Elections have become the new battleground for democracy and civil rights. Yet few social work programs provide opportunities for students to gain competency in electoral politics and voter engagement. This article describes an elective course for Master of Social Work students offered in the runup to the 2018 and 2020 elections. Using classroom…

The focus of this study was to examine the relationship between the MSW curriculum at one university and 100 MSW students' reported preparedness to interact with the court system in regard to a client. Preparedness to appear in court and the benefit of learning court competencies are assessed using participants' social work employment history and…

Alumni mentoring in social work allows students to connect with experienced practitioners in a nonevaluative context and for alumni to strengthen university connections. This study describes and evaluates one established student-alumni mentoring program. Pretest (n=277) and posttest (n=153) data were collected from participants across 3 years.…

Social work educators are compelled to use reliable and valid methods to assess student learning outcomes. This study adapted a clinical simulation by integrating traditional role-play of case scenarios and elements of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, which is often used to assess students' practice skills. Master of Social Work…

Compassion and cultural competence have long been concepts fundamental to social work education. Students are taught that having compassion deepens their understanding of clients and strengthens the therapeutic bond. However, little attention has been paid to self-compassion on the part of the student and its role in working with clients of…

This article presents results from an exploratory study conducted as a component of an assessment of the implicit curriculum in one master's-level social work program. Web-based surveys were used to collect data from 80 graduate social work students in online and face-to-face programs. Findings indicate students who perceived social media as more…

This study integrated multiple survey instruments to test the effectiveness of the mitigating factors of supervisory working alliance, history of previous trauma, levels of resilience, personal counseling, and mindfulness against Secondary Traumatic Stress. The sample size consisted of 50 counselors-in-training enrolled in masters counselor…

Objective: Suicide is a significant public and mental health crisis in the United States. Training providers in suicide assessment and response is designated as one of the primary strategies for reducing deaths by suicide. Research has established that suicide intervention training is effective, but little work has been published on potential…

Social work programs have increased evidence-based practice (EBP)-related curricular content; yet, it is unclear whether newer practitioners are successful in incorporating it into their practice. This study examines factors that influence the use of EBP among newly graduated social workers. We developed and implemented a Web-based survey that…

Scholars have described compassion fatigue as the result of chronic exposure to clients' suffering and traumatic stories. Counselors can struggle when they experience compassion fatigue because of various reasons. As such, an exploration of factors predictive of compassion fatigue may help counselors and supervisors buffer adverse effects.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between dogmatism, locus of control, counselor self-efficacy, and counselor theoretical orientation in a sample of master's level practicum students. Method: A total of 45 master's practicum students completed a series of four instruments, the DOG…

Racism has a long history in the United States. For generations, people of color have been systematically oppressed, whereas White people have benefitted from unearned privilege. Despite major advances in civil rights, the ongoing presence and legacy of racism and White privilege result in pervasive inequities. Social work education prepares…

The current study explores the levels of mindfulness and perceived stress of therapist trainees at the University of Montana. The population for this study was 80 master's students in social work and counseling programs. A Pearson r correlation was conducted to explore the relationships between age, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores, Life Stress…

This study examined veterans health care social workers' perceptions of collaboration and practice with Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans with the purpose of developing curriculum implications for social work education. Using a mixed-methods design, including surveys (n=21) and interviews (n=13), associations between serving…

A total of 120 master's-level counseling students were given the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and the Counselor Self-Estimate Inventory. Significance was found for all 3 hypotheses: (a) nonnative English-speaking students have significantly more language anxiety than native English-speaking students, (b) nonnative English-speaking…