UW News

School of Social Work


August 11, 2015

Behaviors linked to adult crime differ in abused girls and boys, study finds

Black and white photo of boy sitting alone outside a brick building.

The signs that an abused child might later commit crimes might not be obvious — that boisterous playground behavior from a third-grade boy, for example, or the 10-year-old girl who seems a little anxious or withdrawn. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that troubling behaviors exhibited by abused children can be predictors…


August 6, 2015

Abusive men put female partners at greater sexual risk, study finds

Black and white photo of woman sitting alone on stairs

Abusive and controlling men are more likely to put their female partners at sexual risk, and the level of that risk escalates along with the abusive behavior, a UW study found. Published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, the study looked at patterns of risky sexual behavior among heterosexual men aged 18 to…


June 11, 2015

Greater suicide prevention efforts coming to rural Washington state

washington women's foundation logo

Washington state’s rural communities with the highest suicide rates soon will get more resources to help with prevention training and support. Washington Women’s Foundation is giving Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention $100,000 for suicide prevention in six underserved rural communities.


March 30, 2015

UW faculty team for five-year study of Seattle’s minimum wage increase

What will be the effects of the city of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance? Faculty from the UW’s schools of public affairs, public health and social work are teaming up for The Seattle Minimum Wage Study, a five-year research project to learn that and more.


March 9, 2015

Study shows teens and adults hazy on Washington marijuana law

More than two years after Washington legalized marijuana, parents and teens may be hazy on the specifics of the law, if the findings of a new study are any indication. University of Washington research, published recently in Substance Use & Misuse, found that only 57 percent of Washington parents surveyed knew the legal age for…


January 28, 2015

Child maltreatment not a clear path to adult crime

Research has found a significant link between childhood abuse and neglect and crime in adulthood. But a recent University of Washington study finds that link all but disappears when accounting for other life factors. “We find that children who were involved in child welfare services are at high risk of adult crimes, but once we…


January 6, 2015

New open-source program aims to help parents of children in foster care

The first time Alise Hegle saw her daughter again after her birth was 11 months later at a court-ordered, supervised visit. Newly out of jail and treatment for drug addiction, Hegle was riddled with anxiety. She had no idea how to parent her only child and worried about the visitation supervisor who sat silently observing,…


September 18, 2014

Poverty, income inequality increase in Washington state

graph showing the trend in Washington state.

The number of Washingtonians living in poverty jumped by more than 50,000 from 2012 to 2013, and the state poverty rate rose as well, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.


May 13, 2014

Video stories, other bonding exercises could help foster families connect

A family walks on the beach together.

Researchers affiliated with the UW’s School of Social Work tailored a parenting program known to improve communication in non-foster families for use in foster families, who often say they don’t feel connected and have trouble communicating, but few resources exist that nurture their bonding.


May 8, 2014

Army drug users twice as likely to use synthetic marijuana as regular marijuana

Package of "Spice," which is synthetic marijuana.

Social work researchers from the University of Washington have found that among a group of active-duty Army personnel who use illicit drugs, the most abused substance is synthetic marijuana, nicknamed “Spice,” which is harder to detect than other drugs through standard drug tests.


May 6, 2014

Social workers can help patients recover from mild traumatic brain injuries

Two women talking.

More than a million people are treated for mild traumatic brain injuries in U.S. hospitals and emergency rooms each year. A University of Washington researcher has found that a 20-minute conversation with a social worker has the potential to significantly reduce the functional decline of those diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury.


April 25, 2014

Worker struggles, immigrant rights topic of social work series in May

Part of the mural "Struggle Against Racial Descrimination"

The UW School of Social Work will host the series “Working Together for Labor Justice” during Labor History Month in May.


April 24, 2014

Roger Roffman chronicles society’s long struggle with pot in ‘Marijuana Nation’

Roger Roffman, UW professor emeritus of social work who has studied marijuana dependence interventions for 30 years, talks about his new book, “Marijuana Nation: One Man’s Chronicle of America Getting High: From Vietnam to Legalization.”


March 13, 2014

Negative effects of joining a gang last long after gang membership ends

Bloods gang sign.

Joining a gang in adolescence has significant consequences in adulthood beyond criminal behavior, even after a person leaves the gang. Former gang members are more likely to be in poor health, receiving government assistance and struggling with drug abuse than someone who never joined a gang.


February 24, 2014

Healthy Generations Hartford Center of Excellence opens with lecture on changing culture of aging

A large 'W' is at the north entrance to the UW campus.

The University of Washington’s School of Social Work will launch a new center – called the Healthy Generations Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Social Work – with a public lecture and reception Thursday, Feb. 27.


February 11, 2014

Data on today’s youth reveal childhood clues for later risk of STDs

Findings from UW longitudinal surveys of nearly 2,000 participants suggest that efforts to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases should begin years before most people start having sex.


February 4, 2014

Personal experience, work seniority improve mental health professionals’ outlook

photo of a man looking down at his feet

One might think that after years on the job, mental health workers would harbor negative attitudes about mental illness, but a new UW study suggests the opposite.


December 16, 2013

5 effective parenting programs to reduce problem behaviors in children

father holding daughter's hand

UW researchers evaluated about 20 parenting programs and found five that are especially effective at helping parents and children at all risk levels avoid adolescent behavior problems that affect not only individuals, but entire communities.


December 9, 2013

Communities across U.S. reduce teen smoking, drinking, violence and crime

Fewer high school students across the U.S. started drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, committing crimes and engaging in violence before graduation when their towns used a prevention system developed by UW’s Social Development Research Group.


August 5, 2013

Abused children found to smoke more as teens and adults

Researchers have long suspected some kind of link between childhood abuse and smoking. But in an interesting twist, UW researchers found a connection not between whether or not an abused child will ever begin smoking, but to how much they smoke once they do start.


July 9, 2013

School policies reduce student drinking – if they’re perceived to be enforced

Wine and hard liquor bottles photographed through a multiprism filter.

Every middle and high school has a policy against drinking alcohol on campus, but not all students follow the rules. New research suggests students are less likely to drink if they believe their school will strictly enforce its policy.


March 28, 2013

Arts Roundup: Art, recitals, trivia — and big band jazz

This week, student art and music, a School of Social Work art exhibit a lecture on art and more. It’s between quarters but there’s still plenty to see on campus.


December 17, 2012

Aging, end-of-life expert offers advice for coping with holiday blues

A sorrowing old man in the painting "At Eternity's Gate" by Vincent van Gogh.

The holidays can be a time of sadness and loneliness, and UW’s Wendy Lustbader has advice on how to deal with these issues.


October 16, 2012

Marriage, education can help improve well-being of adults abused as children

child looks out of window

Researchers investigating the long-term consequences of child abuse have identified some protective factors that can improve the health of victims during their adulthood.


September 20, 2012

Low income linked to poorer health in both U.S. and England, despite different health systems

Although the English are generally healthier than Americans, both countries grapple with large health inequalities. A new study suggests that in both countries, health and wealth are tightly linked. The study, published online Sept. 20 in the American Journal of Public Health, links income level with obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and other health conditions….


September 12, 2012

Official U.S. poverty rate remains high, middle class incomes decline

empty pocket

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today show that, after increasing since 2008, the poverty rate for the U.S. remained stable at 15 percent between 2010 and 2011. In Washington state, the estimated poverty rate increased from 11.5 percent (774,000 residents) to 12.5 percent (854,000 residents) between 2010 and 2011.


July 10, 2012

Multiracial youths show similar vulnerability to peer pressure as whites

Experts have thought that multiracial adolescents use drugs and engage in violence more than their single-race peers. But in a new study, researchers find that mixed-race adolescents are more similar to their white counterparts than previously believed.


June 12, 2012

Intervention to improve foster families’ trust, connectedness

UW researchers adapted a parenting program to help foster families address their greatest challenges, including overwhelmed foster parents and a lack of trust between caregivers and foster children.


May 10, 2012

School of Social Work to lead new partnership for child welfare

The School of Social Work at the University of Washington will lead a newly formed partnership to provide professional development for the state’s social workers involved in child welfare.


May 8, 2012

Caregivers must keep ‘a slice of selfishness’ – UW social worker

Wendy Lustbader, with the UW School of Social Work, is a nationally known speaker on how to cope with aging, disability and end-of-life issues. She will speak June 4 at a caregivers conference in Tukwila, Wash.


April 24, 2012

Global health priorities should shift to preventing risky behaviors in adolescence: UW professor

As deaths from infectious diseases have declined worldwide, policymakers are shifting attention to preventing deaths from noncommunicable causes, such as drug and alcohol use, traffic crashes and unsafe sex practices.


April 2, 2012

Sex-offender registries list individuals not living in community, UW study

A UW Tacoma researcher has discovered that sex-offender registries include people who are not actually living within the community,such as individuals who have died, been deported, are in jail or have moved out of state.


December 28, 2011

A way to ‘feel human: School of Social Work fosters social justice, joy through art

The School of Social Work will host a public reception Jan. 11 at 4-6 p.m. to kick off an art exhibit featuring about 20 paintings and drawings by homeless youths in the University District.


November 16, 2011

LGBT seniors face harder old age, national study finds

Aging and health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender baby boomers face higher rates of disability, physical and mental distress and a lack of access to services, according to a new study by researchers in the School of Social Work


November 7, 2011

Soldiers phone in for help with substance use

The Warrior Check-Up study provides free, confidential help to active-duty service members experiencing problems with alcohol and drug use but who arent already in treatment


October 21, 2011

Housing, health care contribute most to rising costs of living in Washington

It costs 8 percent more on average than it did two years ago for Washington residents to make ends meet, according to a new report from a UW research group.


October 3, 2011

Community effort brings lasting drop in smoking, delinquency, drug use

Tenth graders in towns using Communities That Care, a prevent system developed by UW School of Social Work researchers, were less likely to have tried drinking or smoking and showed less delinquent behavior.


September 21, 2011

33 percent drop in physical bullying in schools using Steps to Respect

Schools using Steps to Respect saw a reduction in physical bullying and in the number of teachers reporting fighting as a big problem, according to a new study from researchers in the UW School of Social Work.


June 27, 2011

Two talks with teens leads to less marijuana use for at least a year

Brief, voluntary conversations with a health educator led to up to a 20 percent decrease in marijuana use for teenagers who frequently used the drug.


May 4, 2011

Adult-supervised drinking in teens may lead to more alcohol use

UW researchers show that allowing adolescents to drink alcohol under adult supervision does not appear to teach responsible drinking as teens get older.



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