Social Issues/Theory Paper

Cover Page, Reference Page, and Appendices

Social Issue: Dual Youth, crossover youth, multi-system youth – Youth who have contact with both systems (Department of Juvenile Services and Department of Social Services) are more likely to suffer a host of problems – higher recidivism, higher rates of academic failure, mental health problems, and substance abuse.

Background, Prevalence, and Interventions (4-5 pages) – minimum of 6 references – 5 of which must be peer-reviewed journals

v  Introduction
v  definitions, as relevant
v  statistics on prevalence or incidence of the issue
v  studies that look at risk and protective factors (more than one source)
v  describe briefly the issues relevance to social work 
v  social work interventions that have been utilized
v  present briefly an evaluation of the effectiveness of those intervention
v  Significance of the Issue – describe why this is such a problem for families, group of communities (1 page) 

Please discuss Federal Initiatives Focused on Dual-Status Youth – http://www.njjn.org/our-work/dual-status-youth-and-federal-initiatives-snapshot

Theory Application (2-3 pages) – minimum of 4 references – 3 of which must be peer-reviewed journals

v  Introduction – provide a summary of the social issue (from your social issues paper) to be analyzed (one paragraph, 8-10 sentences maximum)
v  Theories – identify three theories, (two traditional perspectives and one alternative) History
v  Discuss two (2) traditional perspectives – Ecosystem Theory and Structural functionalism
o  History of development
o  Key proponents
o  Seminal message
o  Clear and thorough way the connection between social issue and the theory

v  Discuss one (1) alternative – social structure theory
o  History of development
o  Key proponents
o  Seminal message
o  Clear and thorough way the connection between your example and the theory

Some websites for information and reference:
http://www.njjn.org/our-work/dual-status-youth-and-federal-initiatives-snapshot

Dual Status Youth Reform

Dual Status Youth Section

http://www.modelsforchange.net/reform-areas/dual-status-youth/index.html
https://cjjr.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MultiSystemYouth_March2012.pdf
theory