking trends. The content compiled from the studies indicated that the instigation of the regulation has contributed to the inaccessibility of healthcare services to immigrants. Also, it has led to an increase in cases of mental health problems in this population.

Martinez et al. (2015) posit that the regulations cause the immigrants to be constantly afraid and insecure, making them susceptible to psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PSTD. Still, the professional cannot access healthcare services because of the undocumented status. The findings from the studies further indicate that undocumented immigrants who are most vulnerable to negative implications of the policies on undocumented immigrants are the women and the members of the LGBT community.

Pannetier, J., Lert, F., Jauffret Roustide, M., & du Loû, A. D. (2017). Mental health of sub-Saharan African migrants: The gendered role of migration paths and transnational ties. SSM – population health, 3, 549–557. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.06.003

Pannetier et al. (2017) investigated the factors contributing to healthcare disparities among immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa. According to the authors, immigration policies are a significant cause of the healthcare disparities that the population faces. According to the authors, the instigation of the policies increased the susceptibility of immigrants to physical and mental ailments.

Pannetier et al. (2017) highlighted significant elements, such as how the immigrant policies increased the susceptibility of undocumented immigrants to psychological distress, such as lack of adequate finances, unemployment, and adequate housing facilities. The individuals also got separated from their family members, causing them to feel lonely and isolated, an aspect that increases the chances of their contracting mental disorders such as depression and high anxiety levels. The authors also indicated that working in poor environments and exposure to pollutants and poor weather conditions due to poor working conditions increase their susceptibility to ailments such as cancerous growths and COPD.

 

· Akinsulure-Smith, A. M. (2017). Resilience in the face of adversity: African immigrants’ mental health needs and the American transition. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 15(4), 428-448.

The authors of this study used qualitative research to explore the significant sources of emotional distress and management strategies among the central and western African immigrants. These authors observed that most participants agreed to encounter high degrees of psychological distress related to racial and cultural discrimination, parenting, intimate parental violence, a lot of demands by family members, and challenges linked to their immigration status. The presence of these obstructions has made the majority of the individuals postpone seeking mental health assistance even when they need it.

· Cook, B. L., Trinh, N. H., Li, Z., Hou, S. S. Y., & Progovac, A. M. (2017). Trends in racial-ethnic disparities in access to mental health care, 2004–2012. Psychiatric Services, 68(1), 9-16.

The authors involved themselves in comparing trends among racial-ethnic challenges concerning mental health access among central and western Africans with other groups, including whites, Asians, and Hispanics, by utilizing the Institute of Medicine classification of disparities as all distinctions different than those due to clinical need, clinical appropriateness and patient preferences. The differences regarding racial disparities in access to mental healthcare. The authors analyzed data from 2004 to 2012 from medical expenditure panel surveys. The outcome of their study indicated that out of the groups examined. The western and central Africans indicated to experience a lot of disparities in access to psychotropic and mental healthcare from healthcare facilities.

· Novak, P., Anderson, A. C., & Chen, J. (2018). Changes in health insurance coverage and barriers to health care access among individuals with serious psychological distress following the Affordable Care Act. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 45(6), 924-932.

The authors identify that the Affordable Care Act has been proposing to make efforts to expand healthcare insurance coverage and reduce monetary barriers to accessing mental healthcare services for central and western Africans. The authors identify that the implementation of ACA is linked with an increase in the capacity of health insurance coverage among individuals suffering from severe psychological distress and a decrease in forgoing and delaying the delivery of necessary care. The authors have also investigated whether ACA is making any efforts to reduce the odds of an individual with psychological distress among minority groups such as the central and western African communities. Their findings indicate that the ACA has been attempting to address the disparities that minority groups are experiencing when accessing mental healthcare.

· van der Boor, C. F., & White, R. (2020). Barriers to accessing and negotiating mental health services in asylum-seeking and refugee populations: the application of the candidacy framework. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 22(1), 156-174.

The authors have reviewed challenges that minority groups such as the refugees experience as they access and negotiate for mental healthcare access in the United States. The authors used a candidacy framework to synthesize and conceptualize barriers to mental health services. This framework helped provide an understanding of the inter-related barriers to mental healthcare access experienced by these minority groups. The authors identify that a holistic approach is needed to overcome these challenges by providing further research in identifying understudied areas of candidacy.

 

Derr A. S. (2016). Mental Health Service Use Among Immigrants in the United States: A Systematic Review. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 67(3), 265–274. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201500004

Derr, the author of the concept article about the mental health of immigrants confirms that this group of people faces challenges associated with immigration that might lead to mental health issues. To make it worse, their access to mental health is minimal leaving them at risk of untreated mental health conditions. The review located 62 articles which met inclusion criteria. Peer-reviewed reports that were focused on immigrant mental health service were used for this study.

The research focuses on the utilization of mental health services among these immigrants who inform future research efforts. Results show that immigrants from Asia and Latin America use mental health services at lower rates compared to non-immigrants despite equal needs. Lower use has been associated with men. The structural challenges associated are such as high costs, language barriers, and lack of insurance. The study encourages expanding research and analytic design to emphasize these understudied groups.

Gaston, G. B., Earl, T. R., Nisanci, A., & Glomb, B. (2016). Perception of mental health services among Black Americans. Social Work in Mental Health, 14(6), 676-695. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2015.1137257

Gaston and other authors addressed the perception of mental health services, especially among Black Americans. The Black American population is more diverse and can extrapolate differences. The team of authors came up to give findings on mental health services.

The findings concluded that more research was indeed required to understand the concept of mental health among minorities and immigrants. This way, mental health was not prioritized among the Black population, the main causal factors for mental health challenges are stigmatization, racism, and discrimination even in healthcare which makes the population hesitant in terms of getting help with mental health care. These remain to be the main cultural factors that hinder success in engaging in mental health talks, especially among the black population.

Ayón, C., Santiago, J. R., & Torres, A. S. L. (2020). Latinx undocumented older adults, health needs, and access to healthcare. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 22(5), 996-1009.

About 10.5 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, and 10% are 55 years old or older. People over 65 who are in the country illegally cannot get Social Security or Medicaid, even though they pay federal taxes. In this study, study participants were put into five groups based on how they felt about their physical wellbeing and how easy it was to get medical care. They were put into five groups: those who had straightforward healthcare coverage, those who had unclear direct exposure, those who had no access but had not been identified, those who had no entry but thought they were healthy, and those who had no access but we’re fit and active. Several neurodegenerative and debilitating sicknesses were found in people who had to meet strict minimum standards. The people who answered said they paid about $300 out of their wallets for therapies, including medicines, lab tests, and doctor visits.

People who needed care but did not know how to get it have always been able to get it by signing up for Medically Diligent Services Programs and living outside the law. But access is still hard to predict because they do not have papers and policies change. The people who answered the survey said that getting affordable and easy-to-find health care services was hard. According to the people asked, the biggest problems with getting wellness treatment were the massive price and the absence of documentation. When people do not have enough access to treatment, it can hurt their health and finances and make them feel bad. Older people who do not have papers are a disadvantaged group with many wellness necessities. Older people who do not have proper papers must pay the most for expensive wellness treatment and have less direct exposure. The study’s findings demonstrate that numerous policy positions and practices could be used to make it easier for older undocumented people to get medical services.

Wayne J., Riley, (2021). Health disparities: Gaps in access, quality, and affordability of medical care. American clinical and climatological association. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3540621/

A range of major considerations highlights the significance of racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. Because of the gaps in medical coverage, the United States’s medical system is confronted with several significant legal and philosophical challenges. As a nation, we have access to an abundance of modern and cutting-edge pharmaceuticals, cutting-edge technologies, world-class healthcare centers, and various other assets that are unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Nevertheless, due to many factors, not all demographic subsets of the population have access to these health-related resources. In addition, health is inextricably linked to many concepts of overall happiness, prosperity, and community cohesion for the people of the United States of America, its surroundings, and its customers. The state of the nation’s economy, which is intricately oriented toward the wellness of Americans in aggregate and also distinct demographic categories, is a problem that is intimately associated with this one. Because of this, insufficient, unavailability, and poor medical treatment contribute to rising healthcare expenses, which has far-reaching repercussions for the quality of patient care offered to all citizens. Depending on therapeutic interventions, cultural, regional, and geographic disparities are thought to be the primary contributors to the significant health disparities. Because African Americans have less access to prophylactic treatment, catheterization, and investigative operations, they are at a larger risk of developing cardiovascular illnesses. This makes them more likely to die from one of these conditions. Because of the high cost of these medical treatments and the fact that the overwhelming majority of African Americans are unable to find work, it is difficult for them to be able to finance the medical treatment solutions they require. As a result, there are significant health inequalities between black and white Americans since the former have limited access to preventative, developmental, and therapeutic medical services.

Yearby, R. (2018). Racial disparities in health status and access to healthcare: the continuation of inequality in the United States due to structural racism. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77(3-4), 1113-1152.

Between 1877 and 1954, the American government supported and pushed for an unequal distribution of resources based on race. African Americans were treated unfairly when it came to getting healthcare coverage, jobs, housing, and schools. African-Americans believed they would get the same chances as white people because of policy changes like the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act. Also, in Brown v. Board of Education, it was decided that distinct and inequitable schooling showed disparities and was against the U.S. Constitution. But the differences still exist today because this ruling and the law did not change how the Americas were built. Institutional discrimination, in specific, keeps African Americans from getting the same access to offerings like healthcare, earnings, strive, and riches. This makes a big difference in the wellbeing of African-Americans.

Due to differences in earnings and job full-time work options, the wellbeing of Caucasian Americans is stronger than that of African-Americans. This is because Caucasians have health insurance through Medicaid, which means they can pay for healthcare treatment. African-Americans have a much higher rate of not having health insurance than whites. This makes it hard for some people to get the necessary health care. Also, African-Americans with limited incomes are less prone than whites with low incomes to get Medicaid protection. Because more African Americans are poor and do not have health insurance, they have less entry to reasonably priced treatment and are more likely to have horrible wellness consequences. More people with health insurance, like Medicaid, cannot get medical services than those who do not have health insurance. Because African Americans do not have as much entry to wellbeing treatment service providers as white people, they are less likely to get care when needed. This makes it more likely that they will get sick or die.

We’re finally going to cover the topic that most of you probably thought we’d spend all semester on: psychological disorders (this week) and treatment (next week)! When people think of psychology, this is what they think of, but I hope that you now understand that these chapters needed to come after all the rest. One cannot understand psychological disorders and their treatments without understanding why people think the way they do and why people act the way they do. We’ll talk about nature versus nurture and its role in the genetic or environmental root causes of some disorders. We’ll talk about how the various approaches we’ve been talking about (cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytic, humanistic, etc) influence how we think about these disorders and their treatments. These next two weeks are your opportunity to apply everything we’ve been talking about to understand psychological disorders and their treatments.

This week we’ll cover the following topics in Chapter 13: Psychological Disorders:

· What’s normal, what’s not

· Classifying and explaining psychological disorders

· Anxiety Disorders

· Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

· Depressive Disorders

· Bipolar Disorders

· Schizophrenia

Useful infographics/tables:

· Infographic 13.1: The DSM-5

· Infographic 13.2: Suicide in the United States

· Table 13.1: Defining Abnormal Behavior

· Many tables are listed below in the notes

Websites that may be useful / interesting:

· American Psychiatric Association (Links to an external site.)

· National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Links to an external site.), call 1-800-273-8255

· The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (Links to an external site.)

What’s normal, what’s not

As you read through the chapter, you might feel yourself succumbing to the psychological version of intern’s syndrome (Links to an external site.), where you think you should be diagnosed with whatever disorder you happen to be reading about. We all feel sad, anxious, or angry at times. These are normal fluctuations in mood. Psychological disorders are not “normal” fluctuations in mood. Disorders seriously interfere with a person’s life (personal, professional, or day to day interactions) for an extended period of time (DSM defines this time period).

Mental health professionals rely on the three Ds to determine if someone is exhibiting abnormal behavior, as opposed to maladaptive behavior:

 

1. Dysfunction: behavior interferes with daily life and relationships

2. Distress:  behaviors/emotions cause person to feel upset

3. Deviance: degree to which behavior is considered outside the norms of society

According to the American Psychiatric Association (Links to an external site.),

Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

Mental illness is common. In a given year:

· nearly one in five (19 percent) U.S. adults experience some form of mental illness

· one in 24 (4.1 percent) has a serious mental illness*

· one in 12 (8.5 percent) has a diagnosable substance use disorder

Mental illness is treatable. The vast majority of individuals with mental illness continue to function in their daily lives.

*Serious mental illness is a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder (excluding developmental and substance use disorders) resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Examples of serious mental illness include major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

So mental illnesses are both common and treatable. This may surprise you because there is a huge stigma against mental health (Links to an external site.). This can lead to devastating consequences because people will not seek help when they really need it. Needing help is not a weakness and is necessary in most cases. A person suffering from a mental illness cannot just get over it, as they are sometimes told. Taking psychoactive medications and/or engaging in talk therapy may be part of getting oneself psychologically well.

According to the Mayo Clinic (Links to an external site.),

Some of the harmful effects of stigma can include:

· Reluctance to seek help or treatment

· Lack of understanding by family, friends, co-workers or others

· Fewer opportunities for work, school or social activities or trouble finding housing

· Bullying, physical violence or harassment

· Health insurance that doesn’t adequately cover your mental illness treatment

· The belief that you’ll never succeed at certain challenges or that you can’t improve your situation

So you can see why it’s important to combat this stigma. The consequences are far reaching and extremely harmful.

Classifying and explaining psychological disorders

In the US, mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Links to an external site.) (DSM) to help diagnose people with particular disorders. It uses a checklist of symptoms to diagnose individuals and to determine the best course of treatment. There are both pros and cons to using the DSM and clinicians are constantly revising, defending, and debunking the use of the DSM.

Given the prevalence of disorders, you might not be surprised to learn that some people can suffer from more than one disorder at a time. This is called comorbidity. It’s similar to suffering from both the flu and cancer – 2 different disorders with different underlying symptoms.

Researchers and clinicians talk about the  etiology  (Links to an external site.)of a disorder. That is, what are the root causes of a disorder. It should not surprise you of some of the common explanations:

 

1. Biological / medical model

2. Mind / psychological factors

3. Environment / sociocultural factors

4. And the combination of it all, the biopsychosocial (Links to an external site.) model (similar to figure 13.1):

 

Anxiety Disorders

People who suffer from anxiety disorders (Links to an external site.) have extreme anxiety and/or fears that are debilitating. This is not your regular run of the mill anxiety about an upcoming test or a dislike of spiders. This is severe anxiety and fear that leads to changes in the way one interacts with the world. Some examples of anxiety disorders include:

 

· Panic disorder (Links to an external site.) – panic attacks (Links to an external site.) that happen frequently and without a discernible reason are a symptom of this disorder. Panic attacks make a person feel as though they are having a heart attack and that their death is imminent. Sometimes, telling someone that they are not dying, but are instead suffering from a panic attack, can help them to calm down.

· Specific phobias (Links to an external site.) / agoraphobia  (Links to an external site.)- severe fear and anxiousness when confronted with a particular object (i.e., snakes) or situations (i.e., large spaces). Panic attacks are common and are in response to the particular object/ situation.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

People diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) (Links to an external site.) suffer from:

 

· Obsessions – repeated thoughts/urges that won’t go away; examples:

· Fear of contamination

· Fear that something wasn’t done right

· Compulsions – actions to get rid of the obsessions; examples:

· Constant hand washing

· Constant checking or repetitive rituals

Depressive Disorders

People with depressive disorders (Links to an external site.) feel profound sadness and despair, often for a long period of time, so much so that it interferes with their everyday life. This is not just “feeling blue”. Table 13.5 lists some of the different types of depressive disorders.

Bipolar Disorder

People with bipolar disorder (Links to an external site.) suffer from extreme highs and lows in emotions. The lows are similar to suffering from a depressive disorder described above. The highs are called  manic episodes / mania (Links to an external site.) and are characterized by extreme energy, euphoria, and confidence.

Schizophrenia

People who suffer from schizophrenia (Links to an external site.) appear to have lost touch with reality in their thoughts, behavior, and feelings. This is called psychosis. Symptoms of schizophrenia (Links to an external site.) (Tables 13.7, 13.8) are categorized as positive or negative. In this case, I don’t mean “good” or “bad”, but rather are symptoms that are present or absent.

· Positive symptoms: distortions of behavior; examples:

· Delusions (Links to an external site.) – strange or false beliefs that a person truly believes; examples include

· delusions of grandeur – “I am so important that God has chosen me for this task to rid the world of evil.”

· delusions of persecution – “The president is after me.”

· Hallucinations (Links to an external site.) – a perceptual experience a person believes is happening, but is not; examples include hearing voices or seeing images.

· Negative symptoms: reduction / absence of expected behaviors; include decreased pleasure, lack of motivation, lack of emotion

Note that people often confuse schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder (Links to an external site.) (DID). DID is a personality disorder in which a person can exhibit more than one personality. DID is an extremely rare disorder.

Hit reply and type your answers to the following:

1. Why do you believe there is a stigma against mental health? Pick either panic disorder or a specific phobia and describe its symptoms. Imagine talking to someone who held negative views towards a person who sought treatment for one of those disorders. What arguments might you use to change their mind?

2. What are some pros and cons of using the DSM when diagnosing someone with a psychological disorder? What is your opinion?

3. Choose one of the following disorders: OCD, major depressive disorder, or schizophrenia. Use what you learned in the textbook and/or my lecture above, and (a) summarize the symptoms, (b) using the biopsychosocial model, talk about some of the causes (etiology) that may contribute to its appearance (include the biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors).

4. Find a first person account of a person living with a psychological disorder of your choosing (but it can’t be any of the disorders you have already mentioned in your previous answers). You can find either a written artifact – blog, article, news story – or a video. Describe how the person describes living with the disorder and your thoughts on it. Be sure to share where you got the first person account (URL or PDF).

Week 7 (“Applying Basic Statistical Tests to a Research Scenario”) is about choosing the appropriate statistical test for your chosen variables. Have you considered how you might analyze data in which you are examining mental health as it is associated with domestic violence?

Also, regaridng your variables, how would you measure mental health? What is your specific focus (one, two, or more conditions)? How are you defining domestic violence which can be captured as a measured variable? I see that you expect to use a convenience sampling approach but have you considered how to reach and recruit individuals who have experienced or perpetrated domestic violence? This seems much more difficult than simply using a convenience sampling method. I also am a bit confused by your approach as written–because you are phrasing this as mental health “contributing to” domestic violence (with mental health as the IV and domestic violence as DV), I am thinking you are interested in studying whether those with mental health issues are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence (IV –> DV). However, later you indicate that you would be recruiting “victims” of domestic violence. This is an alignment issue. Note that if the latter, there is a large literature on victims of domestic violence or related trauma and its impact on mental health. You will need to consider a novel angle for a dissertation study if this is the topic you would like to pursue.

Lastly, note that because you plan to study extremely sensitive and traumatizing topics (domestic violence, mental health), you will need to engage IRB early in the process to understand their requirements and what is feasible to do in a study. Happy to answer any questions.

____________________________________________________________________________________

discussion question

Program of Study: Forensic Psychology.

Social Problem: Domestic violence is a critical issue in the United States. Research indicates that over 10 million Americans experience domestic violence every year (Huecker et al., 2022). Domestic violence involves psychological, emotional, sexual, physical, and economic abuse of adults, children, or elders. Several factors, including some forms of mental health illnesses such as depression and Schizophrenia may contribute to domestic violence.

Quantitative Research Problem: The scholarly community does not know the extent to which mental health illnesses contribute to domestic violence

Quantitative Research Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the extent to which mental health illnesses contribute to domestic violence.

Quantitative Research Question: To what extent is mental illness a contributing factor to domestic violence?

Theory or Conceptual Framework: Exosystem Factor Theory. According to the theory, stressful life events can predict the occurrence of domestic violence (Hyde-Nolan & Juliao, 2012). However, life stressors result in domestic violence when other specific factors exist. These include social isolation, low marital satisfaction, and most importantly, mental health illness. This theory will provide a phenomenon for understanding the above-mentioned social problem and interpreting research results.

Quantitative Research Design: The study design will be a correlational research design, which

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would be used to determine the relationship that exists between mental health illness and domestic violence. The design will be suitable for the scenario because it will help determine the cause and effect relationship between mental health illness and domestic violence. There will be no treatment that will be applied in the study, rather participants will be interviewed through questionnaires.

Quantitative Sampling Strategy: A convenience sample will be used due to the nature of the topic since it is difficult to get a large number of victims of domestic violence. Participants will be recruited and enrolled based on their availability. The sampling strategy will be suitable because the focus of the study will be to obtain information from the participants.

Quantitative Data Collection Method: Structured questionnaires will be used to collect data from the participants. Participants will be requested to fill in the questionnaires after agreeing to participate in the study. The questionnaires will consist of a list of questions that will be used to gather information from the participants about their opinions, experiences, or attitudes on the various aspects of the topic.

Variables: The independent variable will be mental health illness while the dependent variable will be domestic violence. It is expected that mental health illness would be associated with the occurrence of domestic violence. The variable that will be measured will be domestic violence. Nominal measurements will be used to categorize the data with fixed levels such as age, gender, and ethnicity. For other variables such as income level and other variables with groupings and codes, ordinal measurements will be used.

reate a 2-3 page career plan based on the template that will communicate your ideas together with your vision as a multicultural practitioner-scholar.

Introduction

It can be a daunting prospect to jump into the first assessment in the first course of your FlexPath master’s program. This assessment has been designed with that in mind. The length of time it will take to complete this (and all assessments) will vary from learner to learner, but remember that you may submit each assessment up to three times, making changes and improvements based on feedback from your faculty.

Note: The assessments in this course build upon each other, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence.

Overview

Creating a plan for your career is like planning a journey. The more clearly you can envision the destination, the easier it is to lay out the path in front of you. Through your research, you have explored your passions and interests in psychology in relation to the practitioner-scholar model. This assessment asks you to now put your ideas together in your vision as a multicultural practitioner-scholar. The assessment also provides the opportunity to receive feedback from your instructor to help you further clarify your vision of your future in the field of psychology.

Preparation

As you begin to write this assessment, consider the following:

· Purpose: The purpose of your vision is to create an inspirational and realistic description for how you want to contribute to your specialized field of psychology based on your passions and interests.

· Primary Audience: Because this is a personal vision statement for your future career, you are your primary audience. Envision yourself in a time where you are frustrated and want to throw in the towel. What would help you remember your purpose and inspire you to continue moving forward towards your vision?

· Secondary Audience: Your vision should also be clear to other people (such as family, friends, and your instructor) so you can share it with them and receive support in achieving it.

· Sources: Locate at least three relevant scholarly sources. You will reference these to support your ideas.

· Writing Your Paper: Be sure to comply with the requirements stated below. Your writing in this assessment should not just be a collection of notes, lists, or questions and answers. Instead, it should be a well-organized discussion that flows logically from one idea to the next.

Instructions

Complete the following in your assessment template:

Role as a Multicultural Practitioner-Scholar: Draw from your previous study of the practitioner-scholar and scholar-practitioner model to answer the following: In your own words, explain McClintock’s scholar-practitioner model. What will it mean to you to be a practitioner-scholar? Explain what it will mean to you to be a multicultural practitioner-scholar and how the practitioner-scholar model can help guide you in developing the knowledge, skills, and multicultural competencies that you will need to reach your professional vision and goals.

Vision: Develop an inspiring description of your future career vision as a multicultural psychology practitioner-scholar. Be sure to include the individuals you wish to impact, how you will protect the therapeutic relationship (between you and your clients) with multiculturalism, the setting in which you would like to practice psychology, and specialized areas of research and scholarship in psychology.

After completing a draft of the previously outlined sections of your paper, draft the remaining sections in the assessment template. Your complete assessment should include the following:

· Title page.

· Abstract: A concise summary of every main point in the paper.

· Introduction: A concise overview of the paper’s content.

· Body of Paper:

. Role As a Multicultural Practitioner-Scholar.

. Vision.

· Conclusion: A concise summary of important points of the paper, explaining the benefits of achieving your future career vision and becoming an effective multicultural practitioner scholar in the field of psychology.

· References.

Final Project Bibliography Checklist

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 5: Writing the Research Proposal and Chapter 8: Qualitative Research Methods from your textbook Practical Research: Planning and Design. Additionally, refer to the final project description for your  Research Proposal Project  in Week 6 to ensure that the articles you are selecting are appropriate for this final project.

Select five articles that you might be considering using in your final project Research Proposal Project. The articles should not be older than five years and must be scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. The Writing Center resource  Choosing the Best Sources and Evidence  (Links to an external site.)  may be helpful when selecting your articles. Summarize the articles in one paragraph each, then refer to the  Week 2 Checklist    Download Week 2 Checklist, and complete checklist questions for each of the five articles.

Your submission must list the APA reference above each of the article summaries like you would see in an annotated bibliography. Here is a resource to demonstrate the layout of an  Annotated Bibliography  (Links to an external site.) :

The Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity will be submitted to a Canvas dropbox. The checklist must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to  APA Style  (Links to an external site.)  as outlined in the Writing Center’s  APA Formatting for Microsoft Word  (Links to an external site.)  . The checklist must utilize  Academic Voice  (Links to an external site.)  and two scholarly sources (see  Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources  (Links to an external site.)  for assistance). The scholarly sources need to be formatted in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s  APA: Citing Within Your Paper  (Links to an external site.)  guide, and the separate references page should be formatted according to the  APA: Formatting Your References List  (Links to an external site.)  resource.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the five scholarly articles to use

1 Devakumar, D., Palfreyman, A., Uthayakumar-Cumarasamy, A., Ullah, N., Ranasinghe, C., Minckas, N., Nadkarni, A., Oram, S., Osrin, D., & Mannell, J. (2021). Mental health of women and children experiencing family violence in conflict settings: a mixed methods systematic review. Conflict & Health, 15(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-021-00410-4

2 Anderson, K. M., Renner, L. M., & Danis, F. S. (2012). Recovery: Resilience and Growth in the Aftermath of Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women, 18(11), 1279–1299. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212470543

3 Flasch, P., Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2017). Overcoming Abuse: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Journey to Recovery From Past Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(22), 3373–3401. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515599161

4 Nicky Stanley, Pam Miller, Helen Richardson Foster, Gill Thomson, A Stop–Start Response: Social Services’ Interventions with Children and Families Notified following Domestic Violence Incidents, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 41, Issue 2, March 2011, Pages 296–313, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcq071

5 Rachel Robbins, Kate Cook, ‘Don’t Even Get Us Started on Social Workers’: Domestic Violence, Social Work and Trust—An Anecdote from Research, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 48, Issue 6, September 2018, Pages 1664–1681, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx125

 

Week 2 Checklist

Evaluating a Research Article 1. In what journal or other source did you find the article? Was it reviewed by experts in the field before it was published? That is, was the article in a Peer-reviewed publication? 2. Does the article have a stated research problem or question? That is, can you determine the focus of the author’s work? 3. Does the article contain a section that describes and integrates previous studies on this topic? In what ways is this previous work relevant to the author’s research problem or question? 4. If new data were collected, can you describe how they were collected and how they were analyzed? Do you agree with what was done? If you had been the researcher, what additional things might you have done? 5. Did the author explain procedures clearly enough that you could repeat the work and get similar results? What additional information might be helpful or essential for you to replicate the study? 6. Do you agree with the author’s interpretations and conclusions? Why or why not? 7. Is the article logically organized and easy to follow? What could have been done to improve its organization and readability? 8. Finally, think about the entire article. What is, for you, most important? What do you find most interesting? What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of this article? Will you remember this article in the future? Why or why not?

Required Resources

Texts

Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2019).  Practical research: Planning and design  (12th ed.). Pearson.

· Chapter 5: Writing the Research Proposal

· Chapter 8: Qualitative Research Methods

· The full-text version of this ebook is available in your online classroom through the RedShelf platform. Chapter 5: Writing the Research Proposal provides the characteristics of a good research proposal and strategies for writing and revising your proposal, and Chapter 8 identifies situations for qualitative methodology, data collection strategies, and methods to evaluate and enhance credibility of data. Chapter 5: Writing the Research Proposal will assist you in your Prescriptive Approaches discussion forum, while both Chapter 5: Writing the Research Proposal and Chapter 8: Qualitative Research Methods  will assist in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week.

Netting, F. E., O’Conner, M. K., & Fauri, D. P. (2008).  Comparative approaches to program planning . Wiley.

· Chapter 3: Rational Planning and Prescriptive Approaches

· The full-text version of this ebook is available in your online classroom through the RedShelf platform. Chapter 3 discusses rational planning and prescriptive approaches as both a decision and an activity process. The chapter also breaks down the dimensions of rational planning and prescriptive approaches into five categories: needs assessment, problem identification, intervention strategies, goals and objectives, and the decision-making behind program design. This chapter will assist you in your Prescriptive Approaches discussion forum this week.

Multimedia

CHOP Program Planning & Evaluation. (2011, October 31).  Chapter 2: Conducting a community needs assessment: Part 1  (Links to an external site.)  [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/624PSllFWsA

· This video answers the questions: what is a needs assessment and why is it valuable and helpful? This video will assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript. Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.) Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

 

Recommended Resources

Book

Merriam, S. B., & Grenier, R. S. (Eds.). (2019).  Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis (Links to an external site.)    (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

· Introduction to Qualitative Research

· The full-text version of this book is available through the Ebook Central database in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library. This book provides information about qualitative research methodology and may assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week.

Articles

Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008).  Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers (Links to an external site.) . The Qualitative Report, 13 (4), 544–559. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf

· This article provides information about qualitative research for novice researchers and may assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week. Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.) Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Heath, A. W. (1997).  The proposal in qualitative research (Links to an external site.) . The Qualitative Report , 3 (1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/1997.2026

· This article provides information about writing a qualitative proposal and may assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week.A Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.) Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Meyer, A. E., Reilly, E. E., Daniel, K. E., Hollon, S. D., Jensen-Doss, A., Mennin, D. S., Muroff, J., Schuler, T. A., White, B. A., & Teachman, B. A. (2020).  Characterizing evidence-based practice and training resource barriers: A needs assessment (Links to an external site.) . Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 14 (3), 200–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000261

· The full-text version of this article is available through the APA PsycArticles database in the University of Arizona Global Campus Library. This article provides information about needs assessment and may assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz this week.

Rosetti, C. W., & Henderson, S.J. (2013).  Lived experiences of adolescents with learning disabilities (Links to an external site.) . The Qualitative Report, 18 (24), 1–17. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR18/rosetti47.pdf

· This article provides information about qualitative research and will assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week.

Multimedia

University of Arizona Global Campus Library. (n.d.).  Literature review research  (Links to an external site.)  [Video]. https://content.bridgepointeducation.com/curriculum/file/adf48716-2d1a-4a72-a1d0-f7f1c7fc2279/1/Literature%20Review%20Research.zip/story_html5.html

· This video provides information about qualitative research methodology and may assist you in your Qualitative Research and Needs Assessment quiz and Final Project Bibliography Checklist learning activity this week.