Page Index

Research with Professor:

• Jill Berrick
• Julia Hastings
• Andy Scharlach

Research with Professor Jill Berrick

Children and Families in the Foster Care System: Listening to Their Perspective

The study uses ethnographic methods to better understand the lived experiences of parents whose children have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Approximately 10 participants are currently involved in the study. The study involves in-person interviews with study participants every 3 months, including interviews with other key informants. Information from the study will be combined with quantitative data to better describe the strengths and challenges associated with the current child welfare system and to help devise better policies and practices that support children and families.

Qualifications: The student assistant will be involved in transcribing audio-tapes, developing "geno-grams" or family trees of involved families, helping to develop matrices of important timelines in family lives, and discussing developing themes emerging from the data. The student may take the data and analyze it for his/her own purposes, if interested.

Weekly Hours: 3-6 hrs

If you would like more information about this project, please contact Professor Berrick by e-mail: dberrick@berkeley.edu or telephone: (510) 643-7016.

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Research with Professor Julia Hastings

Depression and Obesity Among African American Women

Introduction:

Although major gains have been made in the overall health of the United States, African American women continue to experience persistent health disparities when compared to other women of color. Researchers have neglected the impact of exposure to poverty, material hardship, and violence on African American women’s health and mental health. This research project aims to understand how risk factors for poverty and obesity also affect mental health. Potential research outcomes may suggest how African American women might reduce these health disparities despite current and impending budget cuts to social services.

Research Role:

Tasks will include assisting in library and web searches, compiling and organizing literature in Endnote, summarizing and analyzing documents, construction of data tables, and creating PowerPoint presentation slides.

Qualifications: Applicants need to be diligent, have good written and oral communication skills, facility with Word for Windows, excellent organizational abilities, attention to detail, and an interest related to health and mental health issues among people of color, or African Americans in particular. Knowledge of the Endnote and PowerPoint programs is desirable, but not required. Weekly meetings with the professor are required.

If you would like more information about this project, please contact Professor Hastings by e-mail: jhasting@berkeley.edu or telephone: (510) 642-5584.

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Research with Professor Andy Scharlach

Family Caregivers in California

My current URAP project involves an investigation of family caregivers in California. These are adults who are providing assistance to a disabled family member or friend age 50 or older. The research apprentice is participating on a research team that is analyzing data from telephone interviews conducted in 2002 and 2004 with a representative sample of California caregivers. The research apprentice assists the research team in documenting and analyzing the actual experience of caregivers, with a particular focus on ethnic differences in caregiver needs and service use.

I have supervised six URAP students over the years, and have found it to be a highly rewarding experience. URAP students bring a fresh perspective on the research issues, typically based on their own personal experiences with aging family members. It is always great to see undergraduates begin to engage in the challenges of conducting research. They are an important part of our research team.

URAP students learn first-hand about the exciting and complex challenges of conducting research. They improve their organizational abilities, written and oral communication skills, and compute skills. They also learn about aging and disability issues.

URAP students who have worked with our research team have consistently evaluated the experience very highly. They especially seem to enjoy being part of a research team, where their participation and contributions are valued, and where they have the opportunity to share ideas with faculty and graduate students.

If you would like more information about this project, please contact Professor Scharlach by e-mail: scharlac@berkeley.edu or telephone: (510) 642-0126.

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