Social work is increasingly embracing evidence-based practice (EBP) as a decision-making process that incorporates the best available evidence about effective treatments given client values and preferences, in addition to social worker expertise. Yet, social work practitioners have typically encountered challenges with the application of…

Objectives: Using baseline and second wave data, the study evaluated the impact of child savings accounts participation on parenting stress, personal mastery, and economic strain with N = 381 lower income parents who decided to join and those who did not join in a child development savings account program. Methods: Structural equation modeling for…

Objective: A pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) examined effectiveness of HIV/STD Safer Sex Skills Building + Alcohol (SSB+A) intervention for women with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) in a residential treatment setting. Method: After randomizing thirty-six women with AUDs and reporting having intercourse with a male partner in the past 180 days…

Objectives: Accreditation standards and challenges in group work education require competency-based approaches in teaching social work with groups. The Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups developed Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups, which serve as foundation competencies for professional practice. However, there…

Objectives: This qualitative synthesis explores the voices of children in the context of child custody disputes over the last 20 years. The purpose was to (1) systematically retrieve qualitative studies to explore children's views and preferences in the context of decision making postseparation and divorce and (2) explore how children's voices are…

Objectives: The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a form of family therapy developed in Korea. The "Thank you--Sorry--Love" (TSL) model was applied to a group of elderly retired men to improve the quality of their marriage and to reduce their stress. Methods: Thirty married retired Korean men were assigned to three groups. Group 1…

Objective: The McKinney-Vento Act (MVA) is the primary federal policy addressing homelessness in America with specific mandates designed to ameliorate the effects homelessness has on educational attainment for school-age children. The extent to which this policy is implemented may have far-reaching effects for homeless children. The MVA…

Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are more common in severe mental illnesses (SMI) clients than in the general population, yet brief screens for detecting probable PTSD in SMI clients are nonexistent. In a two-part study, the authors used correlation analysis and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis to develop and…

With increased pressure on programs to evaluate outcomes, the issue of evaluation in social work has never been so topical. In response to these pressures, there has been a growing interest in evidence-based practice and strategies for the evaluation of social work programs. The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is an international…

Objectives: To evaluate an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) adapted for social work in a lab course and examine the degree to which it predicts competence in the practicum. Method: 125 Masters students participated in a one-scenario OSCE and wrote responses to standardized reflection questions. OSCE performance and reflections were…

Social workers provide more social services to populations across the life span than any other human service profession, including psychiatry, nursing, and psychology. The scientific methodologies and the scientific knowledge relevant to social services have expanded dramatically in the last 30 years. Using the two indicators of the total number…

John Brekke challenges the field and profession of social work to define and develop the "science of social work". This response to Brekke's paper identifies the premises undergirding a discussion of the science of social work related to (1) a definition of "science";; (2 ) an organizing principle for social work; (3) a recognition that the task…

Social work is a profession that draws (or should draw) on available knowledge in the disciplines as well as other sources including other professions in the pursuit of "the betterment of life conditions of individuals, groups, and communities." An historical perspective illustrates opportunities taken and lost to harvest knowledge in pursuit of…

Objectives: The purpose of this article is to present a theoretical frame of reference for the study and assessment of social work from the perspective of a history of ideas. Method: The study employed an analysis of primary and secondary historical sources. Results: Social work as a practice and research field is embedded in the genesis of modern…

In this essay, the authors consider the challenge made by two keynote speakers at recent social work research conferences, one in the United States and the other in Europe. Both spoke of a knowledge crisis in social work. Both John Brekke (Society for Social Work and Research) and Peter Sommerfeld (First Annual European Conference for Social Work…