High quality mental health services do not reach the youth who need them, leading to efforts to implement effective treatments more broadly. One focus of these efforts concerns training the mental health workforce, of which master’s-level social workers represent a large proportion. However, the curricula of master’s in social work (MSW) programs do not often emphasize evidence-based approaches. One possible solution is Managing and Adapting Practice (MAP; PracticeWise, LLC), a system that allows clinicians to (1) identify clinically indicated evidence-based programs by searching a growing evidence-base of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and (2) build individualized evidence-informed treatment plans by focusing on common practice elements. MAP may also address the concerns about manual-based programs (e.g., inflexibility). Although some MSW programs have integrated MAP, the benefits of MAP training within MSW education have not yet been evaluated. This project evaluated multiple mechanisms of training in a semester-long MSW-focused MAP course relative to curriculum-as-usual control at a large public university. Participants were advanced MSW students (mean age = 27, SD = 5.8; 92.3% women; 59% white) either enrolled in the MAP course (n = 17) or enrolled in curriculum-as-usual (n = 22). The MAP course was co-taught by an expert MAP trainer and a MAP-trained social worker. Pre- and post-semester, participants completed a battery that included: (1) role-plays with standardized patients that were videotaped and coded using the Therapy Observational Coding System of Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies scale; (2) a written task that was subsequently coded to assess participants’ clinical decision-making skills during different phases of a standardized case; and (3) attitudinal factors that may be predictive of future MAP usage, such as attitudes toward evidence-based practice and the acceptability and feasibility of MAP. Results indicate significant uptake of cognitive and behavioral therapeutic strategies in the MAP condition. Overall, participants endorsed positive attitudes toward evidence-based practice broadly and MAP specifically. Findings may be used to inform the development of more effective evidence-informed curriculum for master’s-level clinical programs and future workforce training initiatives. Methodological considerations may inform advances in instrumentation to measure multidimensional training outcomes

Thesis (M.A. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The study aimed at evaluating social work fieldwork practice at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus) in relation to theory. The alignment of social work theory and practice is the goal of Social Work profession. Fieldwork practice in social work education forms the practical component of a social work curriculum. It is an essential bridge from classroom to service delivery settings as it provides an opportunity for social work students to connect theoretical education and fieldwork practice. However there is lack of integration between Social Work theory and Social Work fieldwork practice. There is indeed a continuing tension between theory and practice. With regard to the methodology, a combination of quantitative–qualitative research approach was used. Self-administered questionnaires, interview guide and focus group discussions were used to collect data from 3rd year and 4th year social work students as well as agency-based supervisors. The study revealed that social work fieldwork practice is essential for the integration of theory into practice. Therefore the department of Social Work at the University of Limpopo should organize workshops for agency-based supervisors to update their theoretical knowledge base. Fieldwork assessment tool should be reviewed and Social work students should also be involved in the assessment process and self-assessment should also be introduced.

Doctor of Philosophy / There is a current debate in schools of social work in Taiwan about whether they should provide specific HIV/AIDS courses or integrate HIV/AIDS issues into the curriculum. However, an argument that draws on the understandings of curriculum development in social work has not emerged. This project not only explores why this is the case but also aims to resolve the debate. This research is based on two methodologies, the development of a genealogy and content analysis of data collected to build the genealogy. Foucaultian conceptualisation of using a genealogy to explain the relationship between power and knowledge has been utilised as a primary theoretical framework. The texts analysed included social work documents as well as social documents. The research objectives were an exploration of what discourses related to HIV/AIDS were constructed in broader Taiwanese society and within social work; and what forces and stakeholders outside and within social work formed HIV/AIDS curricula in social work in Taiwan. The first PLWHA case in Taiwan was reported in 1984, and four key discourses about HIV/AIDS were gradually constructed. They are individual pathological, programmatic, governmental, and socio-cultural discourses. The individual pathological discourse became dominant in Taiwan. Taiwanese social work did not consider HIV/AIDS as an issue until 1992, nearly ten years after it was recognised as a serious medical and social problem in the West. This genealogical research shows that, over time, four key discourses about HIV/AIDS were also represented in Taiwanese social work texts. The programmatic discourse emerged as more popular in social work documents. The genealogy also showed that four identified subgroups within social work in Taiwan were more able to express their views about HIV/AIDS issues. They were social work scholars, practitioners, students and translated social work documents. Reflecting dominant wider social prejudices the genealogy revealed that Taiwanese social work scholars were likely to adhere to the individual pathological discourse, the discourse that blamed those with HIV/AIDS for their own predicament. The other three groups were likely to express a programmatic discourse, which often reflected the changing governmental response over time. The genealogy also showed that influential forces outside social work included international responses on HIV/AIDS, the Taiwanese central governmental responses, social norms regarding sex, sexuality and homosexuality in Taiwan, and the status of social work in society. The key findings of this research lay in the revelation of the power of the four key discourses, the four visible subgroups within social work and the influential forces outside social work in Taiwan that emerged as dominant throughout the genealogical study. These forces formed and shaped the development of HIV/AIDS curricula in a complex way. What these findings provide is a pathway for the development of a responsive curriculum for the education of future social workers in Taiwan.

This thesis is a phenomenological study of the experiences of students engaged in a work-based learning (WBL) degree in the community service (CS) sector in NSW. The degree – a graduate diploma in social sciences (GDSS) - was developed through an industry/community partnership in response to identified workforce development needs. Positioned as a novel pedagogy, WBL is presented in the broad context, before the specifics of the research are outlined. The thesis presents, first, a political economy of higher education (HE) and the CS sector, followed by a description of the defining principles of WBL, characteristics of practice and issues arising from these things. The phenomenological study of the student experiences is supported by a case study of the GDSS. The research is approached from an ontological and epistemological framework informed by critical theory and critical hermeneutics. The methods draw substantially on data collection through semi-structured interviews and supporting data collected form other sources. The analysis of the data is presented as five major data stories – access, self and study, work-based learning and organisation, managing learning and outcomes. In discussing the data the thesis argues that the students are strongly positioned as non-traditional students with an orientation towards issues of access to HE, as well as a concern with critical practice. The concluding comments of the thesis consider the context of work-based learning under systemic influences of the political economy of the day, notably neo-liberalism and the application of a techno-economic framing of the knowledge economy. Some final comments are offered on the practice of WBL in the CS sector, including the defence of knowledge production as a public good and the life world/system dynamics of partnership. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Social work practice requires that graduates be prepared to deal with complex, multifaceted problems which cannot be defined completely, do not have absolute, correct answers and can be approached from multiple perspectives. This study evaluated the influence of case-based instruction on MSW students' reflective judgment, an aspect of critical thinking associated with the ability to reason through ill-structured problems. (King, Wood, & Mines, 1990). The Reflective Judgment Model, which describes a developmental continuum based upon epistemic assumptions regarding the source and justification of knowledge claims, served as the theoretical framework for the assessment of reflective thinking in this mixed methods study. A quasi-experimental pre-post nonequivalent control group design was utilized to explore whether students who participated in a case method course demonstrated greater increases in reflective judgment than those who did not. MSW students enrolled in a case-based capstone course at a major metropolitan university in the southeast served as the intervention group, while foundation year students enrolled in a research methodology course served as the comparison group. Both groups completed the Reasoning about Current Issues Test (RCI), which is an online, standardized measure that has been widely used to assess reflective judgment (Wood, Kitchener, & Jensen, 2002) at pre and posttest. Content analysis procedures were used to facilitate assessment of students' initial and final case analysis papers for evidence of changes in the reflective thinking skills and problem-solving approaches utilized on initial and final case analysis papers. The case method participants' mean RCI scores remained unchanged between pre and posttest, while RCI posttest scores of participants in the control group decreased significantly. Pre and posttest comparison of students' case analysis papers using a customized rubric based on Wolcott's Steps for Better Thinking (2006) similarly indicated no mean changes in problem-solving approaches between pre and posttest. However, students who began the course using strategies associated with pre-reflective judgment increased their scores on the rubric significantly while those who exhibited higher levels of quasi-reflective judgment at pretest decreased at posttest. Strategies for designing a developmental curriculum to target the reflective judgment levels of MSW students are proposed.

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No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1971.

<p> This study utilizes Allan Guggenbuhl's seven-step Mythodrama method of resolving conflict and bullying in a school setting which has proven successful in Europe, applies this to a school setting in the United States, and measure that application to see if this intervention for addressing conflict and bullying is successful in a setting in the United States. Pre- and post-testing was conducted and some statistically significant improvement post-intervention was found. Study results suggest this methodology would have efficacy when applied broadly in US schools.</p>