Showing papers in "Journal of Social Work Education in 1997"
TL;DR: The authors examines six criteria for conducting qualitative research and evaluating qualitative research reports in social work: identification of the chosen philosophy/epistemology, identification of audience and objectives, specification of the study method, identifying of biases, maintenance of social work ethics, and assurance of consistency between conclusions and study philosophy, objectives, and presented data.
Abstract: This article examines six criteria for conducting qualitative research and evaluating qualitative research reports in social work: (1) identification of the chosen philosophy/epistemology, (2) identification of audience and objectives, (3) specification of the study method, (4) identification of biases, (5) maintenance of social work ethics, and (6) assurance of consistency between conclusions and study philosophy, objectives, and presented data. Throughout, the author emphasizes the need to examine potentially disconfirming data in all qualitative research. These criteria are intended to guide qualitative researchers, inform the teaching of qualitative research methods, and aid review of qualitative research reports.
252 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the implications of political and economic developments on field instruction and presents recommendations to strengthen social work education and practice, and concludes that these changes have altered the environments in which students learn and raise ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of current social work practice.
Abstract: A decade and a half of political and economic developments have reshaped traditional social work practice. Cuts in government funding, privatization, and cost containment in the human services have contributed to dramatic changes in service organization and availability. Many programs have closed or downsized and critically needed services have been reduced. These changes have altered the environments in which students learn and raise ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of current social work practice. This article examines the implications of these trends on field instruction and presents recommendations to strengthen social work education and practice.
130 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze barriers to student learning about the effects of social identity and discrimination, and make recommendations for curriculum development and classroom teaching, based on data gathered from the self-reports of 43 MSWstudents enrolled in a required course on diversity and oppression in the fall 1994 semester.
Abstract: Meeting the Council on Social Work Education's standards related to diversity content poses unique demands for faculty, who may encounter student resistance and heightened classroom emotions. This article reports on data gathered from the self-reports of 43 MSWstudents enrolled in a required course on diversity and oppression in the fall 1994 semester. The authors analyze barriers to student learning about the effects of social identity and discrimination, and make recommendations for curriculum development and classroom teaching.
124 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on a survey examining relationships between stress, role strain, perceived role demands, and perceived support in 443 women who carried family and job responsibilities while studying in 17 Canadian social work, nursing, or adult education programs.
Abstract: This article reports on a survey examining relationships between stress, role strain, perceived role demands, and perceived support in 443 women who carried family and job responsibilities while studying in 17 Canadian social work, nursing, or adult education programs. Findings indicate that women students with higher perceived role demands had more stress and role strain, while those participating in distance education had less. Women students with lower incomes indicated they had more stress, while those with stronger support from family and friends had less. The author suggests that, because some tangible supports might increase stress and role strain, educators should evaluate existing provisions carefully, while continuing to promote greater awareness of and responsiveness to these students’ unique needs.
114 citations
TL;DR: In the summer of 1995, a required MSW course was taught simultaneously to two sections of students at the University of Georgia, 11 on the main campus and 9 at a branch campus Each section was alternately taught using live instruction or distance learning (two-way interactive television) at the conclusion of the course, students evaluated each method of teaching using Biner's (1993) instrument for measuring attitudes toward televised courses as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the summer of 1995, a required MSW course was taught simultaneously to two sections of students at the University of Georgia, 11 on the main campus and 9 at a branch campus Each section was alternately taught using live instruction or distance learning (two-way interactive television) At the conclusion of the course, students evaluated each method of teaching using Biner’s (1993) instrument for measuring attitudes toward televised courses Live instruction was rated significantly higher than distance learning Although distance learning technology has potential for augmenting social work educational resources, it has not yet demonstrated comparable outcomes in terms of student learning
73 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present three strategies for achieving a curriculum to meet students' needs in the global environment of the millennium: the interim step of internationalizing the curriculum, revising the profession's value base, and adopting three unifying frameworks that offer channels for international dialogue and encourage a global outlook.
Abstract: This article calls for social work educators to abandon the conceptual separation of domestic and international content and move toward a curriculum with a truly global perspective. After reviewing the history and current state of the profession’s global-mindedness, the authors present three strategies for achieving a curriculum to meet students’ needs in the global environment of the millennium: the interim step of internationalizing the curriculum, then revising the profession’s value base, and adopting three unifying frameworks that offer channels for international dialogue and encourage a global outlook.
71 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report the results of a study designed to measure "social work idealism" and factors influencing career choice among beginning BSW and MSW students, categorized as altruism, professional concerns, and influence of others.
Abstract: This article reports the results of a study designed to measure “social work idealism” and factors influencing career choice among beginning BSW and MSW students. Influence factors were categorized as altruism, professional concerns, and influence of others. The investigators explored the predictive capacity of idealism and student demographics on the career choice factors reported by students. Overall, idealism ran high among all students, and altruistic reasons were reported as more important than professional reasons in their career choice. Also, students who scored high on social work idealism tended to attach greater importance to altruistic reasons than to professional concerns, as did younger students and female students.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the attitudes of 186 Mississippi social workers toward poverty and the poor were investigated. But the survey instrument gathered demographic data from respondents and asked them to characterize their agreement/disagreement with 37 statements about poverty, and scores were analyzed on four variables: type of practice, education, licensure, and political orientation.
Abstract: The study reported here was a March 1995 investigation of the attitudes of 186 Mississippi social workers toward poverty and the poor. The survey instrument gathered demographic data from respondents and asked them to characterize their agreement/disagreement with 37 statements about poverty and the poor. Demographic data are discussed and scores are analyzed on four variables: type of practice, education, licensure, and political orientation. Implications for social work education are discussed.
56 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effects of a short-term educational intervention on graduate social work students' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, their knowledge about lesbian identity development and disclosure, and their anticipated professional behavior with lesbian clients.
Abstract: This article describes an investigation of the effects of a short-term educational intervention on graduate social work students’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, their knowledge about lesbian identity development and disclosure, and their anticipated professional behavior with lesbian clients. The author describes the importance of reducing homophobia among social work students and presents a theoretical framework for the educational intervention used in this study. Although knowledge acquisition significantly increased among students in both of the study’s treatment groups relative to the comparison group, and although students from one treatment group showed significant improvement in their attitudes toward gay men relative to the comparison group, neither treatment group significantly improved in their attitudes toward lesbians or their anticipated professional behavior with lesbian clients relative to the comparison group.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe methods for teaching critical thinking to graduate and undergraduate social work students in practice courses, and explore the skills necessary for its development, describe the methods and assignments used to teach these skills, and detail a simple pre/post-test method used to evaluate graduate students' gains in critical thinking skills.
Abstract: Social workers in direct practice rely on critical thinking to apply theories, make informed decisions, and explain their assessments and decisions. This article describes methods for teaching critical thinking to graduate and undergraduate social work students in practice courses. The authors define critical thinking, explore the skills necessary for its development, describe the methods and assignments used to teach these skills, and detail a simple pre/post-test method used to evaluate graduate students’ gains in critical thinking skills.
53 citations
TL;DR: Three factors will account for the demise of social work in the next century: Bold new hypertechnologies will make interventive skills obsolete; the grand narratives that have supported social work knowledge base will completely collapse; and radical dislocations in the social structure, brought on by totalizing forces from the corporate sector, will obviate traditional human service delivery systems as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Three factors will account for the demise of social work in the next century. Bold new hypertechnologies will make interventive skills obsolete. The grand narratives that have supported social work’s knowledge base will completely collapse. Finally, radical dislocations in the social structure, brought on by totalizing forces from the corporate sector, will obviate traditional human service delivery systems. Without demand for functional skills, without a firm foundation for action-based knowledge, and without sanction or auspice, social work will fade away.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how logic models are used to teach critical thinking in social work courses, by breaking down the helping process into parts and enabling students to think about the clinical experience as a whole and to understand the causal relationships between these parts.
Abstract: This article describes how logic models are used to teach critical thinking in social work courses. By breaking down the helping process into parts, logic modeling enables students to think about the clinical experience as a whole and to understand the causal relationships between these parts. Students are exposed to the connections between social work theory and practice, and they are made aware of the reciprocal connections between interventions and outcomes at the individual, organizational, community, and societal levels. The discussion of logic models in social work education is continued in the following article as well.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a project in which social work faculty, practitioners, and students cooperated to develop and implement a local, college-based community service project to house the homeless.
Abstract: Americans’ participation in community and civic activities has declined over the last several decades. This article describes a project in which social work faculty, practitioners, and students cooperated to develop and implement a local, college-based community service project to house the homeless. The author focuses on the impact of a Service Learning Seminar-a one-credit course that combined academic and community service work-on students’ prosocial attitudes. He discusses the project’s theoretical basis, the research findings, methodological weaknesses, and implications for the future.
TL;DR: The evolution and current status of managed care is paperexamines, the content areas most relevant to social work education are described, and mechanisms by which educators can incorporate material on managed care are offered.
Abstract: The advent of various forms of managed care means unprecedented changes for health and mental health service delivery and, by extension, for educators training those who deliver these services. Although the medical and nursing fields have begun to respond to these changes, social work has not. Yet managed care brings implications for every aspect of the social work curriculum; social workers must not only understand its impact, but be prepared to assume an expanding role in evolving systems. This paperexamines the evolution and current status of managed care, describes the content areas most relevant to social work education, and offers mechanisms by which educators can incorporate material on managed care.
TL;DR: This article describes logic modeling as a tool for teaching evaluation skills in practice, research, and policy courses because logic models break down an intervention or program into parts and inform evaluators about the kind of results and evaluation data available.
Abstract: Continuing the discussion of logic models in social work education, this article describes logic modeling as a tool for teachingevaluation skills in practice, research, and policy courses. Because logic models break down an intervention or program into parts, they inform evaluators about the kind of results and evaluation data available. This allows for an evaluation plan that deals effectively with a multisystemic project and works efficiently when time and money are limited. Three different evaluation approaches are considered—resource, process, and outcome—and the two case examples from the previous article are carried over in the discussion.
TL;DR: In this paper, a cognitive-oriented training program for enhancing empathy and in-depth understanding of clients among helping professionals is presented, which was compared with an emotionally oriented training program in an experimental study involving 51 social work students.
Abstract: This article presents a cognitive oriented training program for enhancing empathy and in-depth understanding of clients among helping professionals The Empathy Training Program (ETP) was compared with an emotionally oriented training program in an experimental study involving 51 social work students working with clients in their practicum sites Findings show that although no statistically significant differences in empathy scores at post-test were indicated between the research and comparison groups, there was a statistically significant improvement in the research group’s mean empathy scores The qualitative data further suggest that the ETP enhances students’ in-depth assessment and understanding of clients, expands their response repertory, and enhances their independence
TL;DR: In this paper, a social work course that incorporates instruction on ethnographic research, a contemporary qualitative methodology, is described, which includes sampling strategies, data collection, data analysis, theory development, presentation of findings and practical application within a clinical setting.
Abstract: This article describes a social work course that incorporates instruction on ethnographic research, a contemporary qualitative methodology. The authors describe each of the seven course modules used to teach students ethnographic research methods. They cover sampling strategies, data collection, data analysis, theory development, presentation of findings, and practical application within a clinical setting. Findings from student evaluations of the usefulness and relevance of the course are also described, as are the educational and research implications of teaching ethnographic research methods within a social work curriculum.
TL;DR: In this paper, process recordings offer many benefits for social work faculty, field instructors, and students in the field of social work, including the ability to learn from process recordings and the ability of analyzing process recordings for professional development.
Abstract: Though seemingly old-fashioned compared to modern methods of discerning professional development, process recordings offer many benefits for social work faculty, field instructors, and students ali...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the conceptual background and previous use of this educational methodology and illustrate its application within a graduate health social work practice class, with very strong agreement that all three components of the project-interaction with simulated clients, receipt of feedback, and participation as observers-prove useful.
Abstract: Practice simulation exercises involve interaction with people who portray standardized clients in typical social work practice contexts. They are followed by feedback from these “clients” and from peers and instructors. This article delineates the conceptual background and previous use of this educational methodology and illustrates its application within a graduate health social work practice class. A preliminary evaluation found enthusiastic endorsement of this approach among students, with very strong agreement that all three components of the project-interaction with simulated clients, receipt of feedback, and participation as observers-prove useful. Practice simulations can allow transformative learning for participants and provide a useful classroom method for incorporating conceptual foundations into practice behaviors.
TL;DR: The authors traces the institutional development of social work education through its first century of existence, covering antecedents, early training schools, disparate philosophies, and repeated expansion, focusing on factors that have shaped the development of Social Work education, among them external funding, the career goals of students and various internal tensions resulting from conflicting visions.
Abstract: This overview traces the institutional development of social work education through its first century of existence, covering antecedents, early training schools, disparate philosophies, and repeated expansion. The discussion focuses on factors that have shaped the development of social work education, among them external funding, the career goals of students, and various internal tensions resulting from conflicting visions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authorship and collaboration in social work education are discussed, and the authors propose a model of Authorship and Collaboration in Social Work Education, which they call Authorship-Collaborative Collaboration.
Abstract: (1997). Authorship and Collaboration. Journal of Social Work Education: Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 555-564.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on the development of an innovative family policy practice course for direct practice students that emphasizes experiential learning to develop policy practice skills for advocacy, policy development and planning by working for social change in the community.
Abstract: This article reports on the development of an innovative family policy practice course for direct practice students that emphasizes experiential learning to develop policy practice skills. The course uses a policy practice framework to understand the creation and implementation of major family legislation. A semester-long project provides students with opportunities to develop skills in advocacy, policy development, and planning by working for social change in the community. The article discusses examples of projects that have been implemented by students, discusses challenges to teaching experiential methods for skill building, and provides critical evaluation of the projects and their relevance for macro practice research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on mass media communications research, examples drawn from social work and other human service professions, and instructional activities in social work education to examine and illustrate how participation in the mass communication network can further the social policy goals of the social work profession.
Abstract: Teaching social work students and practitioners to work effectively with the media is a valuable component of efforts to provide skills to influence the development of social policies and services addressed to vulnerable populations The author focuses on mass media communications research, examples drawn from social work and other human service professions, and instructional activities in social work education to examine and illustrate how participation in the mass communication network can further the social policy goals of the social work profession
TL;DR: This paper assess the current state of social work education and make suggestions for its improvement, which include distinguishing between specialized and professional knowledge courses, teaching interpersonal skills for working with organizations and communities, differentiating subventionary and instrumental interventions, reformulating course content on policy and administration.
Abstract: The authors assess the current state of social work education and make suggestions for its improvement, which include distinguishing between specialized and professional knowledge courses, teaching interpersonal skills for working with organizations and communities, differentiating subventionary and instrumental interventions, reformulating course content on policy and administration, dealing with the problems of social work’s expanding curriculum, broadening the range of activities and methods taught in social work research courses, providing incentives for collective faculty participation in curriculum development, and acknowledging the persistent anti-intellectual undercurrent in social work.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe and evaluate the effectiveness of a "Taping Project" for student self-evaluation in racism courses, which offers students the opportunity to hear in private the assumptions about themselves and others that they have brought into the course, to reexamine these assumptions in the context of what they learn in the course and to consider if and how these assumptions have changed.
Abstract: This article describes and evaluates the effectiveness of a “Taping Project,” a teaching method for student self-evaluation in racism courses. The project offers students the opportunity (a) to hear in private the assumptions about themselves and others that they have brought into the course, (b) to reexamine these assumptions in the context of what they learn in the course, and (c) to consider if and how these assumptions have changed. Formal evaluation of the project’s effectiveness in helping students observe and reflect critically on their own development is reported in two ways: content analysis of 53 student essays using grounded theory analysis, and student and faculty evaluations of the assignment.
TL;DR: The need to adopt a developmental perspective, traces its history, describes its key features, and outlines implications for social work education with reference to the educational needs of a new century as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The developmental perspective is attracting more attention today as conventional residual and institutional approaches to social welfare lose appeal. This article explains the need to adopt a developmental perspective, traces its history, describes its key features, and outlines implications for social work education with reference to the educational needs of a new century.
TL;DR: A study of enrollment trends, staffing patterns, and student-faculty ratios in master’s degree programs in social work and three related fields shows that the median ratio of students to faculty in MSW programs has grown 36% since 1981.
Abstract: This article reports on a study of enrollment trends, staffing patterns, and student-faculty ratios in master’s degree programs in social work and three related fields. Results for MSW programs sho...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors applied a conceptual framework based on the intended audience and the function of over 1,700 articles and book reviews published from 1990-1993 by faculty of professorial rank at 45 social work doctoral programs.
Abstract: Although contemporary definitions of scholarship describe diverse activities through which faculty develop, verify, and advance knowledge of their profession, evaluations of social work program productivity have continued to emphasize the quantity of full-length articles published in selected social work journals. For this study, the authors applied a conceptual framework based on the intended audience and the function of over 1,700 articles and book reviews published from 1990-1993 by faculty of professorial rank at 45 social work doctoral programs. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four qualitatively distinct patterns of scholarly productivity, none of which was associated with quantitative productivity. Implications for social work practice and for knowledge development are identified and discussed.
TL;DR: The authors discusses the need for community-based programs for youth and their families and urges the social work profession to resume its historical leadership in such programs while incorporating recent theory and practice, and discusses one school of social work's current participation in a youth agency partnership and examine implications of the suggested revival for social work education.
Abstract: This article discusses the need for community-based programs for youth and their families and urges the social work profession to resume its historical leadership in such programs while incorporating recent theory and practice. The authors describe the reasons why social workers abandoned neighborhood-based youth development services, the intended outcomes of such services, and current societal and professional trends that support a revival of social work’s involvement in youth development. They discuss one school of social work’s current participation in a youth agency partnership and examine implications of the suggested revival for social work education. Collaboration among families, schools, diverse community services, agencies, and educators is emphasized.
TL;DR: This paper argued that multiculturalism is the wrong construct to debate-that social work educators should be concerned instead with cultural diversity, and that Van Soest's attack on social work education is unwarranted.
Abstract: In an article in the Winter 1995 issue of the journal of Social Work Education, Dorothy Van Soest challenged social work professionals to debate competing perspectives on multiculturalism. Van Soest asserted that social work educators have failed to resolve hidden value conflicts about multiculturalism and, consequently, failed to carry out the theme in the social work curriculum. The authors contend that multiculturalism is the wrong construct to debate- that social work educators should be concerned instead with cultural diversity, and that Van Soest’s attack on social work education is unwarranted.