Mark Plassmeyer | University of Arkansas (original) (raw)

Papers by Mark Plassmeyer

Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 20, 2024

Journal of forensic social work, Oct 31, 2023

In 2020, the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD), located in a small urban community in Arkansas... more In 2020, the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD), located in a small urban community in Arkansas, began efforts to develop alternative responses to crisis related calls for service. The main motivation for this effort was the influx of calls related to crises involving substance use, mental health, and homelessness both before and during COVID-19, although the George Floyd protests during that summer also played a meaningful role. FPD collaborated with the University of Arkansas School of Social Work (UA) to develop an MSW internship within the department with the intent of ultimately creating a co-response program. It is crucial to determine a baseline of staff attitudes when developing a new program or implementing organizational change to assess any subsequent shifts over time. As such, this paper presents baseline data from a survey assessing attitudes among sworn and civilian staff at FPD toward incorporating a social worker into the department. Data from semi-structured interviews provide a deeper understanding of these attitudes along with insight into lessons learned during the implementation of the internship and the eventual Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT). Survey results indicated that overall, FPD staff were supportive but somewhat hesitant about the programmatic change, particularly regarding safety concerns when bringing unarmed civilians into the field. Themes from the interviews showed that although there was certainly doubt among FPD staff initially, the intentionally collaborative efforts made by FPD administrators and UA faculty to support organizational acceptance of the program produced early successes. By highlighting crucial aspects of the implementation process and the lessons learned along the way, the results from this study can guide future replication efforts in similarly situated localities.

Social Service Review, Dec 1, 2016

Social Work Research, Nov 25, 2019

The objective of this study was to ascertain whether participation in the Your Family, Your Neigh... more The objective of this study was to ascertain whether participation in the Your Family, Your Neighborhood (YFYN) intervention, an intervention for families living in low-income neighborhoods, leads to improved perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion and informal neighborhood social control. Fifty-two families in three low-income, urban neighborhoods participated in the manualized YFYN intervention. In this quasi-experimental study treatment families (n = 37) in two low-income neighborhoods received YFYN and control families (n = 15) from one separate low-income neighborhood did not. Families receiving YFYN attended 10 two-hour skills-based curriculum sessions during which they gathered for a community dinner and participated in parent- and child-specific skills-based groups. Treatment families reported increases in both neighborhood social cohesion and informal neighborhood social control after receiving YFYN. However, families receiving YFYN did not experience statistically significant improvements in perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion or informal neighborhood social control compared with nontreatment families. In conclusion, the delivery of YFYN in low-income neighborhoods may improve perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion. Further testing, with randomization and a larger sample, should be conducted to provide a more robust understanding of the impact of YFYN.

Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work

Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 2019

Civic engagement during emerging adulthood (18-25 years) has been found to be a protective factor... more Civic engagement during emerging adulthood (18-25 years) has been found to be a protective factor for mental illness and substance abuse. However, few measures to assess behaviors and attitudes related to civic engagement among emerging adults are available. This study investigates the factorial validity of a combined measure of civic behavior and attitudes in a sample of undergraduate college students. Method: Two samples of first-year undergraduate students at a private university completed an online survey during fall and spring terms. We investigated the factor structure of the Civic Mindedness and Civic Acts measures in two steps: (a) exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n 5 226), and (b) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n 5 352). Results: EFA revealed a 4-factor, 15-item structure that aligned with the original Civic Mindedness and Civic Acts measures; all factor loadings were greater than .40. CFA found the 4-factor structure to have marginally acceptable fit with no modifications (v 2 (84) 5 225.99, p < .05; RMSEA 5 .07 [.06-.08]; CFI 5 .92). Conclusions: We provide preliminary evidence for factorial validity of a combined measure of civic engagement. Implications for future research to confirm whether this measure is appropriate for broad use during emerging adulthood are discussed.

Journal of Social Service Research, 2018

Journal of Social Work Education, 2018

For social work educators, teaching social policy in the current political climate in the United ... more For social work educators, teaching social policy in the current political climate in the United States may seem daunting and energizing at the same time. Students are often acutely aware of the political and policy-related controversies raging in Washington, D.C. and local governments, and yet their position on these issues may be unexplored or conflicted. The social policy classroom can be a productive place to explore these conflicts, but instructors may be especially wary of undertaking these difficult conversations in the current hyperpartisan era. This article explores how to ground these conversations in social work's professional values, pedagogical theory, and educational best practices to help students build skill and confidence in developing their own well-informed assessments about policies and politics.

Criminal Justice Review, 2017

Collateral sanctions are civil penalties or disabilities imposed upon people who are arrested, ch... more Collateral sanctions are civil penalties or disabilities imposed upon people who are arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime. Little research is available concerning state-level predictors of these policies in the United States. Current research suggests that racial threat and political conservatism are associated with harsher sanctions or more restrictions in the realms of employment, housing, social benefits, and other categories. Using state report cards from the Legal Action Center, this study builds on existing knowledge by testing the relationship between state-level variables consistent with a social exclusion framework and collateral sanctions policies while also testing the relationship between social exclusion and changes in these policies over time. Results indicate that higher levels of social exclusion, measured by affordable housing scarcity, public benefit usage, and state fiscal health, may play a role in the adoption of state collateral sanction policies over tim...

Journal of Social History, 2016

The continuities and differences between rightlessness in “camps” and in the prisons that mark th... more The continuities and differences between rightlessness in “camps” and in the prisons that mark the final stop of legal due process also deserve further exploration. Even today, as Paik notes briefly in her conclusion, the practice of solitary confinement indicates that most prisoners’ rights remain privileges controlled by institutions rather than rights secured in due process. This reviewer in particular would like to learn how the rightlessness of camp prisoners after World War II compares to the legal concept of “civil death” that described the full alienation of all rights of convicted prisoners well into the middle of the twentieth century. Of course, raising such questions enhances rather than diminishes the value of Rightlessness, which deserves the attention of anyone interested in American social justice in the twentieth and twenty-first century.

Journal of Urban Affairs, 2017

ABSTRACT The most common reason for lease violations among residents of subsidized housing in the... more ABSTRACT The most common reason for lease violations among residents of subsidized housing in the United States is late and nonpayment of rent, which can lead to eviction. However, little is known about what services offered to residents assist in retaining housing. Mercy Housing, the third largest nonprofit provider of subsidized housing in the United States, offers a variety of social support services to address elements of social exclusion, such as poverty, unemployment, and housing instability. Using propensity score matching and multilevel logistic regression, we test the impact of using services on housing retention among households that received a lease violation for late payment of rent between 2012 and 2014. Results indicate that using services to address social capital/companionship and instrumental/tangible needs are predictors of retaining housing. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2021

Objective: explore the role of law enforcement officers (LEOs) experiences of early adversity on ... more Objective: explore the role of law enforcement officers (LEOs) experiences of early adversity on work-related stress. Data/methods: LEOs were invited to participate in a data collection effort connected to a marketed LEO prevention toolkit on domestic violence (n = 247). Linear regression models were run to identify variables associated with work-related stress. Variables such as demographics, social behaviours, and other job-related factors were controlled for during analysis. Results: mean Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) score of sample participants = 4.64; 95% of participants reported experiencing at least one ACE. ACEs are an important factor in later officer stress but is not significant when post-traumatic stress (PTS) is introduced to the regression models. ACEs, PST, and alcohol use are main explanatory variables of interest. Conclusions/implications: Out of our main variables of interest, ACEs were associated with LEO work-related stress, ...

Social Work Research, 2019

More than 32.5 million Americans have been arrested for drug offenses since 1996 contributing to ... more More than 32.5 million Americans have been arrested for drug offenses since 1996 contributing to the fact that currently nearly as many Americans have a criminal record as a college degree. After an arrest for a drug offense, often regardless of whether one is convicted, people are subject to civil penalties known as collateral sanctions. These sanctions include restrictions on access to subsidized housing, financial benefits, student loans, employment, and important aspects of civic life such as voting or holding office. Due to recent recidivism rates-over 75% for people exiting prison with a drug record-researchers and policymakers have expressed concern about a connection between collateral sanctions and recidivism for people with criminal drug records (PCDR). There is enough concern regarding collateral sanctions in general that every state has passed some form of legislation to reduce their impact since 2012. Research suggests that access to housing is frequently cited as one of the biggest concerns of people exiting prison and that it plays a protective role against problematic drug use, criminal behavior, and recidivism in general. Yet little is known about the specific experiences of PCDR or if these same relationships apply for this population. Given PCDR face unique restrictions on access to public housing along with legal I want to thank and acknowledge the people that helped me complete my PhD and make it possible in the first place. Dr. Shannon Sliva, my committee chair, has been an advisor, co-author, and mentor, and provided me with multiple employment and research opportunities that helped make the completion of my dissertation a reality. Dr. Jennifer Greenfield has served as a teacher, mentor, co-author, and advisor, while providing me with unique opportunities to grow as a policy-focused social work professor. Dr. Daniel Brisson helped cultivate my desire to better understand and use inferential statistics as a tool for social change, while also serving as a co-author, teacher, and mentor. I am forever grateful for their expertise, knowledge, support, and patience. Thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Shook who offered guidance during the job search process and provided me with employment opportunities in Pittsburgh that allowed me to focus on completing my dissertation. Thanks also to Dr. Kimberly Bender, Dr. Eugene Walls, and the rest of the faculty and staff at the Graduate School of Social Work who prepared me to be a competent and contributing member of the social work academy. My family has also been an unending source of support during my PhD program. Mom, Dad, Abby and Elizabeth, you all made countless sacrifices even while enduring your own personal hardships. My wife, Claire, was invaluable throughout the endlessly fluctuating emotions of the PhD process, the birth of our first child, parenthood, and four moves. There is simply no way I would be here now without your love and support over the last 12 years. And lastly, thanks to my daughter Charlotte who always provided me with a reason to keep pushing through any setbacks or doubts and for reminding me that sometimes we just need to take a break and be silly.

Criminology & Public Policy