Chapter 16:Harm Reduction

Summary

Working with clients with both substance abuse and other Axis I mental health concerns is becoming more and more common on a college campus as well as in the general population. By utilizing both brief therapy techniques and a harm reduction approach, the therapist engages the client where the client is ready to begin in an attempt to motivate the client toward healthier choices. This case study examines the inter-relationship among alcohol abuse, attention-deficit disorder, anxiety, and depression.     

Using Personal Narratives for Curriculum Development about Substance Abuse and Older Adults

This article reports on a project to sensitize graduate social work students taking courses in substance abuse to the needs of older adults. Graduate social work students at a major urban school of social work in the Northeast were recruited and trained to interview older adults with a history of substance abuse problems regarding their life experiences. The authors developed educational vignettes based on the interviews and curriculum units based on these vignettes to be incorporated into the substance abuse curriculum. The challenges and rewards of engaging students in the process of developing educational vignettes based on older adults lived experiences are also discussed.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Social Interest,Social Bonding,and Collegiate Substance Abuse

Substance abuse continues to be prevalent on college campuses. This study explored the relationships between social interest, social bonding, and hazardous drinking and marijuana use among college students. Results indicate that the social bonding elements of religious commitment, respect for authority, and acceptance of conventional beliefs, along with social interest, significantly differ between groups of students engaged in hazardous drinking and marijuana use.     

Teaching Social Workers About Substance Use Problems via Temporary Abstinence from Normal Mood-Altering Behavior

Abstract

Social work students enrolled in a graduate-level course in substance abuse (N = 450, over nine years) assessed their own “mood-altering” behaviors (i.e., stress-reduction strategies and leisure-time activities), abstained from one or more of these activities for one week, then completed a written summary of their personal bio-psycho-social experiences. Student papers indicate significant personal insights were gained regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues, and also provide grounded-theory support for major AOD themes. This paper describes the details of this experientially based teaching strategy, and also summarizes AOD themes that emerged from student experiences, including anticipatory reward, substitution, craving, willpower, impaired control, rationalization, shame, guilt, powerlessness, and the challenges of change.     

Service Learning as a Mechanism for Change in Attitudes and Perceptions of Human Services Students Toward Substance-Dependent Mothers

The purpose of the study was to explore the potential effectiveness of service learning as a pedagogical technique for providing substance abuse education to human services/social work students. Using a quasi-experimental design, the authors assigned 38 human services undergraduate students to experimental and comparison groups on the basis of their availability to attend a service-learning project in substance abuse. The service learning consisted of a 30-min educational presentation followed by a visit to a residential substance abuse treatment facility for women. Results indicated that service learning in substance abuse had a positive effect on the general knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of human services students toward substance-dependent mothers and their children. The findings from this exploratory study support future research in this area.     

Critical Thinking

Abstract

The process of critical thinking enables students to explore, analyze, and evaluate problems, theories, and interventions from divergent views and varying frames of reference. It requires a certain amount of skepticism and curiosity that will reflect upon accepted doctrines and protocols, in order to ascertain their credibility and utility in working with clients. This article presents the obstacles to acquiring critical thinking skills, as well as different strategies that can be utilized by educators to enhance its development and active usage. A theoretical construct and cognitive schema of learning describe the mechanisms of constructing meanings from experiences and advancing to critically assessing broader concepts. In this context, the importance of being introduced to new, empirically-based knowledge and critical thinking in substance abuse courses and practice is discussed, followed by an evaluation of students' advancing critical thinking skills.     

青少年物质滥用防治的内隐认知研究

物质滥用已日益成为严重的国际性社会问题。青少年时期是滥用物质的危险期,也是滥用物质有可能引发一系列负性结果的初始阶段。如何有效地对青少年物质滥用进行防治是当务之急。近年来,有关物质滥用的外显认知研究受到了挑战,内隐认知开始逐渐引起学者的关注。内隐认知的测量方法源于内隐联想学习的原则,强调对物质使用行为偏好自发激活的认知过程,从而有效地避免了自我矫饰的影响。因而,内隐认知研究为物质滥用防治开启了新的思路,其应用领域包括对物质滥用的预测,改变个体内部的认知结构以促使个体向正性行为转变,以及对干预效果的评估等。     

Adverse Childhood Experiences Among MSW Students

This study examined the extent to which age, education, and practice experience among social work graduate students (N = 184) predicted cognitive complexity, an essential aspect of critical thinking. In the regression analysis, education accounted for more of the variance associated with cognitive complexity than age and practice experience. When age and direct practice experience were controlled for, education accounted for 6% of the variance in cognitive complexity. Results suggest that education experience may play a more important role in social work student cognitive complexity than age or practice experience. Implications for social work education and assessing student cognitive development are discussed.     

Teaching MSW Social Work Practice in a Blended Online Learning Environment

Blended learning is a newly emerging trend in higher education and is defined as the purposeful integration of synchronous and asynchronous learning to provide educational activities that maximize the benefits of each. This paper describes the development of a graduate social work foundation-year practice class in a blended online environment in which both asynchronous and synchronous activities transpire online. The course's underlying pedagogical principles are illustrated, and the perceptions of instructional faculty are reported in key areas, including engagement and participation, activities, and the challenges of technology, socialization, etiquette, and nonverbal cues.     

A Discourse Analysis of Online Dialogs in Social Work Diversity Courses

Abstract

Online discussions can extend learning experiences beyond the time and space of the classroom, allowing students more time to process information, and an additional mode of expression for those who are less active in open classroom discussions. They may be especially appropriate for teaching sensitive or controversial subject matter such as oppression and diversity, which is required by the Council on Social Work Education. This study investigated topical themes, depth, and tone of online dialogs in social work diversity courses at two universities in the mid-Atlantic area. Discourse analysis-a type of content analysis-is employed to gain a deeper understanding of the learning experience, and to compare the impact of anonymous and identified participation in the dialogs.     

Socialization of Doctoral Students: Implications for Social Work Education

Recent discussions on social work education increasingly have drawn attention to doctoral education. The purpose of this article is to consider these discussions that debated some of the ways of improving doctoral student education and professional development, using professional socialization as a conceptual framework. Issues such as research, teaching, and research assistantship, and conferences are considered as key components of the process of preparing doctoral students for knowledge building through teaching and research. Finally, the paper discusses some implications for social work education.     

论特殊教育中社会工作支持服务的拓展

全纳教育的理念要求我们对特殊儿童提供预防、教育、康复、职业训练等领域的综合服务,社会工作成为其重要的专业支持。基于英美国家以及港台地区的经验分析,我们发现社会工作在特殊儿童的筛选评估、专业服务、团队沟通以及政策倡导等方面都发挥着重要作用。我国特教体系中社会工作支持服务的拓展需要进一步完善特教政策,促进专业融合,拓展实务模式以及加强社会宣传。     

From the Classroom to the Capitol-From MSW Students to Advocates

ABSTRACT

The improvement of teaching has taken on heightened significance at the college level during the past five years. While research and scholarship remain priorities, the quality of teaching is being assessed through the documentation of teaching methods and strategies for active learning in the classroom. The product of super teaching, enhanced student participation, is a major reward. This article describes techniques for active learning and how students react to the use of a series of techniques to enhance their participation in the classroom.     

新形势下我国专业学位硕士研究生教育问题思考

国家“双一流”建设新形势下,教育资源分配重新洗牌,研究生教育改革仍需持续深入推进。扩大设置专业学位,积极发展专业学位研究生教育,有助于丰富高层次人才类型,增强学位结构的社会适应性及提高研究生教育主动服务经济社会发展需求的内生动力。     

Establishing a Community of Inquiry through Hybrid Courses in Clinical Social Work Education

Utilizing the conceptual framework of Garrison, Anderson, and Archer for critical inquiry, this paper outlines the importance of the community of inquiry (COI) model and how it may inform online social work education. Integrating the COI model, we discuss how online learning in the classroom with a hybrid approach has been used to facilitate critical reflection and discourse. To illustrate this approach, we provide two case examples from clinical courses taught in an MSW program.     

抵制不良社会思潮是高职德育工作的重要课题

高职教育的根本任务是培养高素质的应用型人才和管理人才。随着我国市场经济体制的逐步建立和全方位对外开放格局的形成,各种社会思潮对高职德育工作的冲击和影响是辩证的,正面因素很多,但消极方面也是不可忽视的。正确分析社会思潮并提高青年学生对不良社会思潮的辨别力是德育工作者义不容辞的职责。     

Integrating Education on Addressing Health Disparities into the Graduate Social Work Curriculum

The purpose of this article is to propose an elective social work course as a means of better preparing social workers entering practice in healthcare to meet the challenges of promoting health and reducing health disparities in minority and underserved communities. Course offerings specifically targeting health or medical social work training vary widely. The additional training provided at places of employment and through continuing education after the master's degree is often inadequate for competently addressing the issues clinicians face in practice.     

Comparing Student Evaluations of Distance Learning and Standard Classroom Courses in Graduate Social Work Education

Abstract

This study compared the student course evaluations of standard education and distance learning courses in the school of social work of one southern university. The sample included 14 distance learning (DL) and 122 standard education courses. A 20-item quantitative student course evaluation and a 7-item qualitative questionnaire were used to compare differences between social work courses taught in a standard classroom setting with those taught using distance learning technology. Comparisons of identical courses taught in both formats found that students rated distance learning higher than the standard classroom for a course having predominantly lecture content. Conversely, ratings for clinical practice courses were just the opposite with lower ratings for distance learning than the standard classroom. Results of a qualitative survey (n = 39) of students conducted at the end of a course taught by distance learning found that 73% of the students felt that distance learning technology interfered with class participation. However, 73% of the students felt the instructor handled technological problems in a professional and patient manner. Although 54% of the students reported that they would take another course by distance learning, more research is needed to determine what social work courses can be most effectively taught by distance and classroom formats.     

社会工作毕业生对本科教学的反馈研究

以天津师范大学社会工作毕业生为研究对象,了解毕业生的就业和职业适应状况、对本科教学等方面的看法和评价,以期为今后社会工作专业的教育教学改革提供较为客观和现实的指导和建议。