Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
Introduction: Advanced practicing social workers will utilize research in their practice and engage in research from their practice. Research is to be implemented in and disseminate from micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work. Social workers will keep themselves up to date with current research to ensure their practice provides the most modern and evidence-based interventions for their clients. Social workers will also be willing to assist with research and even conduct research in effort to improve practice, policy, and program of the practice. The research will be conducted in a manner that respects the client and dignifies them as a human. The research will also respect client’s confidentiality and requests
Practice Behavior:
4.1 – Critically review current research on evidence based and contemporary best practices to improve practice, policy, and programs
Field Evidence: To improve the effectiveness of psychotherapy groups and meet the needs of the incarcerated individuals, I conducted research to identify and implement brain break activities during sessions. There was one individual in the group that became a nuisance to his peers consistently after 45 minutes from the start of the session, and eventually ruining the group’s cohesiveness. I used brain breaks and introduced other lighter content during sessions to provide a mental break from the psychotherapy material. As an example, I incorporate riddles and jokes to alleviate pressure and shift the focus. I document this practice behavior in my April Monthly Journal under Week 3. By critically reviewing existing and current research on break breaks, I was able to improve my group therapy session with the incarcerated individuals. I now know how to gauge a client’s length of tolerance during a psychotherapy group, and utilize brain brains that I have memorized to help provide breaks from the heavy materials in the psychotherapy groups.
4.2 – Conduct and disseminate research that responds to social work practice needs and uses ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive strategies to advance the purposes of social work
Course Evidence: I wrote a Needs Assessment and Program Proposal Plan with help from my peers for SOCW-612, Advanced Administrative Practice: Program Development. The program proposed was an anti-bullying Peer-To-Peer Support Group whose target population was bullied children. Its purpose is to provide peer support from a survivor of bullying to children that are currently experiencing bullying. One of the assignments within the Needs Assessment and Program Proposal Plan is to include a literature review that researches the cause of the social problem, the extent of the problem, and what interventions other programs did for the problem. The literature review portion of the proposal plan consisted of 20 peer-reviewed articles. Each article provides valuable information that helped me in deciding what the needs were in the communities and bullied children. They also help in guiding the types of intervention the program would provide towards the target population. Completing this competency helped ne recognized the importance of gathering information on a complicated social issue so that I do not risk wasting resources and attacking blinding a complicated social issue in society.