Graduate Social Work Students Research Articles

Forget Cultural Competence; Ask for an Autobiography

Recent management practices seek to standardize and routinize practice through formulaic assessment processes and casework to ensure risk minimization and cost effectiveness. Such pressures have become entrenched in social work practice in Australia and other economically developed societies. Under such regimes cultural competence is rendered as expert knowledge about the other to be acquired and applied in ways to ensure maximum efficiency. But working effectively across racial and cultural differences demands critical reflection on one's own position and the complex interactions between different aspects of identity. While some versions of cultural competence incorporate the need to examine our own values and behaviours, the paper argues that rather than focusing on knowledge of differences, social workers should concentrate on critically listening to our clients' autobiographies to reveal over time what aspects of their social and cultural lives matter to them. The paper reviews findings from teaching Australian social work undergraduate and graduate students engaging with these challenges with particular reference to working effectively with Indigenous people.

Training Social Work Graduate Students in the Evidence-Based Practice Process

Objective: This study tested the effects of integrating evidence-based practice (EBP) process material into a research curriculum for master of social work (MSW) students. Methods: A quasi-experimental design ( N = 152) was used across 12 sections of a required program evaluation course, with half integrating EBP process material and half using the traditional curriculum. A version of the Evidence-based Practice Process Assessment scale (EBPPAS) was administered at the beginning and end of the course. Analyses examined changes from pre- to posttest on EBPPAS subscales and assessed group differences. Results: At posttest, the EBP group had significantly higher ratings than the comparison group on the familiarity subscale. Both groups’ scores significantly increased at posttest on the familiarity with and engagement in the EBP process subscales. Conclusions: MSW students’ participation in a traditional program evaluation course is associated with increased EBP self-efficacy, and intentional introduction of EBP process material may further these outcomes.

Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz

Using graduate social work students' data (n = 481) in the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) in the United States, the study examined psychometric properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz (KASW), a revision of the Facts on Aging Quiz, to evaluate biopsychosocial knowledge relevant to social work. We examined the intercorrelations of the KASW with the academic and practice experience in aging and score differences by the specialization and school year, and estimated the internal consistencies as reliability. Results showed the convergent validity of the KASW, indicating the items measured theoretically related areas of content with students' skills and experiences in aging. The internal consistencies, nevertheless, remained relatively low, representing the items that failed to measure the expected constructs of biopsychosocial domains. The KASW will be further refined to more sensitively identify students' knowledge deficiencies by selecting an optimal panel of items in biopsychosocial content areas and by providing information relevant to the pedagogical agenda and guidance in field education.

The attitudes of graduate healthcare students toward older adults, personal aging, health care reform, and interprofessional collaboration

Healthcare reform has led to an increased emphasis on interprofessional healthcare models for older adults. Unfortunately, best practice education that focuses on the interprofessional healthcare of the elderly does not yet exist. As a prelude to implementing interprofessional geriatric educational initiatives, we developed a survey to identify potential attitudinal differences among graduate healthcare students regarding personal aging, caring for older adults, healthcare reform and the role of the physician on the interprofessional team. We surveyed third-year medical students, nurse practitioner students and graduate social work students. Attitudes regarding personal aging were similar among the professions. Nurse practitioner and social work students had higher positive attitudes toward the care of older adults. Concerns about the impact of healthcare reform on quality and healthcare costs differed significantly. There was also a significant difference in attitudes concerning the role of the physician as the leader of the interprofessional team. These results provide insights into gerontologic-focused attitudes of graduate healthcare professional students. In an era of dramatic healthcare change, these findings will assist educators in the development and implementation of educational programs to prepare graduate students for the interprofessional care of elderly patients.

Psychoanalysis in the Halls of Social Work Academe: Can this Patient be Saved?

Over the past 30 years, psychoanalytic contributions to our understanding of human development, psychopathology and clinical practice have gradually become marginalized in academic social work. Although this trend is partially rooted in historical tensions within the profession, contemporary issues have also contributed to the widespread failure to acknowledge the salience of psychoanalytic ideas in the instruction of social work graduate students. The influence of managed care, changes in the academy as well as within the profession, and the domination of biological models of causality are among those factors reviewed. This paper also examines specific critiques that have been made against psychoanalytic thought, with detailed attention to two: (1) ‘Psychodynamic ideas cannot be empirically validated,’ and (2) ‘Psychoanalysis is an elite method of treatment.’

Getting to Know the Piece of Fluff in Our Ears: Expanding Practitioners' Cultural Self-Awareness

Israel being a multicultural society with a variety of ethnic groups, the delivery of culturally competent services is a crucial issue in social work practice. This paper describes the outcomes of a training model for cultural competence applied with social work graduate students in Israel. The model, based on work with immigrants' narratives, increased the cultural self-awareness of the trainees. Presented are conceptual and technical aspects of the training model as well as outcomes of an evaluation study. Fifty-one trainees submitted a short account of their personal experiences following the training. The reports indicated expansion in the trainees' cultural self-awareness: awareness of their own and their families' immigration experiences as well as of other transitions in their lives. Training elements that made this outcome possible are discussed.

Preparing Social Work Students for Interprofessional Practice in Geriatric Health Care: Insights from Two Approaches

Although several interprofessional education projects have addressed training allied health students for effective teamwork in geriatrics, few curriculum evaluation studies have examined differences in learning outcomes between interprofessional and traditional uniprofessional approaches, especially for social work students. This paper compares and contrasts two brief curriculum models designed to prepare graduate social work students for interdisciplinary collaboration in geriatric health care. The first model is an interprofessional approach that brings together students from social work, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and nutrition for an interactive session on interdisciplinary care. The second model is a uniprofessional approach that addresses interdisciplinary collaboration within a traditional social work practice course. A pretest/posttest quasiexperimental design was employed to examine differences between the two curriculum approaches in terms of changes in social work students' attitudes and values toward interdisciplinary teamwork and their understanding of the roles and training requirements of multidisciplinary colleagues. Results indicate that students in the interprofessional curriculum (n = 69) made significant gains in their attitudes and values toward interdisciplinary collaboration but not in their understanding of the roles and training of other disciplines. Conversely, students in the uniprofessional curriculum (n = 19) made significant improvement in their recognition of individual team members' professional roles but experienced minimal change in their attitudes and values toward interdisciplinary collaboration. Findings suggest an interprofessional approach is most conducive to changing students' appreciation and understanding of the importance of interdisciplinary teams, but personal engagement with content on interdisciplinary roles and training is essential for mastery of this knowledge.

Applied Learning: A Project for Graduate Social Work Students

This paper describes a pilot project to develop an effective applied learning experience for graduate social work students. An asset-based social justice model was used as a guide in the development of the project. Importance was placed on the host community determining its own needs and the contributions the students would provide. A partnership with community stakeholders was developed. The stakeholders decided the needs to be addressed and the faculty prepared the students to meet those needs. Successes and limitations of the pilot project are reviewed.

Revalidation of an Evidence-Based Practice Scale for Social Work

The purpose of this study was to revalidate an existing measure of knowledge, attitudes, and use of evidence-based practice (EBP) developed for medical students. Adapted to reflect social work, questionnaires were obtained from undergraduate and graduate social work students (n = 134) and field instructors (n = 50). All 4 factors (21 items) related to EBP (knowledge, attitude, personal use, and future use) showed good reliability, and overall reliability was .86. MSW students rated their knowledge and use of EBP significantly higher than BSW students and field instructors did, but the groups were similar on attitudes and future use of EBP. The Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior Scale questionnaire is a useful tool for social work programs that can be used to monitor the impact of EBP curricular efforts.

Are Social Work Educators Bullies? Student Perceptions of Political Discourse in the Social Work Classroom

Social work's professional commitment to working toward social justice for vulnerable groups is well known. However, as a profession, social work has been criticized for proposing professional perspectives that may be interpreted by some as political indoctrination. The purpose of the current study was to examine social work students' perceptions of political debate in the classroom. An additional goal was to examine whether students believed that colleagues who hold certain sociopolitical beliefs should be prohibited from receiving a social work degree. Four hundred and ninety-seven undergraduate and graduate social work students from 10 programs were surveyed. Results show that a majority of respondents were comfortable with the discussion of sociopolitical content in the classroom. Nevertheless, students who self-identified as politically conservative were more likely to report that they perceived the classroom environment as less open and hence less conducive to debate. Finally, overt racism was identified as the only attitude that should prohibit someone from receiving a social work degree. Implications for social work education are discussed.

Preparing the Next Generation of Early Childhood Teachers: The Emerging Role of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration in Teacher Education

Effective collaboration between early childhood teachers and social workers is now considered critical to providing children with adequate psycho-social supports and services in early childhood settings. In order for this interdisciplinary collaboration to be more effective, opportunities for each discipline to learn about each other's knowledge, skills, roles, and responsibilities need to occur well before these professionals enter early childhood settings. This pilot study engaged 2nd-year, preservice, graduate early childhood education and social work students in an interprofessional training and collaborative activity as part of their graduate coursework. Following this training and activity, the early childhood education graduate students and the social work graduate students were invited to participate in uni-professional focus groups as a way to explore their experiences. Findings suggest that although there is general agreement among graduate students that interdisciplinary training and learning activities during coursework provide an important foundation for collaboration, there are several challenges. These challenges include a lack of clarity around professional roles and responsibilities, differences in understandings of children's behavior, and a perception that there will be little opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration in early childhood settings. Implications are discussed for strengthening relationships between professional preparation programs as a way to improve collaborative teaming and increase early childhood teacher retention.

The Role of the Government in Addressing Social Issues in India: The Perceptions of Indian Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Students

Using a convenience sample of 318 undergraduate and graduate social work students (193 women and 125 men) from a public university in India, this study examined the differences between Indian social work students' perceptions toward the role of government in addressing social issues in India. Using Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) 18, several statistical procedures were conducted to analyze the relationship between social work students' demographic variables and their perceptions of the government's role in addressing social issues in India. The results indicated that older social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities for citizens. Female social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure housing for citizens. BSW students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure employment of citizens. Macro social work students were more likely to perceive that the government should ensure equal opportunities, housing, food, employment, and health insurance for citizens. The findings of this study may help social work educational administrators and faculty in India to develop a curriculum that provides social work students with the opportunity to critically examine the complex relationship between age, gender, marital status, number of children, socioeconomic status, educational status, area of concentration, and the role of the government in addressing social issues. Doing so will prepare social work students and professionals to think and engage in a manner that will allow them to challenge and advocate for a change to the status quo.

Enhancing Critical Reflection and Writing Skills in the HBSE Classroom and Beyond

Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) is an ideal location in which graduate social work students can enhance their critical reflection and writing skills while integrating social work theories with practice, research, and policy. A writing-intensive, learner-centered model using specific strategies is described via a framework of critical pedagogy. In addition to its application within HBSE, this model can be adapted across the social work curriculum. The article is situated within ongoing debates concerning the relevance of social constructionism and postmodernism to social work.

Overcoming Graduate Students' Negative Perceptions of Statistics

Although there has been some attention in the literature to such issues as students' attitudes toward statistics, instructors are still constantly faced with the challenge to engage students; understand their perceptions, motivations, and interests; and deal with their reluctance and negative attitudes toward the field of statistics. The purpose of the present study was to (1) examine students' attitudes toward statistics; (2) identify characteristics of students with the most negative attitudes toward statistics; (3) determine methods of statistics instruction that students most prefer; and (4) present strategies to overcome fears, resistance, anxiety, and negative attitudes and enhance the learning environment. The findings from the study of 195 graduate social work students demonstrate that factors contributing to statistics anxiety include math phobia, lack of relevance to social work, instructor's characteristics, and classroom environment. Among the preferred instructional methods students identified helpful strategies such as instructors' being attentive to students' anxiety, setting a slow course pace, and providing additional tutoring. The study findings suggested three major areas for enhancing statistics learning: (1) fostering environment that is nonthreatening, friendly, and conducive to learning; (2) clarifying statistical concepts in plain terms; and (3) offering practical skills relevant to students' field of specialization.

Teaching Research and Practice Evaluation Skills to Graduate Social Work Students

Objective: The authors examined outcomes of a graduate course on evaluating social work practice that required students to use published research, quantitative measures, and single-system designs in a simulated practice evaluation project. Method: Practice evaluation projects from a typical class were analyzed for the number of research references cited, type of client, goals or problems, measures, interventions, single-system designs, and outcomes. Results: More than half of the students conducted self-improvement projects monitored with self-report measures, and goals or problems selected and interventions applied varied widely. More than 80% of the projects were evaluated with simple AB designs, over 45% of which were associated with statistically significant improvements and an additional 43% showed gains that did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Results suggest that students can be taught techniques and skills needed to formulate interventions derived from published research and to evaluate effects of these interventions using single-system designs.

The Perception of Poverty and Social Welfare Policies among Undergraduate and Graduate Social Work Students in the United States

Despite the primary mission of the social work profession to help meet the basic human needs of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty, numerous scholars have found that social work students are distancing themselves from working with and on behalf of poor populations. Given this, this study examined undergraduate and graduate social work students' perceptions toward impoverished populations and social welfare policies in the United States. The findings suggest that social work students' gender, race and ethnicity, educational status, living and traveling abroad, and socioeconomic status impact their perceptions of poverty and social welfare policies in the United States. Policy, practice, and research implications are addressed.

Social Work Graduate Students’ Perceived Knowledge of Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in Human Services: An Evaluation of Enhanced Instruction

Social Work Graduate Students’ Perceived Knowledge of Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in Human Services: An Evaluation of Enhanced Instruction

Financial Literacy and Social Work Students: Knowledge is Power

The continued economic turmoil makes it imperative for the profession of social work, specifically within academic programs, to teach students how to utilize their education, training and skills to promote social and economic justice and to create social change on multiple levels, in numerous setting, and with clients in diverse economic situations. In order to create curricular components that can help social workers provide information and services to marginalized populations, educators must first better understand the financial literacy of social work students. The purpose of this pilot study was to better understand the financial literacy of undergraduate and graduate social work students. Findings suggest that students are not gaining the skills they need to successfully navigate the complexities of the personal finance landscape. Further, it suggests that they will not be well-equipped to help clients in this area. Social workers, especially those having only a bachelor’s degree, work primarily in case management positions wherein they may be called upon to help clients in this area. Academics should consider creating opportunities for education to enhance student competency in this area.

Using Personal Narratives for Curriculum Development about Substance Abuse and Older Adults

This article reports on a project to sensitize graduate social work students taking courses in substance abuse to the needs of older adults. Graduate social work students at a major urban school of social work in the Northeast were recruited and trained to interview older adults with a history of substance abuse problems regarding their life experiences. The authors developed educational vignettes based on the interviews and curriculum units based on these vignettes to be incorporated into the substance abuse curriculum. The challenges and rewards of engaging students in the process of developing educational vignettes based on older adults lived experiences are also discussed.

Empirically Based Spirituality Education: Implications for Social Work Research and Practice

ABSTRACT This article provides a review of the empirical literature supporting development of a graduate social work course in spirituality. A total of 493 articles were reviewed, with 8 studies providing recommendations on course content, assignments, best practices or core competencies, and regulatory standards for social work practice. Results of the analysis indicated that undergraduate and graduate social work students and social work practitioners often reported little to no training in this specialty area, although students requested this content be provided. With limited studies to support spirituality course development and efficacy, the review found a supporting course structure should include student self-awareness and student exposure to spirituality theory. Future recommendations include the need to integrate empirical assessment into spirituality course development, while linking it clearly to social work core competencies.