Professional intervention strategies of social work students in practice situations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Training students to approach practice situations professionally is crucial in social work education. Universities adopted different approaches in their curricula to equip students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills for social work’s demanding situations. However, there is little evidence on how social work students implement the knowledge acquired into practice. This study utilises the grounded theory methodology to conduct an in-depth analysis of social work students’ strategies throughout practice situations. Using simulation with a trained actress, we stipulated students´ engagement with a client during the initial stage of an assessment. 25 social work students from four different universities of social work in Germany participated. Our findings reveal the most challenging aspects for students: developing a working relationship with the client and processing professional problem-solving. With these results, we present a model representing students´ intervention strategies as a continuum varying between patterns of co- and mono-construction. The results highlight the importance of offering students opportunities to practice assessment and reflection about professional attitudes as a way to enhance professional competence.