Social Work Faculty Successfully Defends Capstone Project
Carolyn Baker, adjunct faculty in the Department of Social Work, successfully defended her capstone project for her Doctorate in Social Work.
Baker studied at the University of Alabama School of Social Work. Her paper was titled, “Sexually Harmful Behaviors in Adolescents: A Comparative Assessment of Tools to Guide Comprehensive Intervention and Treatment” and can be found at The University of Alabama Institutional Repository.
The purpose for this study was to examine the need for comprehensive assessments when working with youth who engage in sexually harmful behaviors. This study examined the implementation of potential new assessment tools to utilize as a part of the comprehensive sexually harmful behavior assessment.
Participants completed three assessment tools, the J-SOAP II, J-RAT and the YNPS using a case study. The participants also completed a brief survey on their perceptions of the tools and participated in a focus group discussion focusing on their experiences with the three tools.
Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between both the J-SOAP and the J-RAT as well as the J-SOAP and the YNPS. Participants’ perceptions of the tools showed greater comfortability with the tool that was most familiar to the team.