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…

Emotional intelligence has been defined as "the ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their relationships, and to reason and problem-solve on the basis of them" (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1999, p. 267). Despite the relevance of emotional intelligence to social work education, limited research has focused on the assessment…

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…

Alarming rates of burnout, compassion fatigue, and turnover in the social work profession have focused attention on factors influencing risk and resilience among professional social workers and, more recently, social work students. This article explores the prevalence and relevance of early trauma among social work students and describes a…

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…

The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationship among factors affecting social workers' overall readiness to respond to intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of recent MSW graduates (N = 205). Findings suggest MSW IPV education and postgraduate IPV training are significantly associated with perceived preparedness and…

The social work profession evolved from neighborly, volunteer-based efforts into a distinct profession. Throughout the evolvement of the profession, there has been a consistent focus on meeting the needs of the poor, oppressed, and impoverished individuals in a manner that demonstrates competency on behalf of the caregiver or practitioner. Present…

Most master of social work (MSW) programs provide minimal education or training on suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention despite that the majority of social workers encounter suicidal clients during their professional careers. This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a course on suicide in an MSW program.…

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…