Many American social work education programs now offer study abroad components, which provide significant advantages to students, including cross-cultural exposure, personal and professional development, and preparation for a globalizing profession. However, multiple ethical challenges are presented when North American (often White) students…

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted an abrupt shift in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in practice. The pre-pandemic use of informal ICT was already ubiquitous in social work practice. The purpose of this teaching note is to highlight that social work education must prepare students for practice using ICT during COVID-19 and…

The inclusion of remote digital practices (e-mail, texting, blogging, social media) to deliver social work services raises unique ethical and legal challenges for client and practitioner. Competent care necessitates providing clients with information that would materially affect clients' decisions whether to assume the risks, benefits, and…

Social workers rarely receive education and training in the areas of grief, bereavement, and death and dying, which may lead to difficulties in compassionately and ethically addressing concerns in end-of-life or grief-related contexts. This article presents actual and potential outcomes from three challenging end-of-life case studies using…

Multiple issues that are unique to child welfare social work practice in rural areas markedly affect workforce recruitment and retention, yet little attention is given to the proficiencies needed to equip emerging social workers for this growing area of the field. Curriculum content is needed that provides students with the opportunity to master…

This article explores the ethical tensions and dilemmas that arose for 2 U.S. social work students during an 8-month international clinical internship in northern Uganda. These students encountered cultural differences related to issues of confidentiality, autonomy, and self-determination. Student experiences were analyzed using the cultural…

Limited research exists on social work students' level of depression and help-seeking beliefs. This study empirically examined the rates of depression among 215 BSW students and explored students' reasons for not using mental health services. Approximately 50% scored at or above the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale cutoff;…

Providing social work services for clients in their homes is often a distinguishing feature of social work practice. The home environment affects the intervention process at each stage of contact with a family. Home-based practice requires specific skills to deal with clients' presenting concerns as well as safety, boundary, confidentiality, and…

Compares masters in social work field instruction at one local and two distance campus locations. Presents a four-step methodology for designing, implementing, and evaluating such programs. Data from 1,578 students includes their perceptions of local and home-campus program resources, program responsiveness to local agency structures and culture,…