Commitment to Community Practice Among Social Work Students: Contributing Factors

Abstract

It is important to develop commitment to community practice among social work students to encourage their engagement in this field as professionals later in life. This research examines factors that affect commitment to community practice among social work students. A structured questionnaire was administered to 277 social work students in one university and one college in Israel. The findings indicate three main factors that explain variance in commitment to community practice: specific self-efficacy for this field, positive experience in a community project during training, and experience with politics. Surprisingly, theoretical studies and support for community work during supervision did not significantly contribute to explanation of commitment to community work. The findings are discussed.