A case for psychodynamic social work

Abstract

Psychodynamic casework is not as popular in social work theory and practice as it once was. It is considered by some to be impractical, unscientific, and not suitable for those customarily receiving a social work service. Task-centred casework, behavioural approaches, the newer psychotherapies, and family therapy have all taken over as major paradigms of social work method. This is especially so, I think, for the social worker working in a psychiatric setting, where many clients stay only for a short time and where emphasis is placed on assessment and short-term intervention.

In this paper I shall argue that a psychodynamic approach in social work is still relevant; that it is important for its humanizing qualities, for understanding and working with people with severe problems and for, perhaps, helping us to locate the position of social work vis-a-vis other mental health professions. I shall do this by focusing on a particular case I had as a social work student on placement in a psychiatric day hospital.     

Group Work in Graduate Social Work Education: The Price of Neglect

Abstract

Although social work practice with groups is on the rise, social work education has neglected to prepare students for group work practice. The results of a 1991 survey show that graduate education has practically eliminated group work as a specialized area of study. Most schools offer group work only as an elective, and few students graduate with a course in this subject. Additionally, students in foundation courses learn little about group work theory and have limited or no group field work experience in which to develop practice skills. The authors discuss the consequences of this lack on student learning, faculty development, field education, and the social work curriculum. They make recommendations for schools and CSWE to revitalize group work in the curriculum.     

Testing Satisfaction with a Group-based Social Work Field Liaison Model: A Controlled Mixed Methods Study

Social work field education programs rely on the liaison process to oversee and support students during their placement and to assist them to integrate theory and practice. However, the role and importance of liaison has been threatened as social work programs seek alternative and cost-effective ways to undertake these functions. This paper presents findings from a pilot study investigating levels of satisfaction among students and field educators with an innovative group liaison model compared to a control group who experienced the standard liaison practice. Fifty-three students and 47 field educators completed the survey. Twenty-one of the students and 10 of the educators received the intervention (the group liaison); the remaining 32 students and 37 educators received the standard liaison process (the control group). Students in the intervention group reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction with all aspects of the liaison experience than students who received the standard liaison process. Field educators were more positive about liaison than students. This study reaffirms the contribution of face-to-face liaison contact to the student learning experience on placement and suggests that strengthening, rather than devaluing, the liaison role could be a useful strategy to encourage the field’s ongoing commitment to provision of quality placement-based learning opportunities.

IMPLICATIONS

• Highlights the importance of face-to-face liaison contact to the student learning experience on placement.

• Examines social work student and field educator perceptions of and satisfaction with the liaison process and content.

• Describes a group liaison model that potentially offers a cost effective way to undertake the role.

     

Enhancing social work student learning: converging Bronfenbrenner,Bourdieu and practice learning

ABSTRACT

Social work student field placements can be complex, challenging and demanding for the practice educator and student. In this paper a model of practice education is explored that incorporates the theoretical constructs of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital and field. Through the application of these constructs, the practice educator can enhance the student’s learning and development in three distinctive ways. These will be explored and presented as a model that facilitates the practice educator in supporting the student during their placement and in the preparation for professional practice.     

Research as part of everyday practice: A finishing student's experience

Abstract

While social work education has come a long way, some of the most valuable lessons are learnt not in the class but in the field. This article explores the relationship between the practice of research and social work practice through my struggles within my final social work placement. How does one come to terms with the relationship between everyday social work practice and the practice of research? How does one reconcile what many see as a gap between research and the practice of social work? Is it possible to incorporate research into everyday practice? In the end it must be argued that both have comparable underlying goals and follow almost identical processes. In many ways a researcher carries out similar investigations utilising similar skills as those of a social worker. Thus being skilled in research and being able to integrate research into everyday practice will produce a better social worker.     

Teaching Successful Community Practice in Social Work

ABSTRACT

This article identifies and addresses a severe problem in the management of community practice projects of students in their second and third year in the Undergraduate Social Work program at the University of Haifa School of Social Work; namely, the current binary evaluation method based on total success or failure of the project.

Using a systems approach, this study creates a framework by which to ensure effective and positive outcomes for community practice projects carried out by undergraduate social work students (Freund, Arkin & Saltman, 1999). This framework is unique in that it draws on knowledge gained from organizational and community theories, as well as instructional theories for teaching social work practice.

The proposed framework includes three components that describe the factors necessary to help transform the student's learning experience: the organization's characteristics, the student's resources, and the evaluative measures.

This inter-conceptual approach enhances the ability of the instructor, the student, and the organization to build an appropriate organizational foundation for students operating communal programs. The underlying assumption is that an integrative approach promotes a better understanding of the components essential for building and evaluating social plans conducted by social work students.     

Self and social work: Towards an integrated model of learning

My experiences as a social work practitioner, DipSw tutor and research student form the basis for this article which uses a narrative, auto-ethnographic approach to illustrate the complexities and potential of reflective learning. A theoretical account of the nature of reflective learning and the reflection process is outlined before an autobiographical account which provides an example of the reflective learning process. The key themes of holistic approaches to learning, the significance of the self and multiple subjectivities, the personal in the professional and the importance of attending to the process and content of learning are explored. Examples of shortcomings in the current learning environment are included and drawn on to highlight the potential for more reflective approaches within the DipSw tutorial system. I suggest that given the anxiety-provoking nature of the situations they face, student practitioners need to embrace reflective learning if they are to avoid becoming restrictive, routinised and ritualistic in their practice.     

“It’s a whole orchestra”: what are the instrumental elements in quality field education?

ABSTRACT

Field education is widely upheld as an essential component of social work education; however, definitions of ‘quality’ field education are contested. Increasing competition for placements in Aotearoa New Zealand has placed considerable pressure on tertiary providers and organizations to provide placements considered to be ‘of quality’. Current conversations across the social work sector are emphasizing the importance of further examination of placement quality. While the development of national field education guidelines for field educators has assisted in clarifying their particular contribution to successful placements, equivalent guidelines for other stakeholders do not currently exist.

This timely study generated qualitative data through interviews with agency managers, academic staff and students. The findings present their perspectives on elements that contribute to ‘quality’ field education. Overall, the participants agreed ‘quality’ field education is underpinned by a focus on student learning alongside a desire from the organization and the field educator to support a student placement. Student readiness and suitability, a match between the student and the placement, adequate preparation and understanding of the responsibilities of each stakeholder role were noted. The development of national guidelines on the responsibilities, skills and knowledge of students, organizations and academic staff engaged in field education is recommended.     

Increasing Opportunities for Co-production and Personalisation Through Social Work Student Placements in Disabled People's Organisations

Social work student practice placements in disabled people's organisations offer several advantages for individual students, their peers and tutors, and DPOs themselves, who can offer placements for students in supporting service users to give their views as well as delivering social care services. In this context professional skills and anti-discriminatory practice are fostered through learning directly from disabled people as experts without the constraints of local authority policies.

This paper draws on my experiences of such student placements at Wiltshire and Swindon Users' Network over a 15-year period, 1993–2008, in collaboration with different universities. The social work student on placement here experiences an alternative organisational culture which recognises service users' expertise over professionals. The student learns to value collective peer support and working with activists who view their experience through the framework of the social model of disability. This facilitates a two-way exchange as the student learns about user-led practice and the disabled activists appreciate the skills the student brings.

The advent of policies of personalisation, the Big Society and the decreased role of local authorities is challenging the traditional model of adult care social work within local authorities. The placement of social workers in local centres for independent living, in order to provide intensive one-to-one support in support planning for those in complex situations, is only likely to increase in future. This can be seen as a positive alternative which enables professionals to rediscover their professional values and practice and extends the opportunity for placements beyond DPOs concerned with user involvement only.     

‘Sitting on the Mourning Bench’: Mental Health Workers and an Elderly Client

Abstract

The present article documents the experience of a first year social work student on fieldwork placement in an Aged Persons Mental Health Service. The student was part of a team providing service to a long-term client of the service when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. The student's compassionate response to the client raises questions about grief and professionalism, which she explored through a journal and in discussion with her supervisor and other team members working with the client. As part of their reflective practice, the student, her supervisor and the client's mental health workers formed a collective to document their experience and present a staff education session. This article is the outcome of these processes and explores important grief issues in Aged Psychiatry and demonstrates the valuable contribution made by a student to the work of the team in the rich learning environment of a fieldwork placement in aged psychiatry. It is published with the kind permission of the client's next of kin.     

Towards standardization of field work practicum: experiential reflections from Delhi,India

ABSTRACT

Field work is the signature pedagogy of social work. As a central form of instruction, it enables the course of learning by enabling the students to perform the role of practitioner. Field work contains pedagogical norms with which students learn to connect and integrate theory and practice. The current paper delineates the pedagogy of field work practicum in the Indian context and attempts to explore the challenges in transaction of field work curriculum with respect to placement agencies, at the levels of supervisor and supervisee and the ever evolving and dynamic relationship between the two. Based on authors’ experiential accounts, the paper recommends few strategies for enhancing the scope of professional growth and learning within the broad realms of field work placement.     

Teaching without being taught how: social work practice faculty voices

ABSTRACT

Social work practice faculty have an important role in socializing MSW students to the field and practice of social work. This study, based on interviews with 15 faculty teaching an advanced clinical practice course in the United States, examines how faculty conceptualize teaching and learning. Faculty were asked about the theories or frameworks that guided their teaching, their own journeys to teaching and the resources that support their teaching. The study found that participants drew largely on their own experiences as student learners and social work practitioners and did not have much formal training in teaching and student learning. Furthermore, while half of the participants were able to identify a learning theory that guided their teaching, the other half were not. Finally, while participants articulated the need for support regarding their own teaching, many of the schools did not have formal faculty development opportunities. The paper ends with recommendations for supporting current and new faculty regarding teaching and student learning.     

Exploring the Potential of a Collaborative Web-based E-portfolio in Social Work Field Education

ABSTRACT

In most Australian workplaces that provide placement opportunities, social workers are unlikely to receive reductions in their workload for supervising students and completing the administrative requirements of field education subjects. Associated time costs lead to reluctance to supervise social work students. This article investigates the potential for a web-based e-portfolio tool to support and streamline social work field education and assessment processes. Social work students, field educators, and university-appointed liaison staff (N = 110) from a large Australian university completed an online survey administered at the end of placement. The majority of participants reported that the e-portfolio provided a useful framework for recording evidence of student learning; was simple to use; saved time; and had the capacity to enhance the quality and immediacy of communication between parties. We argue that e-portfolios can efficiently capture evidence of student learning and provide a robust mode of supporting social work students on placement.     

Interactive Videodiscs: A Linkage Tool for Social Work Education

Abstract

The merging of videodiscs and computers now makes possible a variety of exciting instructional strategies in education. This article highlights the ways in which videodiscs can be utilized to individualize the pace of student learning and to enhance the transfer of new learning from the classroom to beginning professional encounters. Ranging from concept learning to simulations of client-worker interactions, the application of videodisc technology to classroom instruction enables the blending of theory and practice so valued by social work educators.     

Facilitating the Transition from Student to Social Worker: Challenges of the Younger Student

Abstract

The transition from student to social worker is a process which social work educators cannot control but can facilitate. Through classroom and field instruction faculty assumer responsibility of preparing students' professional knowledge, skills, and values; however, our responsibilities should extend beyond curriculum delivery. Drawing on Schlossberg's (1984) model of transitions, this article discusses two primary factors which affect the younger student in transition—developmental needs and the external environment—and strategies for assisting in the transition through intervention in academic advising and teaching roles.     

Policy-Practice in Social Work: Models and Issues

Abstract

The emergence of policy—practice is a recent development in social work. In this article, policy—practice is defined as a direct social work practice mode with the potential to strengthen the social work profession's abilities to meet its century-long commitments of providing policy-informed services to those in need of them. At the same time, policy—practice advocates for and participates in policy implementation and change. This article examines policy—practice and places it within the context of the profession's historic cause—function debate and identifies several barriers that have complicated development. Most important, the article reviews five policy-practice models found in the literature: (1) social worker as policy expert, (2) social worker as change agent in external work environments, (3) social worker as change agent in internal work environments, (4) social worker as policy conduit, and (5) social worker as policy itself.     

Applying Computers in Social Service and Mental Health Agencies: A Guide to Selecting Equipment,Procedures and Strategies

Abstract

Students' perceptions of their field placements rarely are taken into account in the literature on field practicum and supervision. This survey of MSW students at a southern university examines factors associated with student satisfaction with field agency, field instructor, and field learning. The survey covers student and agency characteristics, learning goals and structure, supervision, and school-agency linkages. Students associated the quality of supervision and relevance of learning most highly with satisfaction in their placement experiences. Being treated as a professional in the agency, school-agency linkages, student characteristics, and amount of time engaged in specific social work activities were found not to be major factors in student satisfaction with field work.     

“This is Who We are and This is What We Do”: Social Work Education and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Citing anecdotal evidence about the poor self-efficacy among graduating social work students manifesting in student claims that they lack the skills to practice effectively, the present paper suggests that the cause may lie, in part, in the manner in which social work education is undertaken. Instead of adjusting curriculum content, the author suggests that educators need to moderate the emphasis they place on social work as a professional project, as well as clarify the status and use of practice theory. The paper concludes with three additional recommendations for consideration by educators and suggests a research agenda for assessing student self-efficacy.     

Interprofessional Education for Practice: Some Implications for Australian Social Work

Abstract

Social workers work with many other professionals in the workplace and being able to work in a team is both a practice standard for professions and a desirable graduate attribute of most universities. However, student learning about teamwork is often inconsistent and serendipitous, albeit some attention may be given to it as part of field education and work preparation. Students and new graduate social workers usually adopt the teamwork approach that prevails in the agency in which they work and teamwork behaviour is often a result of socialisation and acculturation. Internationally, over the last two decades, interprofessional education for interprofessional practice has achieved prominence in social work curricula. This article covers recent Australian initiatives in interprofessional education and the involvement of the social work program at a leading Australian university in an interprofessional education project. Implications for social work student education and social work practice are discussed.