Illuminating Clinical Supervision—Past,Present and Future: An Interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman

In an interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman, he presents his insights on clinical supervision from a social work and interdisciplinary perspective. Dr. Shulman is a luminary in social work and interdisciplinary supervision, developing the Interactional Model of Supervision. In reflecting on his career in social work research, education, and practice, he shares his thoughts regarding the importance of process-oriented supervision as a needed focus for research and practice. Supportive of integrating art and science in social work practice, he offers his perspectives on the current state of supervision in the evidence-based era.     

Introduction to the Special Issues on the Supervision of Staff and Field Education of Students

Two Special Issues of the Clinical Social Work Journal have been dedicated to building on the social work discipline’s tradition and commitment to the supervision of staff and field education of students. These issues bring together contemporary theorizing, clinical supervisory and field education practice experience and wisdom, and research studies to contribute to the knowledge base for practicing supervisors and field educators. As the first of the Special Issues, this issue has been dedicated to the supervision of staff. In this Introduction, we share the salient aspects of the articles published, as they relate to contemporary social work supervision, relational considerations within the supervisory dyad, models of supervision for fields of specialization, as well as measurement and evaluation. Implications are shared, with highlights and connections for practicing supervisors made throughout.     

How Do Heterosexual Undergraduate Students Define Having Sex? A New Approach to an Old Question

This study examined how people define having sex utilizing a new approach to this area of research. A total of 267 men and 327 women rated their degree of confidence that engaging in each of 21 physically intimate behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) counted as “having sex” and then qualitatively explained their reasoning. Separate ratings were made for each behavior when engaged in by the respondent and by his or her partner with someone else. Results showed that, as in previous studies, for both sexes, some behaviors (e.g., penile-vaginal intercourse) were far more confidently rated (i.e., “definitely sex”) than were others (e.g., oral-genital stimulation). Further, both men and women were significantly more certain that a behavior counted as “having sex” when considering their partner's behavior outside the relationship than when they considered their own behavior. Finally, the order in which the two scenarios (i.e., self versus partner) was presented significantly affected participants’ certainty. Qualitative results, paired with quantitative findings, suggest that individuals consider a variety of contextual factors when making these definitional decisions. The methodological and sexual health implications of these results are discussed.     

Integration, integrity and effectiveness

Until the mid-1990s, debates about integration tended to focus on the rights of disabled children to attend mainstream schools. However, more recent research has raised new concerns about the politics of integration from the 'standards' perspective. This Internet-based research project was designed to follow the 20 secondary schools in England, where more than 10% of the pupils had statements of special educational needs (SEN). Several of these schools are now being threatened with closure. This is either because they are failing to meet the Government's benchmark targets of 5+GCSEs at grades A-C, or because they are failing to attract sufficient numbers of mainstream pupils. However, these schools may well be seen as popular and successful by the parents of pupils with statements of special educational needs. Little appears to be known about how schools juggle these competing priorities successfully, and the author calls on readers of this journal to promote our understanding and their survival through a national conference.     

Improving OpenURL Menus: User Testing of Revisions to SFX® Menus

Twenty-one volunteers tested the usability of revisions to the Texas A&M University Libraries' SFX® OpenURL link resolver menus, including the addition of Ex Libris' new bX™ recommendation service and a plug-in which pulls additional information about the journal into the menu. The volunteers also evaluated the quality and desirability of the bX recommendations and discussed their preferences for help options and full-text format. Results of the usability testing are reported along with the resultant menu changes. This study will be of interest to librarians implementing or redesigning OpenURL menus as well as those interested in the user experience.