Service user or service provider? How social work and human services students integrate dual identities

Students studying undergraduate social work and human services (SWHS) degrees may have used health and human service agencies, before and during their university education. Using services provides them with insights that are useful for professional practice. However, this article identifies that they experience a fear of shame and stigma revealing this during their studies. In examining interview data from 15 undergraduate SWHS students they recounted how they integrated their experience of being a service user into their professional development. It is argued that insider knowledge of services can provide them with valuable insights for practice. Students spoke about how positive experiences motivated them to study and provided models of effective practice, exemplifying its potential power to assist those in need. Negative experiences of service use can also be beneficial for learning what ‘not to do’. Although students found the experience of service use invaluable, they felt it was never acknowledged within the curriculum. Consequently, students interviewed in this study identified service users as ‘others’. They feared disclosing their own use of services due to perceived shame and stigma. Failing to provide opportunity for students to integrate their service user experience into their professional development creates a false dichotomy which does not acknowledge the intersection of these dual identities.     

Transition and the community college: a Career Keys model for students with disabilities

Transition models are needed that address multiple phases in the postsecondary education of students with disabilities. These models must first address the recruitment of high school students with disabilities for community colleges through career exploration experiences that help students clarify their educational and vocational interests and relate those interests to a two-year postsecondary program. Students with disabilities then need a comprehensive service program while attending community college to help them identify accommodation needs in classroom and workplace environments and develop the skills to request such accommodations from their instructors and employers. With this skill base, they are well prepared to initiate the next transition in their lives, that is, the movement from the community college to a four-year educational institution or to employment. Programs are needed to facilitate this transition, such as a placement planning seminar involving rehabilitation professionals and employers and an accommodation follow-up assessment with students in their new educational and employment settings. The "Career Keys" model describes how to deliver the services needed in each of these critical transition phases.     

Assessment of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Interventions Among Middle School Youth

The purpose of this study was to examine outcomes for students enrolled in two teen pregnancy prevention programs: the Youth Asset Development Program (YADP); and the Postponing Sexual Involvement Program (PSIP) and identify possible areas for program refinement. The study design consisted of two sets of comparisons: (a) sixth-grade students who completed the PSIP versus the control school; and (b) the YMCA Success Centers where the YADP was introduced versus the control school. Two hundred thirty-seven students were selected to participate in the study. Students who participated in the prevention programs had significantly (p < .05) higher academic achievement, participation in school related activities, and enjoyed school much more than students from the control school. However, no statistically significant differences were found between program participants and the control group when they were compared on personal orientation and judgments about teenage parenthood. Implications for program modification and program effectiveness are discussed.     

Lessons from a comparative study of user involvement

Abstract

Grounded in the context of the significant differences in service user involvement in social work education and research between the UK and Israel, a joint project between Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and Tel-Hai College in Israel was developed. Its aim was to develop a comparative research methodology to evaluate the outcomes of service user involvement in social work education. A main tenet of our research methodology consisted of partnering with a group of older people who used health and social care services as co-researchers from each country. This co-researching methodology together with the evaluation tools worked effectively in the two respective countries. The key findings highlight that while students in both countries valued the involvement of service users in their training, this occurred more so in Israel, where this is a very new development. Students in both countries developed rich concept maps illustrating the complexity of such an involvement. Yet, while the responses of both groups to vignettes describing user involvement scenarios reflected the positive impact of such an involvement, the UK students focused on the negative impact of potential risk more so than the Israeli students.     

The effect of active parental consent on the ability to generalize the results of an alcohol,tobacco, and other drug prevention trial to rural adolescents

The authors report the effect of active parental consent on sample bias among rural seventh graders participating in a drug abuse prevention trial. Students obtaining active consent from their parents to complete the survey were of higher academic standing, missed fewer days of school, and were less likely to participate in the special education program at their school as compared to students who did not return a parental consent form. However, students with consent were not significantly different from students whose parents actively declined. The sample obtained under active parental consent represents students less at risk for problem behaviors than would have been obtained under passive consent procedures.     

Student perceptions of progress in a postsecondary residential program for adults with learning disabilities

In recent years, residential postsecondary schools have been created to help adults who have completed high school, but need more assistance to make the transition to college or a career. The purpose of this study is to understand the subjective experiences of students at one such facility. Using qualitative methodology, 16 adult students were interviewed to identify areas in which they have made progress toward their goal of living independently. Students acknowledged gains in the areas of social and emotional growth, employment training, academic achievement, and independent living skill development. The results suggest that a residential postsecondary intervention is beneficial for adults with learning disabilities.     

Realistic Major Previews in the School‐to‐College Transition of Italian High School Students

Industrial/organizational researchers have reported that realistic job previews diminish prospective workers' expectations but promote the satisfaction and persistence of those who ultimately accept a job assignment. The authors applied this strategy to the context of school‐to‐college transition; 354 Italian high school students were provided with a 2‐hour lecture designed to simulate exposure to a college major of their choice. Students showed moderate pre‐post increases in subject matter knowledge but reported small decreases in interests and outcome expectations (but not self‐efficacy) related to the academic major to which they were exposed.     

Effectiveness of student assistance programs in Nebraska schools.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether Nebraska schools with Student Assistance Programs (SAP) are associated with reduced adolescent alcohol use and a higher level of academic achievement than students from schools without a SAP. METHODS: In 1992, the Toward a Drug Free Nebraska (TDFN) survey was administered to 3,454 students in grades seven to twelve at eighty-three Nebraska schools. A second survey, the TDFN "team activity report" collected from each school's team, the presence of a SAP (n = 34 schools) or absence of a SAP (n = 49 schools). Student responses for alcohol use and academic achievements were linked with the presence of a SAP through use of a school identification number on both surveys. RESULTS: Students from schools with a SAP reported a lower use of alcohol in the last thirty days, compared with students from schools without a SAP program (p < 0.05), and they also reported a significant difference in academic achievement (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: While this study used post hoc analysis of data, the results suggest lower alcohol use and higher academic achievement among students from SAP schools. Given SAPs' popularity, these trends suggest that further research should be conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of student assistance programs.     

How can sociology contribute to integrating service learning into Academic curricula?

This article argues that sociology can make a unique contribution to the integration of service experiences into the academic content of courses across the curriculum. By virtue of its theoretical, conceptual, methodological and pedagogical legacies, sociology contributes to an understanding of the potential and promise of community service for academic inquiry. The article describes a unique venture in which an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students designed a major and minor in Public and Community Service Studies using service learning pedagogy.

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Grappling with the Medicated Self: The Case of ADHD College Students

Drawing on interview data, this article is a case study of the “medicated self.” Specifically, we analyze how ADHD‐diagnosed college students construct how they are shaped by the behavioral effects of medicine. Students may perceive that pharmaceutical enhancement is necessary in the context of a competitive academic ethic. In this context something akin to Lareau's concept of concerted cultivation thrives as students practice what we call concerted medicalization in an attempt to literally embody the academic ideal. However, while medicine may enable students to manage academic performance and take control of “disordered bodies,” many remain uneasy about the extent to which they feel controlled by a drug. In the context of medical ambivalence, ADHD students engage in reflexive identity management and strategic pharmaceutical use to achieve some semblance of self‐control and self‐preservation during their college years. As their college education comes to a close, many prepare to return to what they construct as their “authentic,” nonmedicated selves as they enter the work world.     

Psychology as a Profession: An Effective Career Exploration and Orientation Course for Undergraduate Psychology Majors

The authors describe an undergraduate psychology course that covers academic advising and career planning. Lectures included choosing a major, job opportunities with a bachelor's degree, applying to graduate school, and guest lectures from professionals in psychology‐related careers. Students completed a plan of study, a résumé, and a career exploration paper. Students evaluated the course and assignments as being moderately high in value and recommended that the course continue to be required for psychology majors. Nearly all students (93%) either changed their career plans or felt more confident about their plans after taking the course. Recommendations for implementing a similar course are provided.     

Guns and gun threats at college

A random sample of more than 10,000 undergraduate students, selected from 119 4-year colleges, answered a mailed questionnaire about gun possession and gun threats. Approximately 4.3% of the students reported that they had a working firearm at college, and 1.6% of them have been threatened with a gun while at school. Students are more likely to have a firearm at college and to be threatened with a gun while at college if they are male, live off campus, binge drink, engage in risky and aggressive behavior after drinking, and attend institutions in regions of the United States where household firearm prevalence is high. Having a firearm for protection is also strongly associated with being threatened with a gun while at college. Students who reported having firearms at college disproportionately reported that they engaged in behaviors that put themselves and others at risk for injury.     

Predictors of Academic Achievement for Latino Middle Schoolers

The aim of this study was to examine specific child, home, and school factors that predict academic achievement for Latino middle school students. The sample for this study (N = 173) was drawn from seven public schools located in three school districts in the northeastern United States. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to predict academic achievement from a combination of predictor variables: gender, parent educational attainment, parent employment status, acculturation, parent involvement in school, and school identification. Findings indicate that school identification and parent involvement in school are protective factors that promote Latino middle grade students' academic achievement. These findings suggest that collaborative partnerships between school social workers, teachers, and Latino students and their parents are an important strategy that can optimize connections to school that result in academic achievement.     

Teaching research in practice courses

Students of social work and related professions are often resistant to study research. Efforts to resolve this problem have focused on making research courses more experiential and developing a 'user friendly' curricula. This article presents an experimental strategy used in one American school of social work to teach research-related content within the context of a practice course. Students' and teachers' evaluations indicate that this may be useful to enable students to acquire tools with which to use and conduct research.     

Use of Experiential Learning,Reflective Writing,and Metacognition to Develop Cultural Humility Among Undergraduate Students

This study discusses the use of experiential learning, reflective writing, and metacognition to develop cultural humility among undergraduate students enrolled in a social and economic justice course. Students participated in an activity that challenged them to learn about people who may have different social identities and experiences from their own such as attending a service in a religion different from their own. Then students wrote a reflective essay in which they used the margin of the paper as a safe space to write anything that came to mind during the writing process. A thematic analysis of students’ comments suggests that students used the space to examine their emotions, seek understanding of self and others, and recognize their privilege.     

Enriching the Group and Investigation in the Intercultural Classroom

Cooperative learning requires teachers to change their traditional role as transmitters of information and take on the role of guides and facilitators in the cooperative learning process. As they gain confidence in this role teachers adopt more diverse and complex cooperative procedures. When they feel that their students are used to working together to achieve academic goals, they can introduce Group Investigation as an additional cooperative learning method. Investigating in groups calls for students to apply basic cooperative learning skills to the planning of what they want to study and how they want to study. Students cooperate in carrying out their investigation, in planning how to integrate and present their findings, and, together with the teacher, collaborate in evaluating their academic and interpersonal effort.

Group Investigation places much of the responsibility for learning on the students, but the teacher must know how to prepare for the investigation project, how to prepare the students, and how to facilitate the project as it unfolds. Because the content of a Group Investigation project is determined by the diversity of the students’ interests, experiences and prior knowledge, it is the cooperative learning strategy most suited for interdisciplinary studies in an intercultural classroom.     

The Liberal Education of a Medieval Guildsman

This article illustrates how community service-learning can be defined and implemented as a group inquiry project in which students apply academic knowledge and social problem-solving skills. The authors examined eleven different community service-learning projects put into practice by elementary and middle school teachers who participated in CiviConnection, a national civic education program. They also explored how the teachers' practices were related to their perspectives on citizenship education, as the national CiviConnections program was designed to align with the reflective inquiry perspective by integrating historical inquiry in community service-learning. From the reflective inquiry perspective, they identified four elements of service-learning as a group inquiry project and analyzed eleven class projects to see how they incorporated the four components: (1) identifying issues and defining problems, (2) studying issues in-depth while using disciplinary modes of investigation, (3) developing action plans through decision-making processes, and (4) developing personalized knowledge through reflection. The authors discuss the study results' implications and examine opportunities to consider how community service-learning should be developed and implemented as a group inquiry project in which students develop personalized knowledge about community issues through discipline-based inquiry skills and decision-making processes.     

Medical withdrawals from college for mental health reasons and their relation to academic performance.

A collaborative study among the university health service, the dean's office, and the registrar's office examined the academic performance of 77 students who took medical withdrawals for mental health reasons from Dartmouth College during a 3-year period. In 71.4% of the cases, students withdrew from a term in progress; the remainder arranged to withdraw after they had completed a term but before starting a new term. Depression was a major factor in approximately half of the withdrawals. Grade point average improved significantly after return from the withdrawal, with a large jump in individual term averages occurring between the terms immediately preceding and immediately following return. We found no significant difference between the number of students who experienced disciplinary trouble before withdrawal and those who were disciplined afterward. Students who were depressed at the time of withdrawal did not fare as well academically upon return as those students who had not been depressed. The data suggest that procedures for handling mental health withdrawals and readmission are important ways in which the campus counseling center can support the university's academic mission.     

Student Research: Documentaries Made in the Community

Middle school students learned about their community when they created documentaries as part of a state bicentennial celebration. Students gathered multiple primary and secondary resources and worked with community members to interview them for their perspectives through video presentations as part of the inquiry process. Students work with local history to find connections between people both past and present. Looking at institutional histories allowed students to communicate their authentic findings to the people in the community.     

Emotional Safeguarding: Exploring the Nature of Middle‐Class Parents’ School Involvement1

Although discussion of parents’ school involvement generally surrounds academic success, there are also emotional motivations for parents’ school interventions. In this exploratory analysis, based on interviews with 21 parents and teachers, I show how these middle‐class parents’ concerns for children extend beyond grades and academic success to the children’s own emotional comfort with schooling. I discuss examples of emotional safeguarding, a parental practice to protect children’s happiness at school. Results also suggest that emotional and academic concerns for children at school are interrelated, and parents often approach the emotional with the academic in mind. Parents focus on reducing children’s anxiety or discomfort at school with the ultimate goal of instilling a love of learning. The parents in this study perceive an emotional route to achieving academic success for their middle‐class children. Unlike parents, teachers in the study identify parents’ concerns as academic or a product of parents’ anxiety. This research introduces the possibility that while parents’ academic concerns are very real, they are also accompanied by equal and occasionally greater concerns for children’s happiness and well‐being at school.