Suchergebnisse

Objective: The objective is to report on the development and validation of the Corporate Behavioral Wellness Inventory (CBWSI), specifically designed for use by social workers in occupational social work. Method: One thousand and forty employees from different organizations in South Africa were subjected to the original validation research done on the CBWSI. Results: The results clearly indicate that the different subscales on the CBWSI have good reliability, that the scale is strong enough in terms of its measurement error characteristics to recommend it for use in occupational settings, and that the CBWSI appears to be acceptable in terms of its content and construct validity. Conclusions: The CBWSI is a new assessment tool specifically designed for social workers in occupational practice settings, that can be recommended to serve as a tool for assessing diverse employee strengths or to use as part of service delivery to employees.

This study reports on the development and validation of the Civic Engagement Scale (CES). This scale is developed to be easily administered and useful to educators who are seeking to measure the attitudes and behaviors that have been affected by a service-learning experience. This instrument was administered as a validation study in a purposive sample of social work and education majors at three universities ( N = 513) with a return of 354 (69%). After the reliability and validity analysis was completed, the Attitude subscale was left with eight items and a Cronbach's alpha level of .91. The Behavior subscale was left with six items and a Cronbach's alpha level of .85. Principal component analysis indicated a two-dimensional scale with high loadings on both factors (mean factor loading for the attitude factor = .79, and mean factor loading for the behavior factor = .77). These results indicate that the CES is strong enough to recommend its use in educational settings. Preliminary use has demonstrated that this scale will be useful to researchers seeking to better understand the relationship of attitudes and behaviors with civic engagement in the service-learning setting. The primary limitations of this research are that the sample was limited to social work and education majors who were primarily White ( n = 312, 88.1%) and female ( n = 294, 83.1%). Therefore, further research would be needed to generalize this research to other populations.

Objective:This study describes the development and validation of the Sorokin Psychosocial Love Inventory (SPSLI) measuring love actions toward a former spouse.Method:Classical measurement theory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were utilized with an a priori theory and factor model to validate the SPSLI.Results:A 15-item scale containing five subscales (intensity, extensity, purity, adequacy, and duration) showed good fit, statistically significant factor loadings, good reliability, and validity. Multigroup CFA indicated both measurement equivalence and structural equivalence between males and females.Discussion:The SPSLI supports Sorokin's multidimensional theory of love and provides clinicians a method to measure love actions of divorcing individuals. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

English Attitudes of graduating social work students towards diversity issues, as well as their practice perceptions in different social work scenarios, from two contrasting cultures (India and the United States), were quanti.ed. Signi.-cant differences in both groups showed that the social climate of a country has an important impact on shaping the attitudes of students. French Cette é tude quantitative mené e aupre` s d'é tudiants diploômé s en travail social de deux cultures contrasté es (l'Inde et les Etats-Unis) porte sur leurs attitudes à l'é gard des questions de diversité et sur leurs perceptions quant à leur pratique dans diffé rents scé narios de travail social. Les diffé rences significatives entre les deux groupes expliquent que le climat social du pays a un impact important sur le dé veloppement des attitudes des é tudiants. Spanish Se cuantificaron las actitudes de los estudiantes graduados de trabajo social hacia los temas de la diversidad, asícomo la percepción de su prá ctica en diferentes escenarios del trabajo social entre dos culturas (India y los Estados Unidos). Las diferencias significativas encontradas en ambos grupos permiten explicar que el clima social del país tiene un impacto importante en la formación de las actitudes de los estudiantes.

Objective: To determine whether empirical clinical practice (ECP) techniques such as the use of standardized scales and single-subject designs are associated with improved outcomes for clients. Method: One group of clients was served by workers who used ECP techniques in combination with a standard intervention; a second group was served by workers who used only the intervention. Results: Clients whose workers used ECP techniques showed significantly greater reductions in problem severity than clients in the comparison group. No significant differences were found between groups with respect to reductions in number of client problems or client satisfaction at posttest. Conclusions: Design limitations, including the study's inability to randomly assign workers to groups, mean its findings must be considered tentative. However, the results suggest that combining an intervention with the use of ECP techniques may positively affect client outcomes beyond the effect of the intervention alone.

Gender differences persist in the social work academy. We follow up and extend the work of Sakamoto, Anastas, McPhail, and Colarossi. A multistage probability sample of Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)-accredited programs yielded a 21% response rate ( n = 535) by faculty to an electronic survey. A significant difference was found on base salary with men earning $76,337 and women earning $70,400. On many status variables, women and men have achieved parity; but, men are significantly more likely to be full professors. Gender differences were found on all seven climate subscales. CSWE must obtain robust data, at the individual level, on salary and other implicit curricular items.