Abstract
This article outlines and evaluates a military social work course as it has been taught by three social work faculty members at two universities in the southeastern US. The authors highlight why these courses are needed within social work undergraduate and graduate programs. They report how CSWE-identified military practice behaviors are addressed within the course. They also describe how practice-based learning approaches appear to be ideally suited for teaching military social work curricula. Data on student perceptions of military social work courses and the application of problem-based learning are presented along with an assessment of knowledge gains and ability to practice military social work. Findings reflect that social worker students find these courses helpful and that they believe that problem-based courses in this subject help prepare them for initial work with this population. They also highlight the need for an extensively updated military social work textbook addressing major changes within the military and social work over the last decade.
Highlights
Military and civilian social workers play a vital role in sustaining and supporting military members, veterans, and their families
Almost a third (32%) of the students reported very little to no knowledge of military populations prior to taking the military social work course while a greater number (52%) reported a good to moderate knowledge and a smaller number (16%) reported extensive knowledge
Despite the limitations noted above, this study provides some exploratory and qualitative evidence to suggest that Problem-based Learning (PBL) approaches are helpful for teaching military social work courses
Summary
Military and civilian social workers play a vital role in sustaining and supporting military members, veterans, and their families. Their role has grown and adapted during the last decade with the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Social workers have historically taken the lead in programs to prevent and respond to substance abuse, and family maltreatment along with providing mental health services and medical social work. They are key players in developing and providing individual, family, and community responses to help those impacted by combat-related trauma, military deployments, and mild traumatic brain injuries. Many service members have been regularly exposed to nontraditional hostile combat conditions where they observed fellow military
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