inSocialWork - The Podcast Series of the University at Buffalo School of Social Work

In this episode, Dr. Jay Wolfson discusses his experience and reflections serving as guardian ad litem for Terri Schiavo, the young woman whose case captured the nation's attention in 2003. Dr. Wolfson describes the clinical, political, and legal issues he encountered and the complex drama between the head (science) and the heart (hope) present as families and professionals make critical decisions that affect the life (and death) of others.

The Living Proof Podcast Series is taking a break for the holidays. This short message, recorded by our hosts, offers holiday wishes on behalf of our team and a taste of what's in store for our listeners in the new year.

In this episode, Dr. Lenore Walker discusses the current social, political, and legal dynamics that challenge a trauma-informed approach to the health and safety of children affected by domestic violence. Dr. Charles Ewing of the University at Buffalo Law School joins in the conversation.

This is the second of two episodes in which Alankaar Sharma discusses his work comparing and contrasting the well-known Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments and the lesser known Negro Project, both intended to further knowledge related to prevention and reducing the extent of sexually transmitted disease in African-American men. Here, Mr. Sharma concludes his discussion by attempting to answer the question, "Why the immense difference in support and time between the two studies?" He concludes with comments about African-American access to health care services today, and "post-racial" America.

In this episode, Dr. Gail Steketee, Professor and Dean of the School of Social Work at Boston University, discusses compulsive hoarding behavior. In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Steketee has co-authored an accessible monograph about hoarding and hoarders in a way that will have us thinking about the "stuff" of our own lives.

From Tuskegee to current revelations of U.S. experiments in Guatemala in the 1940's, public health research and interventions have been impacted by intersections with race and gender. This is the first of two episodes in which Alankaar Sharma discusses his work comparing and contrasting the well-known Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments and the lesser known Negro Project, both intended to further knowledge related to prevention and reducing the extent of sexually transmitted disease in African-American men. Here, he describes the historical context of the studies and how stereotypical and dominant narratives of Black men influenced the research.

Drs. Robert Milch and Donald Shedd have been leaders in the hospice movement since its early days. In this episode, they discuss the history of hospice and hospice in Buffalo, NY, the challenges of the early days of hospice, changes in hospice care over the years, and what they see as the future of hospice and palliative care.

In this episode, Dr. Julie Spielberger discusses findings from her study of a system of prevention and early intervention services for families of young children in low-income communities in Florida’s Palm Beach County. She describes her data examining the use of a broad array of health, educational, and social services by families in targeted low-income communities, patterns of service use over time, barriers and facilitators of service use, and how service use is related to family functioning, child development, and school readiness.

In this episode, Dr. Elizabeth Robinson discusses her work on spiritual and religious changes associated with recovery from alcohol problems. Dr. Robinson notes changes in client sense of forgiveness and purpose as well as day-to-day religious practices and experiences. Dr. Robinson also offers insights about how to nurture the spiritual quest as part of social work practice behaviors.

In this episode, Joyce James of the Texas Department of Family Protective Services and Carolyne Rodriguez of Casey Family Programs' Texas State Strategy systems improvement initiative discuss how their collaboration is addressing disproportionality statewide through promising practices and innovations in undoing racism trainings, values-based leadership development, and community engagement strategies.

In this episode, Drs. Raphael Travis and Anne Deepak discuss using Hip Hop as a framework for understanding client populations and educating social work students.

In this episode, Dr. John Bricout discusses his work and the powerful impact he believes that technology is having on persons with a disability. He describes the implications for social work practice, persons with disabilities, and the communities we live in, and the potential for change in how we construct meaning around what constitutes being "normal."

In this episode, Dr. Jean Kutner discusses the history and role of evidence-based practice in hospice care, changes in hospice care, and barriers and facilitators to building an evidence base.

In this episode, trauma expert and author Dr. Judith Herman discusses her initial encounters with oppressed women and how she initially organized her thinking about victims of trauma. Dr. Herman describes what she is currently learning from a sample of trauma survivors about what they are interested in regarding justice, healing, forgiveness, and the role of the community in their healing.

In this episode, Professor of Law Susan Mangold discusses how child welfare services are funded, and reviews her findings as she "follows the money." She goes on to describe how the type or source of funding impacts outcomes and quality of child welfare services to a larger degree than the amount of that funding.