Posts tagged 22:1:30
"Predatory Prostitute" by Juniper Fleming

Predatory Prostitute is rooted in the compelling relationships sex workers have, both directly and indirectly, to the legacy of Aileen Wuornos. Demonized as an inverted prostitute serial killer or pitied as a child/animal, her portrait hangs heavy. The term ‘predatory prostitute’ was coined by John Tanner, the Florida state attorney who prosecuted Aileen Wuornos in 1992. The is the story of a lesbian prostitute sentenced to death six times for seven murders, though she claimed self-defense. The media, the court, and the public condemned Wuornos with vigor. Fleming uses footage to invert the common narratives around Aileen, creating an alternative framework by which we can view her actions and ourselves. Running Time: 25 minutes

Presentation Objective:

·       Review sex worker experiences via a documentary

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Put Your Oxygen Mask on First: Practicing Self-Care When Faced With Compassion Fatigue

For those working in the helping professions, compassion fatigue is as common as turbulence during a windy flight. In order to address this turbulence, one must develop self-care strategies and warning systems to let them know they are moving into the caution zone, and the oxygen masks will soon deploy. Prevention and self-care can best happen when professionals are able to distinguish between and identify personal and professional vulnerabilities. This interactive workshop will help professionals renew their passion and commitment to the field and their work.
Presentation Objectives:

·       Explain the difference between vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder, and burnout

·       Discuss the shifts that occur on a personal level of functioning and ways to prevent negative effects by identifying opportunities for self-care

·       Explain how to identify personal and professional factors that place one at greater risk of compassion fatigue

·       Discuss the impact compassion fatigue has on job performance, personal coping skills, and job/life satisfaction.

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Addiction in the Workplace

By discussing various scenarios that may arise in the workplace, what employers can (and cannot) legally do, and some best practice ideas for employers (including a clear drug and alcohol policy that is followed and enforced), this presentation will educate employees about their rights in the workplace if they are struggling with an alcohol or drug (including prescription) addiction, and educate employers as to their legal obligations in dealing with employees with addiction issues. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers with more than 15 employees to provide reasonable accommodations to employees that have disabilities, unless doing so would impose an undue burden on the employer. Using hypotheticals, the presenter will break down what constitutes a disability; when an addiction may rise to the level of a disability; what is a “reasonable accommodation;” some examples of accommodations to discuss (and the ongoing duty to have that discussion); and the nature of an “undue burden.” Small employers likely have similar obligations under state laws. Employers will learn how they can work with employees who suffer from addiction but are trying to become clean and sober.  Employees will learn that they may be entitled to various accommodations under the law (ADA and Family Medical Leave Act), and how to request these accommodations before their addiction becomes a performance or conduct problem that results in their demotion or termination. Further, both employers and employees will learn about the importance of documentation in dealing with an addiction issue at work.

Presentation Objectives:

·       Identify when an addiction rises to the level of disability

·       Educate employers’ legal obligations in dealing with employees’ addiction issues

·       Discuss the nature of “undue burden”

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Voluntary Community Development Project as a Platform for Advocacy and Social Action

Volunteers are the most important resources community organizations have and need to be encouraged to carryout community development projects on anti-human trafficking. It is expedient to engage volunteers in advocacy and social action against human trafficking. To affirm the crucial role of volunteers in combating human trafficking, we mentored 50 volunteers to carryout community development projects in their communities. This presentation expounds how volunteers effectively engaged in advocacy and social action through community development projects. Fifty volunteers (between 19 and 30 years old) were mentored to carry out community development projects in four states in Nigeria in commemoration of 2017 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. The volunteers were empowered with advocacy materials. They were expected to engage in advocacy and social action within two months before joining in the commemoration of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and send their reports for evaluation. From the evaluation, the results showed that all the volunteers engaged in strategic anti-human trafficking advocacy and social action through the following approaches: media campaign, community sensitization, school awareness, radio talk, training youth corps members, debate competition, etc. Three of the volunteers reported incidences of human trafficking and identified victims. Through their community development projects, they stimulated over 3,000 to be involved in combating human trafficking.

Presentation Objectives:

  • Explain the importance of the role of volunteers in advocacy and social action
  • Describe how volunteers effectively engaged in advocacy and social action through community development projects
  • Describe what volunteers did to engage in advocacy and social action
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What Top Leadership Skills Needed for New and Small Organizations to Become More Successful

Professionals are in this field because they have passions, and often go into this work to try to effect change in people and organizations. This presentation will focus on leadership and "The Business" - what people need to do to have a successful enterprise so they can not only help people and further the cause, they can actually sustain their business. It all hinges on leadership and how one interacts with different constituencies.
Presentation Objectives:

·       Discuss the need for organizational structure and how it can help one succeed

·       Describe the purpose of organizational structure and how it can help with accountability and focus (success)

·       Explain leadership roles and responsibility in developing, running, growing, and maintaining an organization

·       Define the top three leadership roles in managing an organization

·       Describe how leadership style has an impact on employee behavior

·       Help participants gain an understanding of how they behave and how it impacts the organization

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Alternative Methods in Social Work: Autoethnography as a Social Justice Approach

Traditional ethnography, along with other social science methods, have been critiqued by feminist scholars as being falsely objective. In traditional research, the researcher makes observations that are inevitably interpreted through the researcher’s worldview, which is often white, male, and privileged and therefore biased. Autoethnography is one way in which researchers have attempted to acknowledge the power dynamic between researcher and subject and the misinterpretation that happens because of economic and cultural differences between the researcher and the subjects. In Autoethnography, the researcher is also a subject and is an artist as well as a social science researcher. This method, that combines cultural observation and artistic self-awareness, requires deep self-reflection and daring self-disclosure that goes against typical social work clinical approaches. The presenters will share autoethnographic projects on grief and empathy with the audience. Dr. Natarajan’s piece will delve into the death of a loved one and subaltern theory, and Dr. Sloane’s piece will remember how her work with car accidents changed her thoughts on the importance of empathy to just social work practice. These research projects are at different stages, one at the very beginning and one about to be published. The audience will be asked to consider the helpfulness of autoethnography to provoke emotion and understanding of difference and how this method can be used as social justice action.

Presentation Objectives:

·       Define autoethnography

·       Share personal autoethnographic research projects

·       Encourage the audience to consider the helpfulness of autoethnography

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