Use of Self in Relational Clinical Social Work

Since the inception of social work social workers have noted the importance of relationship in practice. More recently clinicians and other social workers have developed the term “use of self” to indicate important aspects of the professional relationship. How that term is defined rests on how one conceptualizes “self.” The authors suggest that from a relational perspective the concept of self changes from the notion of self as separate and constant to self as process in interaction. They demonstrate on a theoretical level as well as through a case example how defining self as process in interaction might affect clinical social work practice.

Social Work Students Cope with Terror

This study examines the responses of social work students to the wave of terror of the Second Intifada, focusing on issues of professional identity raised by the terror. The study, based on statements of students who lost meaningful persons in the terror and on class discussions, identifies four key issues involving the formation of the students' professional identity that were accentuated by the terror. These are: (1) the conflict between personal needs and professional needs; (2) doubts about professional competence; (3) the conflict between carving out personal space and meeting professional responsibilities, and (4) the difficulties of doing fieldwork under terror. The study also observes the discomfort of the Arab students in the situation.     

Rescue Fantasies in Child Therapy: Countertransference/Transference Enactments

When the focus of the child treatment is on the therapist being a good object, this can accentuate a possible countertransference difficulty of the therapist becoming the protector of the child from the bad object. This countertransference can often resonate with rescue fantasies in the child. This paper will explore the topic of rescue fantasies in child treatment, while addressing the issue of coinciding fantasies existing unconsciously in both the therapist and child, leading to their enactment. A case of a nine-year old boy is presented which demonstrates how interpretation and resolution of rescue fantasies can lead to a deepening of the treatment.     

Social Work Students,other Graduate Students,and Issues of Student Protest

In the rise and development of student activism, little has been done to compare the attitudes and interests of social work students with those of other types of students. This paper reports the results of a survey of graduate students at the University of Michigan concerning major issues of student protest. Among the social work students a trend toward some of the most militant postures is noted, along with substantial apathy. This should be regarded as a challenge rather than a threat to social work education and the profession.     

Positive Social Support,Negative Social Exchanges,and Suicidal Behavior in College Students

Abstract

Objective: Risk for suicide is often higher among college students, compared to same-age noncollegiate peers, and may be exacerbated by quality of social support and interactions. The authors examined the independent contributions of positive social support and negative social exchanges to suicide ideation and attempts in college students. Participants: Participants were 439 volunteer undergraduate students, who were primarily female (71%). Methods: Cross-sectional, survey design. Participants completed measures assessing positive social support, including emotional, informational, and tangible support; negative social exchanges; and suicidal behavior, including ideation and attempts. Results: Positive social support, particularly tangible support, and negative social exchanges were significantly predictive of greater suicidal behavior. Conclusions: Practical manifestations of support may buffer against suicide risk for college students, whereas conflict-based interactions may contribute to increased risk. At the institutional, parental, and peer levels, promotion of supportive relationships may be an important suicide prevention strategy.     

Engaging Students in Social Work Research Education

This article discusses existing issues in social work research education. It includes challenges to delivering research education at the MSW level such as student anxiety and disinterest, and incorporates an exploration of post graduation interest in research. The authors recommend that professors increase the emphasis on practical applications of research and encourage students to disseminate research results via publication. The article concludes with the implications of encouraging student research within the social work profession.     

Motivating Social Work Students in Statistics Courses

Statistical literacy provides an advantage to social work practitioners in promoting client interests. The social work literature has provided some suggestions for improving instruction in statistics courses, but the goal of motivating students in statistics courses has remained elusive. The ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) is a model for instructional design developed to enhance learner motivation. The ARCS model can be utilized to increase interest in, and learning of, any social work course content. This article applies the ARCS model to social work statistics courses, integrating current literature, providing concrete examples, and illustrating how learner motivation can be enhanced to improve social work education.     

Social Work Admissions and Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects students wth disabilities from discrimination by academic and professional programs in higher education. A student with a disability cannot be denied admission to an educational program because of his or her disability if the student is otherwise qualified. This means that a student with a disability who is qualified for an academic or professional educational program cannot be denied admission to a program based solely on the student&s disability. This educational requirement mandated by the ADA applies to all educational fields including social work education. The purpose of this study was to explore how social work programs are dealing with these requirements in their admission and academic accommodation procedures. Twelve social work programs located in the mid-western United States participated in the study. Representatives of each of these programs were given an in-depth interview focusing on their admissions process, academic accommodations, and general topics related to social work education and disabilities. All programs taking part in the research were accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The CSWE is the national accreditation body for social work education within the United States.     

Social Networks,Substance Use,and Mental Health in College Students

Abstract

Objectives: The relationship between social network risk (alcohol-using close friends), perceived peer closeness, substance use, and psychiatric symptoms was examined to identify risk and protective features of college students’ social context. Participants: Six hundred and seventy undergraduate students enrolled in a large southeastern university. Methods: An online survey was administered to consenting students. Results: Students with risky networks were at a 10-fold increase of hazardous drinking, 6-fold increase for weekly marijuana use, and 3-fold increase for weekly tobacco use. College students’ who feel very close to their peers were protected against psychiatric symptoms yet were at increased risk for marijuana use. Perceived closeness of peers was highly protective against psychiatric symptoms, adding a natural preventive effect for a population at great risk for mental illness. Conclusions: Results support targeting college students through network-oriented preventive interventions to address substance use as well as mental health.     

Gender,Mothering And Relational Work

Relationships are fundamental to the work of teachers, nurses and social workers. Women by and large staff these occupations which are also called ‘relationship work’. In this article we compare the feminine ideal (often implicitly derived from a maternal ideal) with the ideal held by female relation workers. We suggest that taken for granted ideals of perfectionism in mothering are carried into relation work by the female relation workers themselves and the society at large. As a consequence, female relationship workers have a constrained portrait of themselves, leaving little opportunity and permission to explore the difficult emotional and situational complexities that they experience in their professional practice. Psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives allow challenging of these constraining implicit ideals. We argue the need for an expanded ideal that allows for negative feelings, creativity and uncertainty in professional relationships.     

Research Learning Attributes of Graduate Students in Social Work,Psychology, and Business

Although research teaching literature suggests that social work students may have different research learning attributes than students in other disciplines, minimal data exist to support this view. This study compared the self-reported research anxiety, computer anxiety, and research orientations of 149 full-time graduate social work, psychology, and business students at a research university. Social work students reported more research and computer anxiety and generally believed that research was less important to their profession than students in the comparison groups. Implications for teaching research to social work graduate students are discussed.     

Hardiness and Spiritual Well-Being Among Social Work Students

The challenge today for social work students is how to address the professional and educational demands placed on them as they attend to the development of the whole person. This article reports the findings from a 1994 study of social work students. Data collected from a survey of 105 social work students showed significant relationships among hardiness, spiritual well-being, and self-esteem. Spiritual well-being and hardiness were found to be strong predictors of self-esteem. This article discusses the need to explore the role of spiritual well-being as well as implications for research, practice, and education.     

Preparing Social Work Doctoral Students for Teaching

The results of a national survey of 51 social work doctoral program directors indicate that, although the majority of doctoral programs include preparation for teaching as a program objective, they offer limited formal course work and few opportunities for supervised teaching experiences. The authors discuss the results of this survey and make recommendations for better preparing social work doctoral students for their roles as teachers.     

Preparing Social Work Students for Interdisciplinary Practice

Summary

This article reports findings of an MSW interdisciplinary practice curriculum experiment. A diverse group of students at ten schools of social work were provided with specialized fieldwork and training. The agencies represented a broad array of services, fields of practice client populations and professional disciplines. Students encountered frequent interdisciplinary disputes and often found social workers coordinating interdisciplinary teams, a role upon which social work curricula rarely focus. This specialized experience seems to have not only enriched students' preparation for interdisciplinary work, but also deepened their understanding of social work as a unique discipline.     

The Financial Literacy of Social Work Students

The financial literacy of social work students has become the focus of curriculum development and research, but no study to date has attempted to assess the financial knowledge possessed by social work students. This study addressed that gap by assessing the level of objective financial knowledge reported by social work student respondents (N?=?1,506) to an Internet-based survey. Results indicated that the majority of social work student respondents scored more than 70% correct on a 48-item measure of financial literacy. Multiple regression analysis explained 33.7% of the variance and suggested that the dominant pathway to acquiring objective financial knowledge is through personal experience. Accordingly, financial education programs for social work students may be most appropriate for traditional undergraduates.     

Social Justice,Social Policy,and Social Work

ABSTRACT

This paper argues that the models underlying the conceptualization of social work functions affect the costs of integrating policy issues into practice, and, therefore, the probability that social justice goals will be pursued. An inclusive approach to policy design is seen as lowering those costs. The nature of the costs and how they vary between the models is discussed.     

Gender,Race, Social Class,and Self-Evaluations among College Students*

The purpose of this study was to modify Heiss and Owens's (1972) formulation on trait differences in the self-evaluations of blacks and whites and integrate it with the literature on sex role socialization, thereby elaborating the instrumental-expressive dichotomy they proposed so as to generate and test hypotheses regarding race, gender, and SES differences in self-evaluations. University students rated themselves on a fifteen-item semantic differential scale. A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotations yielded five factors, three of the factors were seen as private-domain, one as public-domain, and one as mixed. A series of 2X2X2 ANOVAS indicated that (1) on the public-domain factor, black females rated themselves more positively than did the white females, while black males and white males did not differ; (2) blacks rated themselves more positively than did whites on two private-domain factors; (3) white females rated themselves more positively than did males on the private-domain factor indicative of a feminine stereotype; and (4) SES differences appeared on the private-domain factors in particular.     

Perceptions Among Social Work and Non-Social Work Students Concerning Causes of Poverty

Feagin’s Poverty Scale was used to measure social work students’ and non-social work students’ perceptions of the causes of poverty. Present social work students, like previous ones, attribute poverty more to structural factors than individual factors. Further analysis, however, suggests that this may only be true for female and white social work students. Male and nonwhite social work students appear to attribute poverty to both structural and individual factors. White social work students perceive structural factors as more important in causing poverty than white non-social work students. Non-social work students did not overwhelmingly attribute poverty to individualistic factors as expected.     

Beyond the Pale of Psychoanalysis: Relational Theory and Generalist Social Work Practice

Many have noted the consonance between contemporary relational theory and classic social work values and practice principles such as person in environment and starting where the client is. However, there have been few efforts to explore relational theory’s utility to the generalist social work framework. This paper takes the position that relational theory’s intersubjective stance lends new coherence to classic social work principles, and therefore elucidates the process aspects of evidence-based social work practice. In order to illustrate this point, the author applies relational theory to implementation issues around early childhood home visitation with Spanish-speaking immigrant clients—a social work service modality that, like so many others, does not fall into the category of individual psychotherapy in the context of private practice.     

Australian Social Work Students Balancing Study,Work, and Field Placement: Seeing it Like it Is

Completing tertiary studies can involve personal and financial sacrifices for some students. Equally, past and more recent research has highlighted financial pressures for students undertaking courses with compulsory field placements, although larger national Australian studies appear to be limited in number. In a recent study, a sample of 2,320 social work students from 29 Australian universities completed an online survey on the impact of low levels of income on students’ lives and study success. Here students’ qualitative responses reveal the burden of compulsory field placement, including significant financial constraints and changes to paid work hours that, in turn, adversely affected students’ wellbeing and jeopardised the completion of their degree. The purpose of this article is to illuminate social work students’ complex study realities in order to help inform future education, policy, and practice.

IMPLICATIONS

• These findings provide insight for national bodies, universities, educators, practitioners, sector partners, and researchers into the study realities of Australian social work students.

• Reviewing policy, practice, and education in light of the findings can help contribute to a healthier, diverse social work profession.