Applying Evidence-Based Practice in Group Work at an Alternative High School

Social workers often are reluctant to use evidence-based practice in group work. Part of this reluctance is because of the perceived rigidity of the process and its emphasis on research. However, social workers can rely on the four cornerstones of evidence-based practice—research, clinical experience, personal views, and client’s perspective—to provide an evidence-based group intervention. In this article, the authors illustrate how social workers used the four cornerstones at one alternative high school to provide an evidence-based group intervention. These cornerstones were used from the beginning of the process, which started with choosing the type of intervention, through the end of the process, which concluded with assessing the intervention. In this article, the authors show that it is possible for social workers to provide an evidence-based group intervention, while remaining flexible, thereby contributing to social workers’ knowledge of how to use evidence-based practice with groups.     

Advancing Hospice and Palliative Care Social Work Leadership in Interprofessional Education and Practice

The importance of interprofessional collaboration in achieving high quality outcomes, improving patient quality of life, and decreasing costs has been growing significantly in health care. Palliative care has been viewed as an exemplary model of interprofessional care delivery, yet best practices in both interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional practice (IPP) in the field are still developing. So, too, is the leadership of hospice and palliative care social workers within IPE and IPP. Generating evidence regarding best practices that can prepare social work professionals for collaborative practice is essential. Lessons learned from practice experiences of social workers working in hospice and palliative care can inform educational efforts of all professionals. The emergence of interprofessional education and competencies is a development that is relevant to social work practice in this field. Opportunities for hospice and palliative social workers to demonstrate leadership in IPE and IPP are presented in this article.     

A plan for helping to identify men psychologically unadapted to military service 1

Social workers increasingly practice in medical settings; however, there are few applications of clinical practice theories at their disposal. Using fictional composite cases based on the writers’ experiences in medical social work, the authors illustrate how clinical practice theories can be used in the assessment and treatment of Veterans. These cases illustrate real world applications of clinical practice theories for what is often seen as task-oriented work. The authors place case management or casework in medical settings within the confines of clinical social work and suggest clinical practice theories have important applications to these efforts.     

Social worker or social administrator? Findings from a qualitative case study of a child protection social work team

This paper reports on data from a qualitative case study of child protection social work in one local authority. Ethnographic methods were used and constructionist grounded theory employed to collect and analyse 329 pages of historical documents about the local authority child protection service, 246.5 hours of observations of social work practice and 19 interviews of social workers and their team managers. By interpreting the experiences of the social workers through the conceptual debates about the changes in the field of social administration, the social workers could be seen to want to perform a traditional form of social work but were required to perform a contemporary form of social administration. The aims and purposes of this form of practice could be considered to be distinct from those of social work as understood by the social workers, and as such, the social workers experienced the practice environment as constraining and often felt disillusioned. This paper conceptualizes these forms of practice, contributing to the debates about what practice is and how we are to analyse and categorize it for the purposes of influencing the institutions that create and maintain contemporary practice.     

Rhetoric vs. reality in social work supervision: the experiences of a group of child care social workers in England

Whilst the contribution of good supervision to high‐quality social work practice is widely recognized, research exploring practitioners' experiences of supervision is surprisingly limited. Set within the context of the supervision framework for employers of social workers in England, this small‐scale survey, using an extended questionnaire, examined the experiences of supervision of a group of child care social workers. The aim was to find out what aspects of supervision worked well and where there was room for improvement. The findings suggest that whilst the majority of employers had appropriate supervision policies in place, day‐to‐day practice varied enormously, frequently falling well short of national standards, with the quality of supervision often depending more on the characteristics of the supervisor and the agency context than the needs of the worker. Supervision sessions typically focused predominantly on case management, with much less attention paid to the worker and opportunities for them to reflect on their practice. Only a quarter of the social workers in this survey could be considered to be satisfied with their current supervision, with a much higher proportion clearly dissatisfied.     

Open spaces,supple bodies? Considering the impact of agile working on social work office practices

There has been a shift towards social workers in many areas of the UK being based in large open plan offices and working more flexibly and remotely in space. This approach is commonly referred to as ‘agile working’. The paper explores the impact of agile working on social workers' practices and experiences in office spaces. It discusses data from an ethnographic study of children's safeguarding social work teams in two locations. One team was based in a large open plan office and was engaged in agile working, the other team was located in a much smaller office and was not using this approach. Data from observations of practice, analysis of material spaces, and interviews with social workers and those responsible for planning office space are examined. The paper concludes that there are qualitative differences between such spaces which are due to agile working arrangements and which are likely to impact significantly on social workers' experiences of practice, interactions with colleagues and development of practice knowledge. The data also suggest a lack of understanding in social work of the spatial requirements of practitioners and the significance that private and open space has for children's social work in the current UK context.     

Social Workers and Policy- Practice: The Role of Social and Professional Values

ABSTRACT

Although policy practice is regarded as an essential component of social work, the actual involvement of social workers in policy practice is apparently very limited. This article presents the findings of a study that seeks to explore the role of social and professional values in support by social workers in Israel for engagement in policy practice and their actual involvement in this type of practice. The findings indicate that socioeconomic orientations and professional values have an impact on social worker's perception of policy practice and the degree to which they are actually involved in the social welfare policy process. In particular, it was found that attitudes toward social justice played a major role in the social worker's perceptions of, and involvement in, policy practice.     

What does empathy sound like in social work communication? A mixed‐methods study of empathy in child protection social work practice

It is widely accepted that empathy is important for social work practice, yet there are multiple dimensions of empathy and comparatively few studies of empathy as a component of social work skill. To date, published studies have been quantitative, and as a result, we know little about how social workers demonstrate empathy in practice or what skilled empathic practice in child and family social work might sound like. This study contributes to the development of understanding of empathy as a social work skill through a mixed‐methods analysis of 110 audio recordings of meetings in a child protection service between workers and parents, applying a coding framework for analysis. Findings indicate that workers who demonstrate higher levels of empathy skill use more open questions and reflections in their communication with parents. Further, they demonstrate curiosity about and make efforts to understand parents' often difficult experiences, including a focus on emotions. That the majority of workers were found not to demonstrate a high level of empathy skill presents concerns to be considered by the social work profession. A deeper understanding of empathy presents an opportunity for an increased focus in organizations to enable workers to demonstrate empathy towards families they work with.     

Social worker decision-making in court

The current study aimed to explore the factors that influence how social workers make decisions and develop their decision-making skills in care proceedings, and to identify effective support and intervention to develop social worker decision-making skills. The study employed a mixed thematic approach across two phases of study: an initial inductive thematic analysis of responses to an online qualitative questionnaire and then a mixed thematic analysis of follow-up focus groups and interviews with social workers working in various social work roles within England and Northern Ireland. The findings identified a number of themes that help to understand the decision-making skills of social workers; thorough assessment skills, relationship-based anti-oppressive practice, being mindful of the lived experience of the child and using critical reflection to make complex decisions. Wider structural factors that support or hinder decision-making, particularly in respect of organizational support and management supervision were also identified. Social workers can be supported to develop decision-making skills through additional training, reflective learning and management support to develop their practice wisdom within this field.     

Assessing Use of the Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups by School Social Workers: A National Study

The International Association for Social Work with Groups Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups specify the core knowledge, skills, and values needed for effective professional practice. These Standards are intended to serve as a guide to group work practice. The extent to which the Standards inform and are employed in practice, however, remains a question. This article focuses on the extent to which the Standards are utilized by social workers employed within primary and secondary schools. Focus is placed on how the Standards are perceived, understood, and practiced by school social workers.     

Importance of Research in Social Work Practice: A Pilot Study From Turkey

Abstract

It is highly important that social work practice be guided by scientific research and the resultant practices introduced to the literature. Social work research in Turkey is carried out by social work academics and practitioners. This dual position they occupy has not been thoroughly investigated in recent years; therefore, the aim of this research was to scrutinize the relationship social workers take when completing research in Turkey. Within the scope of this research, data were collected by conducting an online survey of 365 social workers. Results of the study show that 45.8% of the social workers have conducted research before. Nonetheless, 93.7% of the social work practitioners do feel the need to carry out scientific research in order to shape their professional practices. Considering these results, future research should concentrate on social work practitioners’ problems taking into account their dual position as both the producer and consumer of the research.     

An Inclusive Approach to Knowledge for Mental Health Social Work Practice and Policy

As the integration of health and social care services progressesin the mental health sector, there is concern that mental healthsocial workers are disadvantaged, relative to health professionals,because they cannot identify the knowledge base for their practice.This paper argues that this concern is partly the product ofassuming that the knowledge base has to be premised upon randomizedcontrolled trials. Instead, it proposes a non-hierarchical frameworkbased on that developed in health research in Canada by Upshurand colleagues that generates a typology of knowledge whichis congruent with the main forms of inquiry that are relevantto mental health social work practice. The framework recognizesthe contribution of randomized controlled trials to the knowledgebase but also validates knowledge drawn from qualitative, epidemiological,practitioner and user knowledge. It is argued that the frameworkprofiles a wider knowledge base than that promoted by conventionalevidence-based practice, and also could be a basis for futuredevelopment of the research agenda in mental health social work.     

Patterns of practice: An exploratory factor analysis of child and family social worker skills

There is relatively little research on the communication skills that social workers use in direct practice with families. This study explores patterns of practice skill found in child and family social work home visits. The study analysed 127 practice interactions in family homes, coding for seven dimensions of worker skill using a coding framework drawn from motivational interviewing. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to establish patterns of skill within the data and to group key dimensions of skill. The findings make two contributions. First, three fundamental dimensions of good practice emerged, which we characterize as care and engagement, good authority, and support for behaviour change. Second, in exploring the relationship between “care” and “control” elements of social work, skilled social workers were able to combine good authority and empathic engagement, whereas those who were less skilled in use of authority were also less good at engagement. This contributes to debates about care and control in social work. The usefulness of these dimensions for conceptualizing practice in child and family social work is discussed and directions for further research are suggested.     

Developing Practice Tools for Social Workers in End-of-Life Care

Abstract

This article describes the National Association of Social Workers' (NASW) strategies for providing social workers with important practice and policy information about palliative and end-of-life care. With funding from a Soros Foundation's Project on Death in America grant, NASW developed practice standards, a Web-based continuing education course, and drafted a new policy statement to guide social workers in end-of-life care practice. The article provides an in-depth view of the development and scope of these resources for professional social workers.     

Social Work and End-of-Life Care

Abstract

This paper reviews the professional literature with respect to the social work profession's involvement in end-of-life care. The search process was conducted by entering key words in various combinations to electronic databases. Eligible articles were required to address one of the following: roles and activities of social workers in providing end-of-life care; core principles valued by social workers in the provision of end-of-life care; and barriers to provision of effective end-of-life care. The literature from 1990 through July 2004 was searched most rigorously. Based on this review, suggestions for where the profession of social work should focus its energies are offered. These key areas include focusing on generating empirically-based knowledge for practice and policy analysis and developing a system of social work education that addresses the unique knowledge and skills needed to participate in end-of-life practice as competent and informed professional practitioners. Current initiatives with regard to critical areas are summarized.     

Inner and outer worlds: a psychosocial framework for child and family social work

Social workers need a framework for understanding and helping children and families which takes into account the inner world of the self and the outer world of the environment, both in terms of relationships and in terms of practicalities such as housing. It is the capacity of social workers to be aware of and integrate in their practice these different areas of concern which defines the distinctive nature of their professional identity. This paper argues that in order to address both inner and outer worlds, social workers need to use relationship-based practice at all stages of their professional involvement with families. It considers what this psychosocial approach means in relation to individual case examples, where the assessment of need and the offering of help can only be achieved in the context of a relationship. At a time when social work is being defined in terms of case management and service provision, it is necessary to reflect on traditional social work skills and values in order to defend what the professional social worker offers as a service in herself.     

上海社会工作者的离职原因探析——基于50位社工的访谈

上海作为全国社会工作实践的先行地区,已初步造就了一支具有一定职业化、专业化水平的社会工作人才队伍,成为社会建设的重要依靠力量。但现阶段仍然面临一些比较突出的问题,较高的社工离职率便是较为突出的问题之一。本文作者通过对上海50位一线社工的访谈,试图对社工离职的主要原因予以探索性的分析、总结。     

Social work with children and families in Ghana: negotiating tradition and modernity

Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly‐ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi‐structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed by the Department of Social Welfare and thematically analysed. The study found that legislative provision normalizes nuclear family forms and runs counter to customary law. Social workers are shown to struggle with the ethical dilemmas the law poses without being able to resolve them in a manner consonant with Ghanian workers' code of practice. The study makes recommendations for social changes to policy, practice and training.     

Embedding Social Justice within Micro Social Work Curricula

Social work struggles with the dichotomy between social and economic justice and micro practice. A large percentage of United States social workers (65%) practice in micro practice settings, yet the profession is challenged to commit to its social justice roots. This article reviews the history of social and economic justice within the social work profession, examines the role of distributive justice, and outlines strategies to integrate social and economic justice into micro social work courses. The article details implications for strengthening a social and economic justice perspective in micro curricula.