Piecing Together Family Social Work in Mainland China

As rapid economic and sociopolitical development brings about drastic changes in family structure and processes in China, many social concerns arise. Through a review of journal articles published over a period of 28 years (1979–2006) in social work and related disciplines in China, this article presents a glimpse of family social work using the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The result is despairing, in that only a small number of articles on family social work were found. Given social work's traditionally strong belief in the family, as well as the strong emphasis on the family in China, the social work profession can contribute to China's social development through strengthening family social work and family policy. Nevertheless, this article argues for family social work to be sensitive to the cultural needs and characteristics of families in China, instead of imposing Western theories and interventions as if families come in just one size and shape.     

Teaching and Learning Theory For Family Therapy Practice: On The Art and Craft of Balancing

As with all practice knowledges, family therapy theory sits in a complicated relationship to practice. This paper offers a set of reflections exploring challenges of teaching and learning theory for, and about, practice in family therapy. The importance of teaching particular frameworks of practice sits in tension and balance with the importance of the common factors of therapeutic change, and the inseparability of the use of self and the use of particular practice knowledge. Passion and commitment to particular ways of working is held in balance with the need for flexibility and the freedom to think independently. Discipline and focus is balanced with creativity and the room for integration. A number of balancing practices are identified in the art and craft of teaching, and the contextual issue of power and vulnerability in the teaching and learning relationship is acknowledged. Finally, the three ‘Rs’ in teaching and learning family therapy practice theory are drawn out – reflection, the recursiveness of theory and practice, and the reflexivity of self in relation to context and knowledge.     

The Experiential Community Assessment Project: Integrating Social Work Practice Skills

Although most social work students are primarily interested in micro practice, the Council on Social Work Education mandates teaching macro practice. The challenge of incorporating meaningful and relevant community assignments within practice courses is noted in the literature (Koerin, Reeves, & Rosenblum, 2000 Koerin, B. B., Reeves, J. and Rosenblum, A. 2000. Macro-learning opportunities: What is really happening out there in field?. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 6(1): 109–121.  [Google Scholar]). This article discusses the Experiential Community Assessment Project (ECAP) that integrates social work practice skills through interviewing a community leader, attending a community meeting, and using publicly available data to assess at risk neighborhoods. Grounded in experiential learning theory, a series of reflection papers are used to help students process what they are learning. A capstone poster presentation is required at the end. Suggestions and recommendations are made for using or adapting this project within other social work curricula.     

Dialogical Research in Supervision: Practical Guidelines from Experienced Supervisors in Family Therapy,Child Protection,and Specialty Mental Health Services

This two‐year qualitative participatory research project examines practical guidelines for supervision. Sixteen experienced supervisors across professional settings of family therapy, child protection, and specialty mental health services in the geographical regions of Northern Norway and Northern Sweden outline four main practical guidelines in supervision based on their supervisory practices: (1) elaborating an agreed‐upon contract; (2) exploring potential formats; (3) exploring contents; (4) acknowledging responsibility for process and dilemmas. Participants summarised how they generated mutual growth in supervisory relationships, while being respectful of the first‐person perspective of supervisees. The study challenges pre‐dominating guidelines about deficit‐ or developmental stage‐oriented supervision. It illustrates reflecting processes and a polyphonic orientation in supervision by welcoming diversity, wondering, and tolerance for the not‐yet‐decided among involved persons in a mutual exploration and calibration of relevant knowledge. It outlines a dialogical research for sharing, exploring, and questioning knowledge as beneficial for whom, told by whom, and evaluated by whom.     

Missionary Kid Career Development: A Consensual Qualitative Research Investigation Through a Social Cognitive Lens

Repatriated, young adult children of international missionaries (missionary kids [MKs]) face unique challenges in education and career development. The authors conducted a consensual qualitative research investigation, grounded in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986 ), as it informs social cognitive career theory, of career planning and decision making with 11 repatriated MKs. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 23 years (58% female, 67% Caucasian) and had repatriated to the United States between the ages of 14 and 19 years, spending between 4 and 19 years abroad. The authors' interpretation of the study findings led to a context‐specific revision of Bandura's ( 1986 ) Triadic Reciprocality Model. That is, regarding career development, faith intersects environmental variables, personal attributes, and overt behaviors in unexpected and multidimensional ways. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners include (a) attending to issues of sociocultural adaptation, (b) continuing to offer empirically supported (standard) career services to MKs, (c) using contextual and developmental approaches, and (d) inquiring about faith and calling.     

Perceived Family Functioning and Family Resources of Hong Kong Families: Implications for Social Work Practice

This article reports the results of a telephone survey (n = 1,015 respondents) that aims to identify the perceived general family functioning and family resources of Hong Kong Chinese families and their linkage to each other in a rapidly transforming society. The perceived general family functioning of the respondents was average, and the five types of family resources—time, income, human capital, psychological capital, and social capital—of the respondents ranged from average to good. The following family resource domains, in descending order, have accounted for significant variance in perceived general family functioning: income, time spent with family, stress coping efficacy, religion, and satisfaction with the living environment. Our findings provide empirical support for policy formulation and social work practice.     

Reflections and Learning From an Agency‐Wide Implementation of Single Session Work in Family Therapy

In November 2009, the Bouverie Centre, a centre for training, research, and clinical family therapy in Melbourne, Australia, embarked on a 12‐month trial involving the implementation of single session work as our main model of service provision for all new family appointments. We were interested in evaluating clients' and therapists' experiences of this change in our clinical service delivery. This article discusses some clinical dilemmas that arose for staff in this process, and how they were addressed. Clients' responses to single session work are outlined, followed by a discussion of outcomes of the implementation for our organisation.     

Learning by doing: an experiential approach to program evaluation

Despite the increased importance of producing social workers who are prepared to evaluate practice, there is a paucity of literature addressing the pedagogical challenges of program evaluation courses. The present study evaluates the structure and pedagogical approach of a newly implemented program evaluation course. The course took a team-based, experiential learning approach to designing a program evaluation plan for students’ field placement agencies. Five student-led focus groups (N = 44) were conducted at the conclusion of the course to address two aims: to assess student perceptions of the content, structure, and delivery of the course; and to assess student attitudes toward applied research. Data were collected between November and December 2014 in a public university’s graduate social work program in the northeastern United States. The steps of grounded theory data analysis were implemented to elicit major themes from student feedback. Results suggest that perceptions of applicability play a central role in shaping student attitudes toward program evaluation. Experiential and team-based pedagogical approaches appear to increase accessibility of course content for students. Suggestions for enhancing student learning in program evaluation courses are discussed.     

Developing Family Therapy Skills on a Shoe String Budget: A Peer Supervision and Training Approach

Family therapy skills are an essential tool when working with young children and their families, yet accessing family therapy training and supervision in workplace settings has become more difficult. Skills enhancement may be obtained through formal training in accredited courses, a costly undertaking, in which clinicians most often carry the entire cost for the training. In this paper, we propose that specific family therapy skills relevant to working with families of young children can be developed within a peer group format. The peer training described in this paper is extremely cost effective, easy to set up, specifically tailored to our unique training needs and the characteristics of the population of families we are working with. Further, the training allows us to develop fresh and creative ways of skills acquisition, our own ‘curriculum’, with flexible use of training techniques, depending on our particular needs at a given time. We conclude with some of the disadvantages of the model and propose ideas for future development.     

Family Therapy and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Therapeutic Use of Songs in Apartheid South Africa

A central issue for family therapy is the critical question of how to define its role in influencing social change. Family therapy has tended to focus on how to liberate and empower individual clients, not communities, from the travails of tradition. This article highlights social change mechanisms implemented by the oppressed majority in South Africa during the apartheid period. It draws inspiration from the pedagogy of the oppressed articulated by Steve Biko and other members of his generation. This enabled the Black majority in South Africa ‘to name their world by reflecting on their conditions, imagining a better world, and then taking action to create it’ (Freire, 1968, p. 253) through the use of revolutionary songs that resulted in the collapse of the cruel apartheid system. The implications for family therapy are discussed.     

Solving Current Social Challenges: Engaging Undergraduates in Policy Practice

This article explores an innovation in teaching policy practice at the undergraduate level. It analyzes an experiential learning model that uses current social challenges as a compelling way to generate student learning about policy practice. Over the course of the semester, students examine antecedents, current issues, and potential solutions to a contemporary social issue through a series of assignments that build knowledge and skills and link the topic to larger social policy concerns. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence from seven semesters, the article explores benefits and challenges of this approach to teaching, and derives lessons for social work education.     

Social Worker Shame in Child and Family Social Work: Inadequacy,Failure, and the Struggle to Practise Humanely

Social workers operate within a complex environment where the failure to live up to expectations can lead to negative self-judgements or negative judgements from others, a sense of inadequacy and not feeling ‘good enough’. This paper conceptualises such issues through the lens of ‘social worker shame’ defined through a psychosociocultural understanding of the emotion. The effect of social worker shame on social workers' well-being and practise is considered and begins to conceptualise how an organisation can become shame-sensitive and practitioners shame-resilient with the aim of reducing the potential impact of social worker shame on practise.     

Case‐Based Research in Family Therapy

Traditionally, case‐based research has not been considered as scientific by many in the field due to the lack of controlled conditions and objectivity. However, case‐study material may be more effective than once believed in educating family therapists. Future implications of the role of case studies in family therapy research are considered, including the manner in which case studies might be designed to be more rigorous so that they can serve as the basis for drawing causal inferences in clinical cases, and at the same time, provide family therapists with useful information to improve their skills. A discussion section highlights the future direction of case‐based research in the family therapy literature and how it may be used as an effective learning tool.     

Lessons Learned From Using Adobe Connect in the Social Work Classroom

Adobe Connect is synchronous web conferencing software available to colleges and universities. This pilot study sought to understand student and faculty participation in use of this software as part of an already established hybrid master's level social work curriculum. This software was utilized in two courses: concentration year field practicum and advanced social work practice. Student feedback and satisfaction are presented. Lessons learned for using such software are explored.     

Ideas in Action: Teaching Qualitative Analytic Methods in Social Work Research through the Analysis of Song Lyrics

This article describes the innovative use of a pop culture source-song lyrics to augment the teaching of qualitative methods in social work research. The use of pop culture sources as learning tools in the MSW curriculum has the potential to enhance the learning experience for students. These techniques have not been applied in the content of MSW research classes. This approach could be advantageous over other typical data sources because it is more accessible to students while also being reflective of a collective identity of people in society. Future work should assess student and educator responses to this pedagogical approach.     

A Postmodern Critique of Societal Discourses of Male Violence in Interpersonal Family Relationships: A Balancing Act for Social Work

In recent years, treatments of family violence have tended to be built around conventional discourses suggesting that men are major initiators in instances of interpersonal violence. Utilizing a postmodernist analysis, we assess societal discourses that continue to give life to this narrow conceptualization of interpersonal violence. We also examine literature suggesting that both men and women resort to violence to resolve relationship difficulties and suggest that a more holistic and inclusive approach to understanding interpersonal violence is critical for social workers committed to social justice and a balanced understanding of the contextual nature of human problems.     

Social Work Education and Clinical Learning: Yesterday,Today, and Tomorrow

Social Work Education and Clinical Learning by Simpson, Williams, and Segall is a welcome and timely statement about the nature of clinical social work and its implications for educational curricula. The authors took on an awesome task. Educating students for clinical practice is increasingly more daunting than it has been previously and is in considerable disarray, if not a state of crisis. In addition to amplifying and expanding some of the major points the authors make, this discussion considers where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. It describes the educational landscape today, which the author views as bleak with respect to its preparation of students for clinical social work practice. In keeping with clinical social work’s inclusive definition that encompasses a broad knowledge base, diverse practice roles, and a wide range of interventions, this discussion emphasizes the importance of numerous unifying themes that help to distinguish clinical social work from other approaches or from the use of a fragmented assemblage of techniques. The paper considers the role of evidence-based practice and makes some suggestions about future emphases in clinical social work. It concludes with a call to alter the educational landscape.