Suchergebnisse

There are two purposes to this article. The first is to update the science of social work framework. The second is to use recent discussions on the nature of realist science and on social work science to propose a definition of social work as an integrative scientific discipline that complements its definition as a profession.

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 of journals and the impact factors of those journals, it would appear that social work's contribution to that expanding scientific knowledge base has been relatively limited. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between social work and science and to propose the outlines of a science of social work that intends to serve as a catalyst for shaping social work into a scientific discipline.

Advocating for the use of model-derived specifications in the monitoring of program implementation, this article presents the model-guided method. The method provides a test of the adequacy of a program's implementation, and its application to the evaluation of a community support program for the chronically mentally ill is presented. A procedure for field testing the reliability and validity of a monitoring instrument is outlined, and recommendations for using the model-guided method in other field applications are offered.

Victims and perpetrators of wife and child abuse are often not identified in treatment settings. The author offers strategies for detecting abuse in the clinical environment. Psychological and interactive indicators are emphasized, and the contexts of detection are discussed.

Foreword / Marilyn Flynn -- Preface / John Brekke and Jeane Anastas -- Acknowledgements -- Current context and the realist frame -- The science in social work roundtables : context, content, process / Susan Stone and Jerry Floersch -- The realist frame : scientific realism and critical realism / John Brekke, Jeane Anastas, Jerry Floersch, and Jeffrey Longhofer -- The foundations of social work science -- Science and identity in social work / John Brekke P -- Defining a social work science : its nature and consequences / John Brekke -- Social work science in the context of social work ideas : social work science and grand challenges / Rowena Fong and Edwina Uehara -- Values-informed research and research-informed values / Jeffrey Longhofer and Jerry Floersch -- Theory in social work science / Susan P. Kemp and Gina Miranda Samuels P -- Who knows? : critical realism, philosophy of mind, embodiment, and the science of social work / Jeane Anastas -- Essential issues in social work science -- Science and social work practice : client-provider relationships as an active ingredient promoting client change / Mary Bunn and Jeanne Marsh -- Rigor and relevance in social work science / Lawrence A. Palinkas -- Tools and training to support social work as an integrative science / Paula S. Nurius -- Concluding thoughts -- Concluding and commencing thoughts / Jeane Anastas and John Brekke.

Three themes are central to preparing doctoral students for the professoriate: identity formation, scientific integration, and intellectual communities. In this article, we argue that these three themes are not separate pillars but interlocking circles. Our main thesis is that (1) social work must develop into a distinct integrative scientific discipline; (2) this recognition is core to the identity formation of doctoral scholars and, reflectively, their identity formation is central to the future development of social work as a scientific discipline; and (3) the sustainability of social work as a scientific discipline is dependent upon the development of intellectual communities. Developing social work as an integrative discipline will foster and congeal the identity of our scholars while allowing them to flourish within intellectual communities. Implications include nurturing a scientific sense of identity through a dialogical approach to doctoral education, creating and supporting intellectual communities, and making identity formation explicit in mentoring practices.

Several recent national reports have noted that there is a 20-year gap between knowledge generated from our best clinical research and the utilization of that knowledge in our health and mental health care sectors. One solution to this dilemma has been the emergence of translational science. Translational science has become a top priority of the National Institute of Mental Health. The goal of translational science in mental health is to speed the use of findings from our best science into usual-care settings and to build partnerships between research and practice constituencies. The purpose of this article is to define translational science for social work, to provide a framework for translational research, and to outline an agenda of activity that will allow social work to become a significant driver in the translational research agenda in mental health services.