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Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Clinical research papers from 2019 2019.

Acculturation and Depression among Older U.S. Immigrants: A Systematic Review , Sunghwan Cho

Relationship as an Energetic Exchange: A Key Theory for the Nurtured Heart Approach , Inga Eanes

Birth and Pregnancy Termination Rates in The United States Since Perinatal Hospice Law Establishment , Chelsea Janey

Why Do Some Single Mothers Struggle More Than Others? , Tania Rhiger

The Bond We Share: Sibling Relationships Within Severe Mental Illness Through the Lens of Autoethnographic Research , Laura Rydberg

Clinical Research Papers from 2018 2018

Healing the Mind and Body: Practitioner Perspectives on Integrating Cognitive and Somatic Approaches in Psychotherapy with Refugees, Asylees, and Asylum Seekers , Amanda Ament-Lemke

Professional Perceptions of Youth Homelessness and Strengths Developed , Joelle Bellows

Sleep Deprivation and the Health of Firefighters , Bridget Bender

Effective Social Work Practice with Military, Veterans, and their Families , Katherine Boyer

Promoting Resilience and Preventing Sexual Offenses in Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review , Cassie DeGraw

Therapist, Know Thyself: Self-Reflective Practice through Autoethnography , Nikki DiVirgilio

Foster Care and Education: Exploring the Success of Interventions Aimed to Improve Academic Achievement of Foster Children , Olivia Erickson

Early Interventions: Preventing at-risk youth from the path of Sexual Exploitation: A Systematic Review , Rahma Farah

Treatment Barriers in Mental Health: Perspectives of Using Mobile Technology , Ryan Goman

“Make ’em Laugh” The Interaction of Humor in the Therapeutic Treatment of Trauma: A Narrative Review , Katherine Goodman

The Role of Somatic Psychotherapy in Treating First Responders: Providers’ Perspectives , Maggie Graham

Utilization of Social Media in Strengthening Communication in Long Distance Relationships , Lexie Gutzmann

Medical Social Workers’ Best Practices in Supporting Autonomy at End of Life , Morgan Hanley

Women’s Prisons and Substance Abuse Treatment: A Systematic Review of Shame Interventions , Jamie Herman

Trauma-Informed Care For Youth In Foster Care , Jordyn Hubin

Integrating Trauma Informed Care into the Treatment of Adult Male Sex Offenders: A Systematic Review , Erica Janssen

Challenges and Opportunities in Accessing Geriatric Mental Health Services in Rural Minnesota , Kassara Kneeland

Professional Opinions of Effective Interventions for Adults with Psychotic Disorders Who Experienced Childhood Trauma , Jennifer Metzger

Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Co-housing Options for Older Adults to Age in Place , Kasey Meyer

Using an Integrative Psychotherapeutic Approach to Help Adults Cope with Chronic Pain , Bethany Miletich

Examining Services Effective at Preventing Domestic Homicide: Interviewing Relevant Stakeholders about Their Perceptions Regarding Their Role in Reducing the Recurrence of Domestic Violence , Katlin Morse

Secure Attachment Without Bars: Alternatives to Incarceration and Clinical Interventions to Treat the Mother-Infant Relationship , Krista Murphy

Trauma-Informed Care: Training and Implementation in the Foster Care System , Danielle Norgren

The Impacts of Supervision on Social Workers Who Experience Client Suicidal Behavior , Chelse Paulzine

The Impact of Minnesota Warriors Hockey on Post-Military Service Reintegration: A Pilot Study , Andrew Qualy

Non-pharmacological Interventions in Residents with Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia , Kelli Ray

Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples: A Treatment for Depression and Anxiety , Courtney Reinitz

Chemical Dependence Harm Reduction: A Needed Application for Social Workers , Josie C. Schmitz

Exploring Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Behavioral Symptoms of Dementia: A Social Work Perspective , Ashley Schoonover

Is Marketing Messing with Your Clients’ Heads? Brands, Identity, and Clinical Practice , Paul Schuster

A Systematic Review: Examination of Yoga-Based Interventions to Determine their Benefits and Effectiveness in Treating PTSD in Women , Jessica Skaare

Rural Service Providers’ Perceptions of Cultural Responsiveness to LGBT Older Adults , Lisa Twomey

Understanding the practitioner’s role in the therapeutic setting: working with youth that identify as Black or African American and LGBT , Katie L. Ubl

The Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Older Adults with Dementia , Alison Waid Higgins

Impacts of and Alternatives to Solitary Confinement in Adult Correctional Facilities , Sarah Zyvoloski

Clinical Research Papers from 2017 2017

Mapping Social Justice: A Case Study of a School of Social Work Student-Led Social Justice Initiative , Lauren Abdill

Evaluating Child Maltreatment Prevention Programs & Services: A Qualitative Study , Laura Abrass

“I’m Tough, It’s Fine”: Prohibiting Restrictive Procedures and Seclusion in Educational Settings , Kaitlin Adams

Developmental Impact of Inclusion Classrooms on Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review , Emily E. Aller

Involuntary Civil Commitment and Sobriety , Ana Anderson

A Case Study of Veteran Identity as a Female , Kimberly Anderson

Racial Differences in Veteran Service Connection Disability , Jonathan Arnold

A Qualitative Investigation of Parental Experiences with Play Therapy , Kaitlin Bach

Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review , Crystal Barrera

Systematic Review of High School Dropout Prevention Programs , Dayne Bartlett

Identity and Belonging: Documentation Status and Mexican-origin children: A Systematic Review , Alicia Bauers

Removing Stigma and Reducing Anxiety: Social Work Professionals Integrating Essential Oils in Mental Healthcare Services with African American and Native American Clients , Kamara Bauman

What Can We Learn from Death and Dying? One Man’s Experience , Brooke K. Benson

Trauma in schools: Identifying and working with students who have experienced trauma , Amanda E. Berg

Unintended Rehabilitation: A Comparative Analysis of Prison Animal Programs , Mielissa Beseres

Understanding the Mental Health Impacts of Non-Kinship vs. Kinship Placements , Lena Bessas

Social Worker Perceptions on Education for Generalist and Specialist Roles , Jamie Blackledge

Strategies and Outcomes in Working with Adolescents Diagnosed with Conduct Disorder , Elisabeth A. Boegeman

Domestic Violence: How to Treat the Unseen Victims , Sarah Callahan

Birth Parents: Blogging The Emotional Journey Through Adoption , Kayla L. Christensen

Factors that Increase Successful Parenting Skills in Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma, Neglect, and Abuse: A Systematic Review , Victoria A. Christian

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Veterans Experiencing Insomnia: A Systematic Review , Dustin Cobb

Posttraumatic Growth in United States Military Veterans , Angela Cox

Examining Post-Adoption Services: What Adoptive Families Need for Beneficial Outcomes , Lindsey Crawford

Addressing Needs Among Students Affected by Domestic Violence: Social Workers’ Perspectives , Kiah Dahlquist

Making & Sustaining Change from Psychotherapy: A Mixed Method Study , Kelsi Dankey, Heather Karson, Arielle R. Yahnke, Sara Lemon, Tricia Downing, Danae Hoffman, and Natia Wilcek

What is the Impact of Mental Health Courts? A Systematic Literature Review , Rachel Dean

Best Practices for Engaging Birth Mothers in Post-Adoptive Grief Work , Melanie DeJong

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vocational Rehabilitation in Economic Outcomes for Adults with Disabilities , Susanne Desmond

Bicycles and Youth: Impacts , Elizabeth Drews

Lessons for Social Workers: A Review of the Latino/a Undocumented Immigrant Experience , Katie J. Ducklow

Aging Americans: Family Factors and Satisfaction with Life and Aging , Miranda Eastham

Intervention with Intimate Partner Violence: Application of Attachment and Personality Disorders , MaryBeth Ehlert

Transgenerational Transmission of Caregiver Behaviors Promoting Secure Attachments in American Indian Communities , Bryan Ellingson

Interventions to Alleviate the Psychosocial Needs of Hospice Family Caregivers: A Systematic Review , Nicole Engen

Spiritually Integrated Care for Veteran Trauma Survivors: A Quantitative Analysis , Krystle Englund

Guardian ad Litem Perceptions of Child Protection , Carla Evans

Factors Contributing to Success in Treatment for Individuals with a Dual Diagnosis , Logan Evenson

Systematic Review: Considerations for Women with Co-occurring Substance Use Disorder and PTSD , Brittany Feller

Mindfulness Practice with Children who have Experienced Trauma , Margaret Fischer

Officer-Involved Homicides of Unarmed Black Males: Perceptions of the African American Community , Sarah Fox

Intimacy after Sexual Trauma: Clinical Perspectives , Melissa Franckowiak

Interventions that Support Caregivers of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review , Melissa Franzen

Gaps in Mental Health Services in the Juvenile Justice System as Identified by Clinical Social Workers , Heather Fretty

Family Functioning and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Military Families: A Qualitative Study , Karlie Gams

Disability Accommodations in Postsecondary Education A Systematic Review , Kaitlyn Gartner

Perceptions of Diagnosing and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Complex Trauma in Schools , Megan Gauer-Kloos

Clinician Support to Caregivers of Children with a Mental Health Disorder , Lauren Gavin

Effects of Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Practices on Stress and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents , Amanda Geldert

Intervention effectiveness following gender-based violence and forced migration: A critical systematic literature review and synthesis of qualitative studies from the voice of the client , Malory Giraldo

Identifying Protective Factors for Adult Children of Alcoholics , Jessica Goeke

"Si No Estuviera Conmigo, Yo Seria Muda en Este País": A Systematic Literature Review of Language Brokering Among Latinx Youth , Manuela Gonzalez

Postpartum Depression and Opinions on Screening , Jana Gorman

Identifying and Mitigating Caregiver Burnout: The Role of Adult Day Social Workers , Annika Grafstrom

Work and Quality of Life for Individuals with SMI: A Systematic Review , Scott Grandt

Analysis of Implementing Trauma Informed Programs in Grade Schools , Lilli Gray

Making it Right in the End: Conflict on the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team , Sarah Green

Supports and Barriers Experienced by Female Same-Sex Couples When Planning For Life as They Age , Johanna Guerkink

Sacred Shame: Integrating Spirituality and Sexuality , Alyssa J. Haggerty

Welfare Reform and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review , Brianna Heilman

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Home > College of Social and Behavioral Sciences > Social Work > Social Work Theses

Social Work Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Theses/projects/dissertations from 2024 2024.

WHAT IS THE READINESS OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS TO WORK WITH AUTISTIC INDIVIDUALS? , Ignacio Aguilar Pelaez

THE DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACTS OF CERTAIN FACTORS THAT DIFFERENTIATE THE AMOUNT OF MENTAL HEALTH REFERRALS OF SCHOOL A COMPARED TO SCHOOL B , Jesus Barrientos

Caregivers of Dialysis Patients , Alyssa Bousquet and Amelia Murillo

BARRIERS TO AND FACILITATORS OF CARE: EXPLORING HOW LOW-INCOME WOMEN ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE IN A RURAL COMMUNITY , Sydney Taylor Casey

ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES FOR TRANSGENDER ADOLESCENTS FROM A CHILD WELFARE PERSPECTIVE , Eduardo Cedeno

PROGRESSION OF BLACK WOMEN IN TENURE RANKED POSITIONS , Unique Givens

Assessing and Meeting the Needs of Homeless Populations , Mitchell Greenwald

THE OBSTACLES FACING HOMELESS VETERANS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS WHEN OBTAINING HOUSING , Melissa Miro

MAJOR FACTORS OF SUSTAINING RECOVERY AFTER RELAPSE FROM A SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER , Amanda Tei Sandhurst

UNDERSTANDING THE PERSPECTIVES AND ATTITUDES OF 12-STEP PARTICIPANTS TOWARDS MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT , Christopher Scott

THE UTILIZATION OF MUSIC AND AUTONOMOUS SENSORY MERIDIAN RESPONSE IN REDUCING STRESS , Robert Scott

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2023 2023

PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO CONGREGATE CARE AND FOSTER YOUTH OUTCOMES , Tiffany Acklin

YOU CALL US TREATMENT RESISTANT: THE EFFECTS OF BIASES ON WOMEN WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER , Cassidy Acosta

EXAMINING SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH OF FORMERLY INCARCERATED CALIFORNIA STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED FROM PROJECT REBOUND , Ashley C. Adams

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO POLICE INTERVENTIONS WHEN RESPONDING TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISES INCIDENTS , Karen Rivera Apolinar

Understanding Ethical Dilemmas in Social Work Practice , Arielle Arambula

IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROFESSORIAL-STUDENT RACIAL MATCH AND ACADEMIC SATISFACTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS , Ashlei Armstead

NON-SPANISH SPEAKING LATINOS' EXPERIENCES OF INTRAGROUP MARGINALIZATION AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ETHNIC IDENTITY , Marissa Ayala

SERVICES AVAILABLE IN THE MIXTEC COMMUNITY AND THE BARRIERS TO THOSE SERVICES , Currie Bailey Carmon

IMPACT OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURE ON THE SELF-ESTEEM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND COMFORT LEVEL OF BLACK AND BROWN GIRLS , Nathan Benham

THE ROLE UNDOCUMENTED STUDENT RESOURCE CENTERS PLAY IN SUPPORTING UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION , Cynthia Boyzo

Program Evaluation of Teen Parent Support Group , Brianne Yvonne Irene Brophy

THE IMPACT THE JOB STRESS OF A CHILD WELFARE SOCIAL WORKER HAS ON THE QUALITY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR INTIMATE PARTNER , Nadine Cazares

Adverse Effects for Siblings Who Witness Child Abuse , Leslie Chaires

ASIAN DISCRIMINATION: IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK , Sunghay Cho

PERCEIVED FINANCIAL STRAIN AND ITS EFFECTS ON COLLEGE STUDENTS’ WELFARE , Monica Contreras and Clarissa Adrianna Martinez

The Media and Eating Disorders , Diane Corey

INCREASING TEACHER AWARENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDREN , Sarah Alexis Cortes

The Investigation of Knowledge and Practice of Child Welfare Workers Providing Case Management to Children with Disabilities , Giselle Cruz

Examining The Relationship Between Technological Skills and Success In Higher Education Among Formerly Incarcerated Individuals , Ebony Cubias

SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL WORKERS TREATING ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE ABUSERS , Monica DeLucia and Kethura Solano

MINORITIZED GROUPS AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND RECOVERY CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN MUTUAL AID FELLOWSHIPS , Kaelyn Doyle and Benjamin Wahl

EXAMINING EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PREPAREDNESS ON THE NEEDS OF UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS , Imelda Duran Herrera

RESILENCY AND FATHERLESS HOUSEHOLDS , Joshua Ellis-Kennedy and Crystal Angelica Orellana

THE INCREASE OF SUICIDE RISKS AMONGST INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC , Joanna Flores

Staff Turnover in Child Welfare , Maleena Flores

SOCIAL WORK STUDENT'S PERCEPTION, KNOWLEDGE, AND PREPAREDNESS IN SERVING UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT CHILDREN , Miriam Flores Portillo and Estela Flores-Portillo

PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL MENTAL HEALTH ON ADULT CHILDREN , Samantha Ann Gallo-Vargas and Queray McMihelk Jr.

HOW ARE MEDICAL SOCIAL WORKERS EQUIPPED WITH ADEQUATE TRAINING TO DETECT AND REPORT ELDER ABUSE IN HOSPICE , Crystal Garcia and Katherine Barba

How Stigma Impacts the Utilization of Mental Health Services Among Young Adults' Within Three Different Ethnic Minority Communities , Ivette Garcia and Melissa E. Gomez

THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES , Kelly Gasso

INTERVENTIONS AVAILABLE TO CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH OPPOSITIONAL DIFIANT DISORDER: A SCOPING REVIEW , Megan George and Jacqueline Laitano

HOW DOES HAVING A PET DURING THE CORONAVIRUS-19 PANDEMIC AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AFFECT ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION , Sugey Gonzalez-Escobedo and Jessica Morales Sanchez

SCHOOL FACULTY’S KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS , Bianca Gonzalez Vargas and Cristal Cortes-Vazquez

HOW LATINO PARENTS COPED WITH FINANCIAL CHALLENGES DURING COVID-19 , Melissa Gradilla and Valerie Malagon

ASSESSING RURAL NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FOSTER PARENT RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES , Ava M. Hagwood

SOCIAL WORK’S ROLE IN ADDRESSING POLICE OPPRESSION: SOCIAL WORKERS’ PERSPECTIVES , Jess Husband

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL HEALTH AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE , Adelola Ige

EXAMINING THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE , Aida Justiz Skipper and Ericka Ross

PROMOTING RESILIENCE FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE , Brenda Lara

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND THE SEXUAL HEALTH OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE INLAND EMPIRE , Irad Leon

HOW HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACTED CLIENTS OF THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT CENTER , Daniella Loera

FACTORS THAT INCREASE SOCIAL WORKER LONGEVITY IN CHILD WELFARE SERVICES , Heather Lovejoy

SAFETY ORGANIZED PRACTICE TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA , Alison Lucado

Indigenous Women and Traditional Paths to Healing , Lisa Mariano-Grise

SERVICES FOR AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVES FOSTER YOUTH VICTIMS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: THE SOCIAL WORKER’S PERSPECTIVE , Maria Marquez

RESIDENTIAL CARE STAFF VIEWS ON THE TRAINING THAT THEY RECEIVE AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS ON PREPAREDNESS IN REGARD TO WORKING WITH RESIDENTS , Deziray Sorieya Marroquin

EFFECTS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT ON PARENTS , David Martinez and Linda Saleh Borghol

THE CHALLENGES HOMELESS MEN WITH HIV/AIDS FACE WHEN SEEKING HOUSING , Rosey Yvette Martinez

EXAMINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FAMILY COHESION AND THE RISK OF SUBSTANCE USE IN OFFSPRING , Angelica Mendoza

MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY AND ATTITUDES TOWARD MENTAL HEALTH HELP-SEEKING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS OF NON-MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONS , Hannah Metz

EFFECTIVE RESOURCES FOR ONLINE LEARNING A STUDY ON ELEMENTARY AGED CHILDREN , Marlene Mora-Lopez

FOSTER PARENT TRAINING, RETENTION, AND SATISFACTION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY , Dennisse Moreno Romo and Dulcinea Catota

AGED OUT YOUTH'S PERCEPTION ON THE NEEDS OF EMANCIPATED FOSTER YOUTH , Linda Murillo

Attitudes of Social Work Students on the Use of Psychedelics as a Mental Health Treatment in Clinical Settings , Amanda Nickles

CHRONIC SORROW AND THE IMPACT ON PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES , Rhianna Mayra Nordlund

BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES THAT LGBTQ+ INDIVIDUALS FACE WHEN ACQUIRING MENTAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES. , Stephanie Nunez-Rivera

Examining the Obstacles in Rehoming the Homeless with Substance Use Addiction , Denise Ortuno

Access to Gender-Affirming Care and Mental Health of Transgender Individuals , Paola Osuna Berumen

EXAMINING SUPPORT SEEKING BEHAVIORS AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AMONG CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE PATIENTS , Ashley Padilla

THE BARRIERS DIRECT SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS FACE WHEN WORKING WITH INCARCERATED YOUTH , Elizabeth Padilla and Valerie Mercado

UNDERSTANDING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING: IDENTIFYING MACRO AND MICRO-LEVEL MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS , Abbigail Pereyra

COVID-INDUCED STRESS AND SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS , Quenea Popoca and Christina Ngo

STUDENTS' EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES FOR HYBRID MSW PROGRAM , Carolina Profeta

Preserving Placement for Children with Behavioral Issues: A Qualitative Study of Child Welfare Social Workers in the United States , Jessica Katelyn Quin and Tara Belle Beam

Does the use of Social Media Have an Impact on Young Adults Body Identification? , Glycell Robledo Felix and Ashley Olmedo

ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND STRESS DURING COVID-19: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LATINO DREAMERS IN COLLEGE , Vanessa Robles and Janelly Molina

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL WORK INVOLVEMENT IN HOSPICE CARE TRANSITIONS FOR ILL CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES , Natalie Rodas and Guillermina Morales

SOCIAL WORKERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DISPROPORTIONALITY AND DISPARITY IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM , Nelyda Rodriguez

EXAMINING HOMELESSNESS AND ITS EFFECTS ON FUNCTIONING AMONG FOSTER CARE ALUMNI , Silvia Romero

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE ON SOCIAL ISOLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG YOUNG ADULTS , MARIANA ROMO

Incarceration Effects on Children and Families , Sharon Rose

IMPACTS OF POVERTY ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT HOW LOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS STUDENTS ARE AT AN ACADEMIC DISADVANTAGE , Farbod Samari

EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF THE PLACEMENT DISCONTINUITY IN FOSTER CARE , Michelle Sepulveda and Angela Williams

HOW LANGUAGE, HEALTHCARE INSURANCE STATUS, STIGMA, AGE, AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT INFLUENCED THE UTILIZATION OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AMONG THE LATINO MALE POPULATION , Esmeralda Solis and Annika Coe

THE BENEFITS OF SUPPORT GROUPS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO EXPERIENCE AUDITORY AND VISUAL HALLUCINATIONS , Joseph Stewart

Social Justice Theatre and the Impact on Theatre Artists , Stevie Taken

School-based Suicide Prevention Program for LGBTQ Students , Ching Lok Tse

Exploring Permanency Rates Within the Southern California Counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego , Karrene Turner

Placement instability and its effects on the mental health of foster youth , Tyra Turner and Shalynn Burton

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES AND GANG MEMBERSHIP , Johanna Ulloa

SOCIAL WORKERS PERSPECTIVE ON BARRIERS TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION , Laura Velasquez and Annamarie C. Merrill

FIRST-GENERATION SOCIAL WORK LATINAS BALANCING LIFE AND CAREER , Angelica Venegas

FORMER FOSTER YOUTH AND THE UTILIZATION OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION , Jacqueline Viadas and Liliana Lua

The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience in Social Work , Margeaux Wilkins and Jazmine Salazar

PARENT-CHILD ATTACHMENT WHEN PARENTING A CHILD WITH A DISABILITY , Giulianna Zocchetti

Theses/Projects/Dissertations from 2022 2022

SOCIAL WORKER STUDENT’S ANXIETY, AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC , David Adler

Measuring Competency in Social Work: LGBTQIA Populations , Desirae Nicole Aguirre and Samantha Raquel Stephens

PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE USE AMONG LATINX WOMEN WITH POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS , Mayra Alvarado

A NEED FOR SUPPORT SERVICES AMONG HISPANIC FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS , Evelyn Arellano and Jessica Cazares Armenta

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Social Work: APA Paper Format

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The methods section describes actions taken to investigate a research problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information applied to understanding the problem, thereby, allowing the reader to critically evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology section of a research paper answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? And, how was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and always written in the past tense.

Kallet, Richard H. "How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper." Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004): 1229-1232.

Importance of a Good Methodology Section

You must explain how you obtained and analyzed your results for the following reasons:

• Readers need to know how the data was obtained because the method you chose affects the results and, by extension, how you interpreted their significance in the discussion section of your paper.
• Methodology is crucial for any branch of scholarship because an unreliable method produces unreliable results and, as a consequence, undermines the value of your analysis of the findings.
• In most cases, there are a variety of different methods you can choose to investigate a research problem. The methodology section of your paper should clearly articulate the reasons why you have chosen a particular procedure or technique.
• The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study. For example, if you are using a multiple choice questionnaire, readers need to know that it offered your respondents a reasonable range of answers to choose from.
• The method must be appropriate to fulfilling the overall aims of the study. For example, you need to ensure that you have a large enough sample size to be able to generalize and make recommendations based upon the findings.
• The methodology should discuss the problems that were anticipated and the steps you took to prevent them from occurring. For any problems that do arise, you must describe the ways in which they were minimized or why these problems do not impact in any meaningful way your interpretation of the findings.
• In the social and behavioral sciences, it is important to always provide sufficient information to allow other researchers to adopt or replicate your methodology. This information is particularly important when a new method has been developed or an innovative use of an existing method is utilized.

Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Psychology Writing Center. University of Washington; Denscombe, Martyn. The Good Research Guide: For Small-Scale Social Research Projects . 5th edition. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 2014; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Groups of Research Methods

There are two main groups of research methods in the social sciences:

• The e mpirical-analytical group approaches the study of social sciences in a similar manner that researchers study the natural sciences . This type of research focuses on objective knowledge, research questions that can be answered yes or no, and operational definitions of variables to be measured. The empirical-analytical group employs deductive reasoning that uses existing theory as a foundation for formulating hypotheses that need to be tested. This approach is focused on explanation.
• The i nterpretative group of methods is focused on understanding phenomenon in a comprehensive, holistic way . Interpretive methods focus on analytically disclosing the meaning-making practices of human subjects [the why, how, or by what means people do what they do], while showing how those practices arrange so that it can be used to generate observable outcomes. Interpretive methods allow you to recognize your connection to the phenomena under investigation. However, the interpretative group requires careful examination of variables because it focuses more on subjective knowledge.

II.  Content

The introduction to your methodology section should begin by restating the research problem and underlying assumptions underpinning your study. This is followed by situating the methods you used to gather, analyze, and process information within the overall “tradition” of your field of study and within the particular research design you have chosen to study the problem. If the method you choose lies outside of the tradition of your field [i.e., your review of the literature demonstrates that the method is not commonly used], provide a justification for how your choice of methods specifically addresses the research problem in ways that have not been utilized in prior studies.

The remainder of your methodology section should describe the following:

• Decisions made in selecting the data you have analyzed or, in the case of qualitative research, the subjects and research setting you have examined,
• Tools and methods used to identify and collect information, and how you identified relevant variables,
• The ways in which you processed the data and the procedures you used to analyze that data, and
• The specific research tools or strategies that you utilized to study the underlying hypothesis and research questions.

In addition, an effectively written methodology section should:

• Introduce the overall methodological approach for investigating your research problem . Is your study qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both (mixed method)? Are you going to take a special approach, such as action research, or a more neutral stance?
• Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design . Your methods for gathering data should have a clear connection to your research problem. In other words, make sure that your methods will actually address the problem. One of the most common deficiencies found in research papers is that the proposed methodology is not suitable to achieving the stated objective of your paper.
• Describe the specific methods of data collection you are going to use , such as, surveys, interviews, questionnaires, observation, archival research. If you are analyzing existing data, such as a data set or archival documents, describe how it was originally created or gathered and by whom. Also be sure to explain how older data is still relevant to investigating the current research problem.
• Explain how you intend to analyze your results . Will you use statistical analysis? Will you use specific theoretical perspectives to help you analyze a text or explain observed behaviors? Describe how you plan to obtain an accurate assessment of relationships, patterns, trends, distributions, and possible contradictions found in the data.
• Provide background and a rationale for methodologies that are unfamiliar for your readers . Very often in the social sciences, research problems and the methods for investigating them require more explanation/rationale than widely accepted rules governing the natural and physical sciences. Be clear and concise in your explanation.
• Provide a justification for subject selection and sampling procedure . For instance, if you propose to conduct interviews, how do you intend to select the sample population? If you are analyzing texts, which texts have you chosen, and why? If you are using statistics, why is this set of data being used? If other data sources exist, explain why the data you chose is most appropriate to addressing the research problem.
• Provide a justification for case study selection . A common method of analyzing research problems in the social sciences is to analyze specific cases. These can be a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis that are either examined as a singular topic of in-depth investigation or multiple topics of investigation studied for the purpose of comparing or contrasting findings. In either method, you should explain why a case or cases were chosen and how they specifically relate to the research problem.
• Describe potential limitations . Are there any practical limitations that could affect your data collection? How will you attempt to control for potential confounding variables and errors? If your methodology may lead to problems you can anticipate, state this openly and show why pursuing this methodology outweighs the risk of these problems cropping up.

NOTE :   Once you have written all of the elements of the methods section, subsequent revisions should focus on how to present those elements as clearly and as logically as possibly. The description of how you prepared to study the research problem, how you gathered the data, and the protocol for analyzing the data should be organized chronologically. For clarity, when a large amount of detail must be presented, information should be presented in sub-sections according to topic. If necessary, consider using appendices for raw data.

ANOTHER NOTE : If you are conducting a qualitative analysis of a research problem , the methodology section generally requires a more elaborate description of the methods used as well as an explanation of the processes applied to gathering and analyzing of data than is generally required for studies using quantitative methods. Because you are the primary instrument for generating the data [e.g., through interviews or observations], the process for collecting that data has a significantly greater impact on producing the findings. Therefore, qualitative research requires a more detailed description of the methods used.

YET ANOTHER NOTE :   If your study involves interviews, observations, or other qualitative techniques involving human subjects , you may be required to obtain approval from the university's Office for the Protection of Research Subjects before beginning your research. This is not a common procedure for most undergraduate level student research assignments. However, i f your professor states you need approval, you must include a statement in your methods section that you received official endorsement and adequate informed consent from the office and that there was a clear assessment and minimization of risks to participants and to the university. This statement informs the reader that your study was conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. In some cases, the approval notice is included as an appendix to your paper.

III.  Problems to Avoid

Irrelevant Detail The methodology section of your paper should be thorough but concise. Do not provide any background information that does not directly help the reader understand why a particular method was chosen, how the data was gathered or obtained, and how the data was analyzed in relation to the research problem [note: analyzed, not interpreted! Save how you interpreted the findings for the discussion section]. With this in mind, the page length of your methods section will generally be less than any other section of your paper except the conclusion.

Unnecessary Explanation of Basic Procedures Remember that you are not writing a how-to guide about a particular method. You should make the assumption that readers possess a basic understanding of how to investigate the research problem on their own and, therefore, you do not have to go into great detail about specific methodological procedures. The focus should be on how you applied a method , not on the mechanics of doing a method. An exception to this rule is if you select an unconventional methodological approach; if this is the case, be sure to explain why this approach was chosen and how it enhances the overall process of discovery.

Problem Blindness It is almost a given that you will encounter problems when collecting or generating your data, or, gaps will exist in existing data or archival materials. Do not ignore these problems or pretend they did not occur. Often, documenting how you overcame obstacles can form an interesting part of the methodology. It demonstrates to the reader that you can provide a cogent rationale for the decisions you made to minimize the impact of any problems that arose.

Literature Review Just as the literature review section of your paper provides an overview of sources you have examined while researching a particular topic, the methodology section should cite any sources that informed your choice and application of a particular method [i.e., the choice of a survey should include any citations to the works you used to help construct the survey].

It’s More than Sources of Information! A description of a research study's method should not be confused with a description of the sources of information. Such a list of sources is useful in and of itself, especially if it is accompanied by an explanation about the selection and use of the sources. The description of the project's methodology complements a list of sources in that it sets forth the organization and interpretation of information emanating from those sources.

Azevedo, L.F. et al. "How to Write a Scientific Paper: Writing the Methods Section." Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia 17 (2011): 232-238; Blair Lorrie. “Choosing a Methodology.” In Writing a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation , Teaching Writing Series. (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers 2016), pp. 49-72; Butin, Dan W. The Education Dissertation A Guide for Practitioner Scholars . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010; Carter, Susan. Structuring Your Research Thesis . New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Kallet, Richard H. “How to Write the Methods Section of a Research Paper.” Respiratory Care 49 (October 2004):1229-1232; Lunenburg, Frederick C. Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008. Methods Section. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Rudestam, Kjell Erik and Rae R. Newton. “The Method Chapter: Describing Your Research Plan.” In Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process . (Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2015), pp. 87-115; What is Interpretive Research. Institute of Public and International Affairs, University of Utah; Writing the Experimental Report: Methods, Results, and Discussion. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Methods and Materials. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College.

Writing Tip

Statistical Designs and Tests? Do Not Fear Them!

Don't avoid using a quantitative approach to analyzing your research problem just because you fear the idea of applying statistical designs and tests. A qualitative approach, such as conducting interviews or content analysis of archival texts, can yield exciting new insights about a research problem, but it should not be undertaken simply because you have a disdain for running a simple regression. A well designed quantitative research study can often be accomplished in very clear and direct ways, whereas, a similar study of a qualitative nature usually requires considerable time to analyze large volumes of data and a tremendous burden to create new paths for analysis where previously no path associated with your research problem had existed.

To locate data and statistics, GO HERE .

Another Writing Tip

Knowing the Relationship Between Theories and Methods

There can be multiple meaning associated with the term "theories" and the term "methods" in social sciences research. A helpful way to delineate between them is to understand "theories" as representing different ways of characterizing the social world when you research it and "methods" as representing different ways of generating and analyzing data about that social world. Framed in this way, all empirical social sciences research involves theories and methods, whether they are stated explicitly or not. However, while theories and methods are often related, it is important that, as a researcher, you deliberately separate them in order to avoid your theories playing a disproportionate role in shaping what outcomes your chosen methods produce.

Introspectively engage in an ongoing dialectic between the application of theories and methods to help enable you to use the outcomes from your methods to interrogate and develop new theories, or ways of framing conceptually the research problem. This is how scholarship grows and branches out into new intellectual territory.

Reynolds, R. Larry. Ways of Knowing. Alternative Microeconomics . Part 1, Chapter 3. Boise State University; The Theory-Method Relationship. S-Cool Revision. United Kingdom.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Methods and the Methodology

Do not confuse the terms "methods" and "methodology." As Schneider notes, a method refers to the technical steps taken to do research . Descriptions of methods usually include defining and stating why you have chosen specific techniques to investigate a research problem, followed by an outline of the procedures you used to systematically select, gather, and process the data [remember to always save the interpretation of data for the discussion section of your paper].

The methodology refers to a discussion of the underlying reasoning why particular methods were used . This discussion includes describing the theoretical concepts that inform the choice of methods to be applied, placing the choice of methods within the more general nature of academic work, and reviewing its relevance to examining the research problem. The methodology section also includes a thorough review of the methods other scholars have used to study the topic.

Bryman, Alan. "Of Methods and Methodology." Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal 3 (2008): 159-168; Schneider, Florian. “What's in a Methodology: The Difference between Method, Methodology, and Theory…and How to Get the Balance Right?” PoliticsEastAsia.com. Chinese Department, University of Leiden, Netherlands.

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How to write an abstract.

Write with Might #30: How to Write an Abstract

This week's writing tip focuses on  how to write an abstract , according to APA style. I understand that first-yearMSWs are finalizing their research projects this quarter and may appreciate a quick conversation on this aspect of research manuscripts. For those who are not currently working in research, having the ability to write an abstract is a valuable skill as we know that involvement in social work research has the power to change systems in the direction of social justice.  The following information is adapted from the Purdue OWL website, with citation following.

Why an Abstract?

An abstract gives your reader a brief summary of the contents of your research manuscript. The process of writing it can actually be helpful to the writer as well! Consider writing your abstract before you have finished your first draft as the process can give you feedback on the clarity of your arguments and the organization of your thoughts.

Abstracts can also alert your reader to keywords from your work. Including keywords on your abstract page allows readers to locate your paper in databases with ease.

What Does it Include?

An abstract includes a succinct summary of the main ideas in your work. When writing the abstract, focus on including: the research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis and conclusions. Abstracts may also speak to the possible implications of your research and the direction you recommend for future research related to your work.

APA Formatting Details?

-The abstract lives on its own page that includes the header found throughout your paper.

-It is a single, double-spaced paragraph between 150-250 words.

-Write the word “Abstract” on the the first line of the abstract page. The word "Abstract" should be centered and in regular type. Do NOT use boldface, formatting extras, italics, underlining, or quotation marks, etc.

-To include your paper's keywords, write "keywords" indented and in italics with a colon following it. Then type the keywords in regular text.

Paiz, J., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee, A., Keck, R. (March 1, 2013). General Format. Retrieved from: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

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Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

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Research Paper

Definition:

Research Paper is a written document that presents the author’s original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue.

It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field of study, and to demonstrate the author’s understanding of the existing literature and theories related to the topic.

Structure of Research Paper

The structure of a research paper typically follows a standard format, consisting of several sections that convey specific information about the research study. The following is a detailed explanation of the structure of a research paper:

The title page contains the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and the affiliation(s) of the author(s). It also includes the date of submission and possibly, the name of the journal or conference where the paper is to be published.

The abstract is a brief summary of the research paper, typically ranging from 100 to 250 words. It should include the research question, the methods used, the key findings, and the implications of the results. The abstract should be written in a concise and clear manner to allow readers to quickly grasp the essence of the research.

Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper provides background information about the research problem, the research question, and the research objectives. It also outlines the significance of the research, the research gap that it aims to fill, and the approach taken to address the research question. Finally, the introduction section ends with a clear statement of the research hypothesis or research question.

Literature Review

The literature review section of a research paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the topic of study. It includes a critical analysis and synthesis of the literature, highlighting the key concepts, themes, and debates. The literature review should also demonstrate the research gap and how the current study seeks to address it.

The methods section of a research paper describes the research design, the sample selection, the data collection and analysis procedures, and the statistical methods used to analyze the data. This section should provide sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the research, using tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate the data. The findings should be presented in a clear and concise manner, with reference to the research question and hypothesis.

The discussion section of a research paper interprets the findings and discusses their implications for the research question, the literature review, and the field of study. It should also address the limitations of the study and suggest future research directions.

The conclusion section summarizes the main findings of the study, restates the research question and hypothesis, and provides a final reflection on the significance of the research.

The references section provides a list of all the sources cited in the paper, following a specific citation style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.

How to Write Research Paper

You can write Research Paper by the following guide:

• Choose a Topic: The first step is to select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Brainstorm ideas and narrow down to a research question that is specific and researchable.
• Conduct a Literature Review: The literature review helps you identify the gap in the existing research and provides a basis for your research question. It also helps you to develop a theoretical framework and research hypothesis.
• Develop a Thesis Statement : The thesis statement is the main argument of your research paper. It should be clear, concise and specific to your research question.
• Plan your Research: Develop a research plan that outlines the methods, data sources, and data analysis procedures. This will help you to collect and analyze data effectively.
• Collect and Analyze Data: Collect data using various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. Analyze data using statistical tools or other qualitative methods.
• Organize your Paper : Organize your paper into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Ensure that each section is coherent and follows a logical flow.
• Write your Paper : Start by writing the introduction, followed by the literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and follows the required formatting and citation styles.
• Edit and Proofread your Paper: Review your paper for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that it is well-structured and easy to read. Ask someone else to review your paper to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.
• Cite your Sources: Ensure that you properly cite all sources used in your research paper. This is essential for giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism.

Research Paper Example

Note : The below example research paper is for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual research paper. Actual research papers may have different structures, contents, and formats depending on the field of study, research question, data collection and analysis methods, and other factors. Students should always consult with their professors or supervisors for specific guidelines and expectations for their research papers.

Research Paper Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health among Young Adults

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults. A literature review was conducted to examine the existing research on the topic. A survey was then administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Introduction: Social media has become an integral part of modern life, particularly among young adults. While social media has many benefits, including increased communication and social connectivity, it has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Literature Review: The literature review highlights the existing research on the impact of social media use on mental health. The review shows that social media use is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems. The review also identifies the factors that contribute to the negative impact of social media, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Methods : A survey was administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The survey included questions on social media use, mental health status (measured using the DASS-21), and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Results : The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Discussion : The study’s findings suggest that social media use has a negative impact on the mental health of young adults. The study highlights the need for interventions that address the factors contributing to the negative impact of social media, such as social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Conclusion : In conclusion, social media use has a significant impact on the mental health of young adults. The study’s findings underscore the need for interventions that promote healthy social media use and address the negative outcomes associated with social media use. Future research can explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health. Additionally, longitudinal studies can investigate the long-term effects of social media use on mental health.

Limitations : The study has some limitations, including the use of self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. The use of self-report measures may result in biased responses, and a cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals can use the findings to develop interventions that address the negative impact of social media use on mental health. Educators can incorporate social media literacy into their curriculum to promote healthy social media use among young adults. Policymakers can use the findings to develop policies that protect young adults from the negative outcomes associated with social media use.

References :

• Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 15, 100918.
• Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., … & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1-9.
• Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2017). Social media and its impact on academic performance of students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 383-398.

Appendix : The survey used in this study is provided below.

Social Media and Mental Health Survey

• How often do you use social media per day?
• Less than 30 minutes
• 30 minutes to 1 hour
• 1 to 2 hours
• 2 to 4 hours
• More than 4 hours
• Which social media platforms do you use?
• Others (Please specify)
• How often do you experience the following on social media?
• Social comparison (comparing yourself to others)
• Cyberbullying
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
• Have you ever experienced any of the following mental health problems in the past month?
• Do you think social media use has a positive or negative impact on your mental health?
• Very positive
• Somewhat positive
• Somewhat negative
• Very negative
• In your opinion, which factors contribute to the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Social comparison
• In your opinion, what interventions could be effective in reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Education on healthy social media use
• Counseling for mental health problems caused by social media
• Social media detox programs
• Regulation of social media use

Thank you for your participation!

Applications of Research Paper

Research papers have several applications in various fields, including:

• Advancing knowledge: Research papers contribute to the advancement of knowledge by generating new insights, theories, and findings that can inform future research and practice. They help to answer important questions, clarify existing knowledge, and identify areas that require further investigation.
• Informing policy: Research papers can inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. They can help to identify gaps in current policies, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and inform the development of new policies and regulations.
• Improving practice: Research papers can improve practice by providing evidence-based guidance for professionals in various fields, including medicine, education, business, and psychology. They can inform the development of best practices, guidelines, and standards of care that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• Educating students : Research papers are often used as teaching tools in universities and colleges to educate students about research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. They help students to develop critical thinking skills, research skills, and communication skills that are essential for success in many careers.
• Fostering collaboration: Research papers can foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas. They can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems.

When to Write Research Paper

Research papers are typically written when a person has completed a research project or when they have conducted a study and have obtained data or findings that they want to share with the academic or professional community. Research papers are usually written in academic settings, such as universities, but they can also be written in professional settings, such as research organizations, government agencies, or private companies.

Here are some common situations where a person might need to write a research paper:

• For academic purposes: Students in universities and colleges are often required to write research papers as part of their coursework, particularly in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Writing research papers helps students to develop research skills, critical thinking skills, and academic writing skills.
• For publication: Researchers often write research papers to publish their findings in academic journals or to present their work at academic conferences. Publishing research papers is an important way to disseminate research findings to the academic community and to establish oneself as an expert in a particular field.
• To inform policy or practice : Researchers may write research papers to inform policy decisions or to improve practice in various fields. Research findings can be used to inform the development of policies, guidelines, and best practices that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• To share new insights or ideas: Researchers may write research papers to share new insights or ideas with the academic or professional community. They may present new theories, propose new research methods, or challenge existing paradigms in their field.

Purpose of Research Paper

The purpose of a research paper is to present the results of a study or investigation in a clear, concise, and structured manner. Research papers are written to communicate new knowledge, ideas, or findings to a specific audience, such as researchers, scholars, practitioners, or policymakers. The primary purposes of a research paper are:

• To contribute to the body of knowledge : Research papers aim to add new knowledge or insights to a particular field or discipline. They do this by reporting the results of empirical studies, reviewing and synthesizing existing literature, proposing new theories, or providing new perspectives on a topic.
• To inform or persuade: Research papers are written to inform or persuade the reader about a particular issue, topic, or phenomenon. They present evidence and arguments to support their claims and seek to persuade the reader of the validity of their findings or recommendations.
• To advance the field: Research papers seek to advance the field or discipline by identifying gaps in knowledge, proposing new research questions or approaches, or challenging existing assumptions or paradigms. They aim to contribute to ongoing debates and discussions within a field and to stimulate further research and inquiry.
• To demonstrate research skills: Research papers demonstrate the author’s research skills, including their ability to design and conduct a study, collect and analyze data, and interpret and communicate findings. They also demonstrate the author’s ability to critically evaluate existing literature, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write in a clear and structured manner.

Characteristics of Research Paper

Research papers have several characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of academic or professional writing. Here are some common characteristics of research papers:

• Evidence-based: Research papers are based on empirical evidence, which is collected through rigorous research methods such as experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews. They rely on objective data and facts to support their claims and conclusions.
• Structured and organized: Research papers have a clear and logical structure, with sections such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. They are organized in a way that helps the reader to follow the argument and understand the findings.
• Formal and objective: Research papers are written in a formal and objective tone, with an emphasis on clarity, precision, and accuracy. They avoid subjective language or personal opinions and instead rely on objective data and analysis to support their arguments.
• Citations and references: Research papers include citations and references to acknowledge the sources of information and ideas used in the paper. They use a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
• Peer-reviewed: Research papers are often peer-reviewed, which means they are evaluated by other experts in the field before they are published. Peer-review ensures that the research is of high quality, meets ethical standards, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
• Objective and unbiased: Research papers strive to be objective and unbiased in their presentation of the findings. They avoid personal biases or preconceptions and instead rely on the data and analysis to draw conclusions.

Advantages of Research Paper

Research papers have many advantages, both for the individual researcher and for the broader academic and professional community. Here are some advantages of research papers:

• Contribution to knowledge: Research papers contribute to the body of knowledge in a particular field or discipline. They add new information, insights, and perspectives to existing literature and help advance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue.
• Opportunity for intellectual growth: Research papers provide an opportunity for intellectual growth for the researcher. They require critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which can help develop the researcher’s skills and knowledge.
• Career advancement: Research papers can help advance the researcher’s career by demonstrating their expertise and contributions to the field. They can also lead to new research opportunities, collaborations, and funding.
• Academic recognition: Research papers can lead to academic recognition in the form of awards, grants, or invitations to speak at conferences or events. They can also contribute to the researcher’s reputation and standing in the field.
• Impact on policy and practice: Research papers can have a significant impact on policy and practice. They can inform policy decisions, guide practice, and lead to changes in laws, regulations, or procedures.
• Advancement of society: Research papers can contribute to the advancement of society by addressing important issues, identifying solutions to problems, and promoting social justice and equality.

Limitations of Research Paper

Research papers also have some limitations that should be considered when interpreting their findings or implications. Here are some common limitations of research papers:

• Limited generalizability: Research findings may not be generalizable to other populations, settings, or contexts. Studies often use specific samples or conditions that may not reflect the broader population or real-world situations.
• Potential for bias : Research papers may be biased due to factors such as sample selection, measurement errors, or researcher biases. It is important to evaluate the quality of the research design and methods used to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable.
• Ethical concerns: Research papers may raise ethical concerns, such as the use of vulnerable populations or invasive procedures. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants to ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
• Limitations of methodology: Research papers may be limited by the methodology used to collect and analyze data. For example, certain research methods may not capture the complexity or nuance of a particular phenomenon, or may not be appropriate for certain research questions.
• Publication bias: Research papers may be subject to publication bias, where positive or significant findings are more likely to be published than negative or non-significant findings. This can skew the overall findings of a particular area of research.
• Time and resource constraints: Research papers may be limited by time and resource constraints, which can affect the quality and scope of the research. Researchers may not have access to certain data or resources, or may be unable to conduct long-term studies due to practical limitations.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Social Work Research Methods That Drive the Practice

Social workers advocate for the well-being of individuals, families and communities. But how do social workers know what interventions are needed to help an individual? How do they assess whether a treatment plan is working? What do social workers use to write evidence-based policy?

Social work involves research-informed practice and practice-informed research. At every level, social workers need to know objective facts about the populations they serve, the efficacy of their interventions and the likelihood that their policies will improve lives. A variety of social work research methods make that possible.

Data-Driven Work

Data is a collection of facts used for reference and analysis. In a field as broad as social work, data comes in many forms.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

As with any research, social work research involves both quantitative and qualitative studies.

Quantitative Research

Answers to questions like these can help social workers know about the populations they serve — or hope to serve in the future.

• How many students currently receive reduced-price school lunches in the local school district?
• How many hours per week does a specific individual consume digital media?
• How frequently did community members access a specific medical service last year?

Quantitative data — facts that can be measured and expressed numerically — are crucial for social work.

Quantitative research has advantages for social scientists. Such research can be more generalizable to large populations, as it uses specific sampling methods and lends itself to large datasets. It can provide important descriptive statistics about a specific population. Furthermore, by operationalizing variables, it can help social workers easily compare similar datasets with one another.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative data — facts that cannot be measured or expressed in terms of mere numbers or counts — offer rich insights into individuals, groups and societies. It can be collected via interviews and observations.

• What attitudes do students have toward the reduced-price school lunch program?
• What strategies do individuals use to moderate their weekly digital media consumption?
• What factors made community members more or less likely to access a specific medical service last year?

Qualitative research can thereby provide a textured view of social contexts and systems that may not have been possible with quantitative methods. Plus, it may even suggest new lines of inquiry for social work research.

Mixed Methods Research

Combining quantitative and qualitative methods into a single study is known as mixed methods research. This form of research has gained popularity in the study of social sciences, according to a 2019 report in the academic journal Theory and Society. Since quantitative and qualitative methods answer different questions, merging them into a single study can balance the limitations of each and potentially produce more in-depth findings.

However, mixed methods research is not without its drawbacks. Combining research methods increases the complexity of a study and generally requires a higher level of expertise to collect, analyze and interpret the data. It also requires a greater level of effort, time and often money.

The Importance of Research Design

Data-driven practice plays an essential role in social work. Unlike philanthropists and altruistic volunteers, social workers are obligated to operate from a scientific knowledge base.

To know whether their programs are effective, social workers must conduct research to determine results, aggregate those results into comprehensible data, analyze and interpret their findings, and use evidence to justify next steps.

Employing the proper design ensures that any evidence obtained during research enables social workers to reliably answer their research questions.

Research Methods in Social Work

The various social work research methods have specific benefits and limitations determined by context. Common research methods include surveys, program evaluations, needs assessments, randomized controlled trials, descriptive studies and single-system designs.

Surveys involve a hypothesis and a series of questions in order to test that hypothesis. Social work researchers will send out a survey, receive responses, aggregate the results, analyze the data, and form conclusions based on trends.

Surveys are one of the most common research methods social workers use — and for good reason. They tend to be relatively simple and are usually affordable. However, surveys generally require large participant groups, and self-reports from survey respondents are not always reliable.

Program Evaluations

Social workers ally with all sorts of programs: after-school programs, government initiatives, nonprofit projects and private programs, for example.

Crucially, social workers must evaluate a program’s effectiveness in order to determine whether the program is meeting its goals and what improvements can be made to better serve the program’s target population.

Evidence-based programming helps everyone save money and time, and comparing programs with one another can help social workers make decisions about how to structure new initiatives. Evaluating programs becomes complicated, however, when programs have multiple goal metrics, some of which may be vague or difficult to assess (e.g., “we aim to promote the well-being of our community”).

Needs Assessments

Social workers use needs assessments to identify services and necessities that a population lacks access to.

Common social work populations that researchers may perform needs assessments on include:

• People in a specific income group
• Everyone in a specific geographic region
• A specific ethnic group
• People in a specific age group

In the field, a social worker may use a combination of methods (e.g., surveys and descriptive studies) to learn more about a specific population or program. Social workers look for gaps between the actual context and a population’s or individual’s “wants” or desires.

For example, a social worker could conduct a needs assessment with an individual with cancer trying to navigate the complex medical-industrial system. The social worker may ask the client questions about the number of hours they spend scheduling doctor’s appointments, commuting and managing their many medications. After learning more about the specific client needs, the social worker can identify opportunities for improvements in an updated care plan.

In policy and program development, social workers conduct needs assessments to determine where and how to effect change on a much larger scale. Integral to social work at all levels, needs assessments reveal crucial information about a population’s needs to researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Needs assessments may fall short, however, in revealing the root causes of those needs (e.g., structural racism).

Randomized Controlled Trials

Randomized controlled trials are studies in which a randomly selected group is subjected to a variable (e.g., a specific stimulus or treatment) and a control group is not. Social workers then measure and compare the results of the randomized group with the control group in order to glean insights about the effectiveness of a particular intervention or treatment.

Randomized controlled trials are easily reproducible and highly measurable. They’re useful when results are easily quantifiable. However, this method is less helpful when results are not easily quantifiable (i.e., when rich data such as narratives and on-the-ground observations are needed).

Descriptive Studies

Descriptive studies immerse the researcher in another context or culture to study specific participant practices or ways of living. Descriptive studies, including descriptive ethnographic studies, may overlap with and include other research methods:

• Informant interviews
• Census data
• Observation

By using descriptive studies, researchers may glean a richer, deeper understanding of a nuanced culture or group on-site. The main limitations of this research method are that it tends to be time-consuming and expensive.

Single-System Designs

Unlike most medical studies, which involve testing a drug or treatment on two groups — an experimental group that receives the drug/treatment and a control group that does not — single-system designs allow researchers to study just one group (e.g., an individual or family).

Single-system designs typically entail studying a single group over a long period of time and may involve assessing the group’s response to multiple variables.

For example, consider a study on how media consumption affects a person’s mood. One way to test a hypothesis that consuming media correlates with low mood would be to observe two groups: a control group (no media) and an experimental group (two hours of media per day). When employing a single-system design, however, researchers would observe a single participant as they watch two hours of media per day for one week and then four hours per day of media the next week.

These designs allow researchers to test multiple variables over a longer period of time. However, similar to descriptive studies, single-system designs can be fairly time-consuming and costly.

Learn More About Social Work Research Methods

Social workers have the opportunity to improve the social environment by advocating for the vulnerable — including children, older adults and people with disabilities — and facilitating and developing resources and programs.

Learn more about how you can earn your  Master of Social Work online at Virginia Commonwealth University . The highest-ranking school of social work in Virginia, VCU has a wide range of courses online. That means students can earn their degrees with the flexibility of learning at home. Learn more about how you can take your career in social work further with VCU.

From M.S.W. to LCSW: Understanding Your Career Path as a Social Worker

How Palliative Care Social Workers Support Patients With Terminal Illnesses

How to Become a Social Worker in Health Care

Gov.uk, Mixed Methods Study

MVS Open Press, Foundations of Social Work Research

Open Social Work Education, Scientific Inquiry in Social Work

Open Social Work, Graduate Research Methods in Social Work: A Project-Based Approach

Routledge, Research for Social Workers: An Introduction to Methods

SAGE Publications, Research Methods for Social Work: A Problem-Based Approach

Theory and Society, Mixed Methods Research: What It Is and What It Could Be

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Social Work Abstracts

Produced by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), this database provides indexing and abstracts for journals dealing with all aspects of the social work field, including theory and practice, areas of service and social issues and problems.

An Indispensable Resource for Students and Practitioners

Social Work Abstracts offers extensive coverage of social work and human services journals dating back to 1965. Researchers, students and practitioners seeking scholarly and professional perspectives will find Social Work Abstracts to be an indispensable resource.

Subjects Include

• Child and family welfare
• Civil and legal rights
• Human services
• Mental health

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Social Work Literature Review Guidelines

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This handout provides an overview of how to write literature reviews in the field of social work. It provides a list of suggestions and examples.

Literature reviews are designed to do two things: 1) give your readers an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic or idea and 2) demonstrate how your research fits into the larger field of study, in this case, social work.

Unlike annotated bibliographies which are lists of references arranged alphabetically that include the bibliographic citation and a paragraph summary and critique for each source, literature reviews can be incorporated into a research paper or manuscript. You may quote or paraphrase from the sources, and all references to sources should include in-text parenthetical citations with a reference list at the end of the document. Sometimes, however, an instructor may require a separate literature review document and will have specific instructions for completing the assignment.

Below you will find general guidelines to consider when developing a literature review in the field of social work. Because social work is a social science field, you will most likely be required to use APA style. Please see our APA materials for information on creating parenthetical citations and reference lists.

1. Choose a variety of articles that relate to your subject, even if they do not directly answer your research question. You may find articles that loosely relate to the topic, rather than articles that you find using an exact keyword search. At first, you may need to cast a wide net when searching for sources.

For example: If your research question focuses on how people with chronic illnesses are treated in the workplace, you may be able to find some articles that address this specific question. You may also find literature regarding public perception of people with chronic illnesses or analyses of current laws affecting workplace discrimination.

2. Select the most relevant information from the articles as it pertains to your subject and your purpose. Remember, the purpose of the literature review is to demonstrate how your research question fits into a larger field of study.

3. Critically examine the articles. Look at methodology, statistics, results, theoretical framework, the author's purpose, etc. Include controversies when they appear in the articles.

For example: You should look for the strengths and weaknesses of how the author conducted the study. You can also decide whether or not the study is generalizable to other settings or whether the findings relate only to the specific setting of the study. Ask yourself why the author conducted the study and what he/she hoped to gain from the study. Look for inconsistencies in the results, as well.

4. Organize your information in the way that makes most sense. Some literature reviews may begin with a definition or general overview of the topic. Others may focus on another aspect of your topic. Look for themes in the literature or organize by types of study.

For example: Group case studies together, especially if all the case studies have related findings, research questions, or other similarities.

5. Make sure the information relates to your research question/thesis. You may need to explicitly show how the literature relates to the research question; don't assume that the connection is obvious.

6. Check to see that you have done more than simply summarize your sources. Your literature review should include a critical assessment of those sources. For more information, read the Experimental Psychology - Writing a Literature Review handout for questions to think about when reading sources.

7. Be sure to develop questions for further research. Again, you are not simply regurgitating information, but you are assessing and leading your reader to questions of your own, questions and ideas that haven't been explored yet or haven't been addressed in detail by the literature in the field.

Research Paper

Social work research paper.

This sample Social Work Research Paper is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need help writing your assignment, please use our research paper writing service and buy a paper on any topic at affordable price. Also check our tips on how to write a research paper , see the lists of research paper topics , and browse research paper examples .

Social workers are critical participants in bioethics discussions, debates, and activities. Social workers serve as case managers, clinicians, agency managers and administrators, community organizers, policy analysts, advocates, and researchers. They address a wide range of ethical issues, such as end-of-life decisions, reproductive rights, management of confidential information shared by patients and family members, informed consent, minors’ rights to confidentiality and treatment, patients’ right to refuse treatment, paternalism, conscience clauses, and allocation of limited resources. This entry provides an overview of the social work profession, social workers’ role in health-care settings, the evolution of ethical standards in social work, ethical challenges facing social workers in health-care settings, and relevant ethics concepts.

Introduction

Social workers throughout the world address issues of health care, poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness and affordable housing, eldercare, child welfare (protective services, adoption, foster care), disabilities, crime and delinquency, domestic and family conflict, trauma, and discrimination and oppression. Social workers serve as case managers, clinicians, agency managers and administrators, community organizers, policy analysts, advocates, and researchers. The roles social workers assume in various nations vary considerably. In some nations – particularly Western nations – significant numbers of social workers provide psychotherapeutic and other counseling services; in many nations, social workers serve primarily as case managers, advocates, and administrators.

The social work profession was inaugurated formally in the late nineteenth century, primarily in Europe and North America. Social work’s earliest practitioners provided services in settlement houses, hospitals, psychiatric clinics, schools, and juvenile courts. Since then, the social work profession has broadened its reach to include a much wider range of settings and client populations.

Social Work In Health Care

Many social workers provide services in healthcare settings, such as medical and psychiatric hospitals, outpatient medical facilities, hospice programs, rehabilitation facilities, physician group practices, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, home health agencies, and addiction facilities. Social workers in health-care settings provide services to patients, families, and groups to enhance their physical and emotional well-being. Social workers explain health-care resources and policies to patients, family members, and professional staff; help plan for post-hospital patient needs by arranging for services at another facility or in the home; explain to patients the causes of diseases, including environmental risk factors; help patients and families receive needed follow-up care by referral to health-care resources; understand and address social, cultural, and religious factors that contribute to patients’ responses to illness and their use of health-care resources; provide advocacy through appropriate government and private-sector organizations; and help patients with advance directives and other long-term care issues.

Social workers have played a vital role in health-care settings since the early twentieth century. Social work was formally introduced to medical settings in the USA by Dr. Richard C. Cabot in 1905. Cabot, a professor of both clinical medicine and social ethics at Harvard University, was instrumental in adding social workers to his clinic staff at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Under the direction of their first department head, Ida Cannon, these social workers helped patients and their families cope with illness, disease, disability, and hospitalization by focusing particularly on their psychosocial needs, including their emotional reaction and adaptation (Kerson et al. 2010).

Over time, social work’s function and influence in health-care settings have expanded significantly (Gehlert and Browne 2012), thus increasing the range of ethical issues they encounter. In addition to assisting hospitalized patients and their families, contemporary social workers provide genetic counseling, hospice services, psychotherapy and counseling in mental health agencies and outpatient health clinics that serve adults and children, and treatment of people with HIV-AIDS, eating disorders, and various addictions. These services sometimes involve complex ethical issues such as patient privacy and confidentiality, professional boundaries, informed consent, paternalism, truth-telling, and conflicts of interest. For example, a patient may disclose sensitive confidential information to a social worker concerning a mental health or addiction issue and ask the social worker not to share this information with family members or home health-care providers. Conversely, family members may share sensitive information with a social worker about the patient’s complex personal history and ask the social worker not to share the information with the patient. Or, a terminally ill patient may want to talk to a social worker confidentially about her suicidal thoughts and end-of-life preferences . Such situations require complex management of sensitive ethical issues.

Social workers are also skilled in organizing and facilitating support groups for various populations, such as cancer patients, molestation and sexual assault victims, and parents of seriously impaired infants. They work to enhance the availability of community-based resources (e.g., support groups, health-care clinics in low-income neighborhoods, residential services), advocate on behalf of individual patients who are in need of services, and advocate to ensure that important public policy issues related to health care are addressed (e.g., health-care subsidies for low-income patients and family members who provide them with home-based care, coverage for mental health and addiction services). These roles also lead to challenging ethical issues. For example, social workers who facilitate support groups must be familiar with unique ethical standards pertaining to the confidentiality rights and obligations of group participants. Social workers who participate in the development of guidelines concerning involuntary psychiatric commitment must be familiar with ethical standards concerning informed consent and patients’ right to refuse treatment. Social workers who seek to establish residential addiction facilities or HIV-AIDS programs may find themselves caught between the competing rights of clients and neighborhood residents who oppose locating such programs in their community.

In addition to ethical issues social workers encounter when they provide clinical and advocacy services, health-care social workers also face ethical challenges in their roles as program administrators, policy professionals, and members of institutional ethics committees and institutional review boards. Social work education’s broad focus on clinical, administrative, advocacy, and policy knowledge and skills is particularly useful when practitioners encounter ethical issues in health-care settings.

Social workers’ efforts to develop conceptual frameworks to address ethical issues began especially in the 1970s, as the broader field of applied, professional, and practical ethics developed.

These efforts were particularly prominent with respect to social work in health-care settings, due largely to the emergence of bioethics as a specialized area of knowledge and professional practice. However, ever since social work’s emergence in the late nineteenth century, practitioners have focused on a variety of ethical and moral issues.

The Evolution Of Social Work Ethics

Social workers’ exploration of ethical issues, including those related to health care, has evolved over time and includes several conceptually distinct, albeit sometimes overlapping, periods. These include the morality period, values period, ethical dilemmas and decision-making period, risk management period, and digital period.

Social work’s historical literature suggests that for many years, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the profession was focused much more on the morality of clients (often known as paupers) than practitioners. In many scholarly discussions, one finds Bibliography : to concern about the moral fiber, or the alleged lack thereof, of clients who struggled with issues such as poverty, unemployment, alcohol use, mental illness, or poor health. The phrase “professional ethics” did not exist during this period. Some of the discussions of clients’ morality had a rather paternalistic tone.

As social work matured as a profession, a handful of scholars and practitioners began exploring and writing rich commentaries about the profession’s core values, such as client dignity, self-worth, self-determination, and confidentiality. These important discussions and analyses sought to explore the implications of social work’s central values, especially when there were conflicts among the profession’s values, the broader society’s values, and social workers’ personal values. Especially during the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s, several social work authors wrote about the complex connections between social work values and contemporary controversies surrounding civil rights, women’s rights, welfare rights, prisoners’ rights, discrimination, and abortion (Banks 2012; Dolgoff et al. 2012; Hugman 2013; Reamer 2012). These discussions and debates were especially prominent in health-care settings with respect to clients’ right to refuse treatment, informed consent related to medical treatment, and women’s reproductive rights.

In the late 1970s, a relatively small group of social work scholars and practitioners began to pay close attention to the nature of ethical dilemmas in the profession. This development was an outgrowth of the dramatic emergence and maturation of the broader field of applied and professional ethics, especially bioethics. During this period, increasing numbers of scholars and practitioners in a wide range of professions (e.g., medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, journalism, business, law enforcement, engineering) focused explicitly for the first time in their respective histories on the nature of challenging ethical dilemmas facing practitioners. Discussions frequently focused on conflicts among professionals’ duties and obligations. Prominent examples in social work included conflicts between clients’ confidentiality rights and social workers’ duty to disclose confidential information without client consent to protect third parties; management of complex dual relationships and conflicts of interest; and imposing limits on clients’ right to self-determination and autonomy. In health-care settings, social workers focused especially on ethical dilemmas related to end-of-life decisions, reproductive rights, management of confidential information shared by patients and family members, informed consent, minors’ rights to confidentiality and treatment, patients’ right to refuse treatment, paternalism, conscience clauses, and allocation of limited resources (such as healthcare funds and scarce organs).

During this period, scholarship burgeoned on the subjects of ethical dilemmas in practice and ethical decision-making protocols. The richest discussions identified links between ethical theory, drawn from the discipline of moral philosophy, and real-life challenges faced by professionals, particularly those involving conflicts among professional duties and obligations.

For the first time in social work’s history, textbooks included in-depth overviews of ethical dilemmas and conceptual frameworks practitioners could use to address them. In social work, common topics concerned professional paternalism, the limits of clients’ confidentiality rights, managing informed consent challenges, complicated boundary issues, dual relationships, conflicts of interest, allocation of limited resources, whistle-blowing, and compliance with allegedly unjust laws. Over time, social work education programs developed curricula to teach students about ethical dilemmas and decision making.

In the early 1990s, yet another trend emerged, especially in the USA, which, compared with many other nations, is generally known as a relatively litigious society. This trend continues today. Although many social workers have sustained their interest in ethical dilemmas and decision making, new concerns emerged regarding ethics-related risk management. Data began to circulate concerning increases in lawsuits and licensing board complaints that raise ethical issues. Until this period, social workers rarely discussed such risks. Increased publicity have alerted social workers to relatively new information about the ways in which their ethical judgments could lead to litigation and licensing board complaints. Social workers have discovered how disgruntled clients and others could file formal complaints alleging, for example, mismanagement of clients’ confidential and privileged information, boundary and dual relationship violations, conflicts of interest, negligent service delivery, fraud, and inappropriate termination of services.

For the first time in social work’s history, literature has emerged about the links between social workers’ ethical judgment and potential malpractice, negligence, and professional discipline (Reamer 2014). Licensing boards in some nations, especially the USA and Canada, have developed websites listing social workers who were sanctioned because, for example, they committed fraud, had sex with clients, and disclosed sensitive confidential information without proper authorization.

Professional ethics no longer is limited to questions such as, “What’s the right thing to do in this complicated situation?” For many social workers, ethics now includes questions such as “Can I be sued or have a licensing board complaint filed against me if I.. .?” Ethics-related risk management has become a relatively new component of social work education and training. In health-care settings, social workers have been concerned about making ethical judgments in ways that protect clients and prevent lawsuits and ethics.

Today’s social workers in health-care settings can provide clinical services online or via video counseling or telephone to clients they never meet in person. They may receive Facebook friend requests from clients or former clients that lead to boundary challenges. In this digital era, social workers can use e-mail and text messages as therapeutic tools and provide clients with specialized smartphones that enable them to record and transmit summaries of their deeply personal health symptoms and moods to their clinicians and caseworkers, receive therapeutic messages and alerts, and communicate with other people in their digital network who face similar health challenges (a virtual support group).

The advent of this technology in health care has introduced unprecedented and controversial ethical challenges for social workers related to informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, boundaries, documentation, client abandonment, and the delivery of services across jurisdictional borders. Licensing boards and regulatory bodies in a number of nations are actively engaged in earnest efforts to develop constructive guidelines to govern entirely new forms of social work practice.

The Social Work Role In Bioethics

Social workers offer a unique perspective on bioethical challenges in health-care settings because of the profession’s broad-based and explicit focus on clinical, administrative, policy, social justice, cultural diversity, and ethical issues (Banks 2012; Dolgoff et al. 2012; Hugman 2013; Reamer 2012, 2013). As clinicians, social workers can help clients and family members cope with difficult moral judgments related, for example, to end-of-life care, genetic screening, pregnancy management, consent to treatment, and termination of services.

As administrators, social workers can participate in difficult ethical judgments about the allocation of limited and scarce health-care resources (known in moral philosophy as issues of distributive justice), implementation of controversial health-care laws and regulations, management of ethics crises and unethical practices, and the implementation of patients’ rights policies. As community organizers and advocates, social workers can help stakeholders navigate orchestrated challenges to controversial health-care policies and laws and manage complex conflicts concerning health-care financing. As policy professionals, social workers can contribute to discussions and debates about the ethical implications of health-care reforms, especially regarding access to health care for vulnerable and oppressed populations. That is, social workers are trained to examine ethical issues through multiple lenses, focusing simultaneously on pertinent clinical, policy, administrative, social justice, and cultural diversity issues.

Social workers in health-care settings typically function as part of an interdisciplinary team, which may include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, nutritionists, rehabilitation staff, clergy, and health-care administrators. On occasion, social workers facilitate the process through which health-care professionals negotiate differences of opinion or conflict among themselves concerning specific ethical issues. In this respect, social work’s unique mission, perspectives, and methods can be especially useful when health-care professionals encounter ethical challenges. Social workers are trained to mediate conflict and understand that clinical ethics (e.g., decisions about access to services, end-of-life care, reproductive rights, organ donation, and patient privacy) is linked inextricably with challenging policy and social justice issues. Hence, the social work perspective – which calls for simultaneous examination of relevant clinical, administrative, policy, cultural diversity, religious, social justice, and ethical issues – is particularly valuable in interdisciplinary health-care settings where colleagues (especially physicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals) may be inclined to focus primarily on clinical issues.

Using their clinical skills, social workers can be particularly helpful when there is complicated intersection between ethical issues and patients’ mental health challenges and family dynamics. For example, social workers’ skilled use of mediation techniques can help to resolve disagreements that sometimes arise in health-care settings between patients and family members. Often, what appear to be intense ethics-related disagreements among family members – for example, decisions about honoring a patient’s wishes regarding end-of-life care or telling a relative the truth about a grim prognosis – may reflect long-standing family conflicts; skilled clinical social workers who are sensitive to ethical issues can help family members and health-care professionals resolve complex ethical challenges by identifying and addressing relevant family issues. Social workers use their unique training and clinical skills to help patients, family members, and colleagues understand how some ethical issues intersect with mental health issues and family dynamics. Further, social workers understand the ways in which patients’ mental health challenges (e.g., chronic and debilitating depression or anxiety) may influence the patients’ management of ethical choices pertaining to end-of-life care, disclosure of confidential information, refusal of treatment, and informed consent.

In the policy arena, social workers are critically important participants in discussions of healthcare reform. Debate among politicians, healthcare advocates, citizens, insurance industry executives, and health-care administrators about health-care benefits and coverage, eligibility criteria, and access to services ultimately has moral implications. Social workers’ participation in these conversations can increase the likelihood that participants will appreciate and address the ethical implications of their policy decisions for patients, families, communities, and the broader society (Holtz 2008).

Social work’s traditional focus on cultural and religious diversity is especially relevant when ethical issues arise in health-care settings around the globe. Social workers’ sensitivity to ethnic, cultural, and religious issues can be particularly helpful when there is a clash between the patients’ and families’ values and prevailing ethical norms, health-care policies, and practices (e.g., concerning the acceptability of certain lifesaving interventions, organ donation and transplantation, mood-altering medication, autopsy, or blood transfusion). Social workers are trained to understand that key bioethics concepts such as informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, boundaries, paternalism, truth-telling, and autonomy are interpreted very differently in diverse international communities and across ethnic, cultural, social, and religious groups. For example, some cultures value autonomy and patient self-determination, whereas others are more likely to defer to health-care professionals’ authority and judgment. Some cultures insist on strict boundaries between the practitioners’ and clients’ lives, while others are much more flexible and appreciate well-meaning dual relationships. In the USA and Canada, for example, both laws and ethical norms emphasize the clients’ right to control disclosure of confidential information. In contrast, in some Asian nations, ethical norms permit and encourage social workers to share sensitive information with the clients’ family members even though clients have not provided formal consent for the release of this information (Marsiglia and Kulis 2009; Reamer 2012).

Some of the bioethical issues that social workers encounter require specialized knowledge pertaining to specific medical conditions (Kerson et al. 2010). Examples include ethical dilemmas related to a family’s decision about withdrawal of a cancer patient’s life support, abortion following a rape, organ transplantation, the use of restraints with a noncompliant psychiatric patient, or a patient’s decision to refuse neuroleptic medication. When such issues arise, social workers often serve as important intermediaries in relationships among patients, their families, and health-care professionals. In these instances, social workers help patients and their families make difficult personal decisions, facilitate communication among members of the health-care team, advocate on a patient’s or family’s behalf, or raise policy issues that need to be addressed by a hospital, nursing home, home health agency, or rehabilitation facility.

Other bioethical issues concern the nature of relationships and transactions between social workers and patients or their families. For example, social workers in health-care settings must be familiar with privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, and boundary-related norms that govern relationships with patients and families. They must also be sensitive to complex ethical issues involving patients’ right to self-determination, truth-telling, professional paternalism, and whistle-blowing).

In particular, social workers can clarify differences among the different, sometimes conflicting, ethical obligations that guide various health-scare professions. For example, social workers in a health-care setting can help clarify the ethical responsibilities of various professionals when minors request health-care services without notification of their parents or when staff suspect child abuse or that a patient with AIDS poses a threat to a sexual partner. Laws in different jurisdictions vary, for instance, regarding minors’ right to health care and regarding which health-care professionals are permitted to disclose confidential information, without patients’ consent, to protect third parties who are at risk of exposure to HIV or AIDS (Slater and Finck 2012). These laws differ among nations and among jurisdictions within nations.

In addition to their clinical role, social workers may be members of institutional ethics committees (IECs) that discuss ethically complex cases and health-care policies (Hester and Schonfeld 2012; Post et al. 2007). They may offer a particularly valuable perspective because of their extensive contact with patients and their families and can, therefore, contribute to discussions about, for example, resuscitation guidelines, patients’ right to refuse treatment, advance directives, organ transplantation, treatment of severely impaired infants, patients’ privacy rights, and patients’ participation in high-risk research protocols. Because of their broad-based education, social workers who serve on ethics committees can offer both clinical and policy-related expertise, particularly when issues arise concerning the implications of cultural diversity (including ethnicity, race, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and religion) for ethical judgments and policies.

The concept of ethics committees (also known as institutional ethics committees) first emerged in 1976, when the New Jersey Supreme Court in the USA ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan’s family and physicians should consult an ethics committee to help them decide whether to remove Quinlan from life-support technology. Ethics committees, which have been most prominent in health-care settings (especially hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation facilities, hospice, and home health-care programs), typically include representatives from various disciplines and positions, such as nursing, medicine, social work, the clergy, and agency administration. (There is some debate about whether an agency’s attorney should be on an ethics committee because of lawyers’ unique fiduciary duty to protect their clients’ interests first and foremost.)

Some ethics committees include an ethicist – either an agency employee (for instance, in large teaching hospitals) or an outside consultant – who has formal training in applied and professional ethics, moral philosophy, and ethics consultation. Some ethicists are trained philosophers or theologians with a special interest in professional ethics and bioethics, and some are members of a human services profession (such as nursing, social work, or medicine) who have supplemental education related to ethics.

Many ethics committees provide agency staff with case-related consultation services and nonbinding advice, particularly when staff members or clients want assistance in thinking through difficult ethical decisions. For example, in hospital settings, ethics committees may offer consultation and nonbinding advice on issues related to termination of life-support technology, the use of aggressive care with terminally ill patients, patients’ right to refuse treatment, and patients’ eligibility for organ transplantation. Although ethics committees are not always able to provide definitive advice or guidance about complex ethical issues, they can offer colleagues and clients with a forum for organized, focused, explicit, and principled exploration of ethical dilemmas. This can provide participants with a greater understanding of the issues and options they face and enhance the quality of their decision making.

Many ethics committees also serve other functions. Some are responsible for reviewing existing ethics-related policies in health-care settings and suggesting revisions, sometimes in response to controversial case-related issues that arise in the agency. Ethics committees also draft new ethics related policies and procedures for more formal review and approval by agency administrators and boards of directors.

Some social workers are active participants on institutional review boards (IRBs) in health-care settings that examine a variety of ethical issues in research involving human participants. Ethical standards in social work pertaining to research include extensive guidelines concerning evidence-based practice, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, protection from harm, and conflicts of interest.

In addition, social workers may be involved in workplace discussions and legislative advocacy about the ethical aspects of health-care financing mechanisms and cost-containment measures. They may also propose ways to advocate on patients’ behalf or to advocate for policy reform in the public and private sectors that may provide a more just allocation of scarce health-care resources at the local, national, or international level. An example is social workers’ participation on a task force whose mission is to enhance low-income people’s access to basic health care or on a hospital committee concerned about pressure to limit care provided to, and hasten discharge of, psychiatric patients covered under managed care programs operated by private, for-profit insurers. In these instances, social workers may help identify the psychosocial consequences of various strategies to allocate limited health-care resources.

Enhancing Social Work’s Contribution To Bioethics

To participate fully in discussions of bioethical issues and dilemmas, social workers need specialized knowledge and training. First, they need to be familiar with the history, language, concepts, and theories of bioethics as they pertain to practical ethics challenges, particularly as they have evolved since the early 1970s, when the professional ethics field began in earnest (Copp 2007). Second, social workers should be knowledgeable about formal mechanisms that can help healthcare professionals monitor and address bioethical issues. These include phenomena such as institutional ethics committees, institutional review boards, utilization review and quality assurance committees, informed consent procedures, and advance directives. Social workers should understand the nature of ethics consultation in healthcare settings and the ways in which ethicists can serve as useful resources. In addition, social workers should participate in policy-making efforts in health-care settings concerning such issues as conscience clauses, advance directives, organ donation and transplantation, patients’ rights, do-not-resuscitate orders, withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, refusal of blood transfusion, stem cell research, and research involving human participants.

It is also useful for social workers to be acquainted with relevant codes of ethics and legal considerations (statutes, regulations, case law) related to patients’ rights and health-care professionals’ obligations. In many nations, codes of ethics in social work and allied health professions have become increasingly sophisticated with regard to issues such as informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, privileged communication, conflicts of interest, dual relationships, client abandonment, allocation of limited resources, compliance with unethical policies and orders, dishonesty and fraud, and impaired professionals (Reamer 2006).

The breadth and depth of social work codes of ethics around the world vary considerably. Social work codes of ethics exist in three different contexts. First, internationally, many professional social work associations have developed codes of ethics. These are voluntary associations of social workers. Thus, these codes typically carry no legal or formal regulatory authority, although the associations may insist on compliance with the code as a condition of membership. The International Federation of Social Workers publicizes ethics codes from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA, and the UK.

Secondly, in some nations, social work ethics codes have been developed or adopted by governmental licensing boards or regulatory bodies that authorize social work practice. Some governmental licensing boards and regulatory bodies develop their own ethical standards, some formally adopt portions of codes developed by prominent voluntary social work associations, and some formally adopt entire codes developed by prominent voluntary social work associations. These ethical standards become legally enforceable once they are incorporated into licensing statutes or regulations.

Thirdly, many private-sector human and social service agencies have adopted codes of ethics or ethical standards to which employees are bound. Here too, some of these organizations develop their own unique ethical standards and some draw on codes of ethics developed by prominent voluntary professional associations. In some instances – especially when the agency hires employees educated in different professions – agencies will draw on ethical standards from diverse professions, choosing those standards that are most relevant to their mission, client population, programs, services, and local cultural norms.

Social work codes of ethics are remarkably diverse in their purpose, content, and format. Several prominent examples illustrate this diversity. For example, in the UK, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), a voluntary association, offers a code of relatively modest length that defines social work and provides an overview of core values and principles and guidelines for ethical practice focusing on “service users,” the social work profession, the workplace, and social workers’ responsibilities in particular roles (management, education, training, supervision and evaluation, independent practice, and research). Since membership in the BASW is voluntary, this code is not used for regulatory purposes.

In England, a mandatory code of conduct for social workers has been adopted by the General Social Care Council (the body appointed by the UK government to regulate professional social work and professional social work education). As a result, the term “social worker” became a protected title. Social workers are required to accept a code of conduct and could be disciplined if their actions are deemed to have breached the code. Prior to implementation of this code of conduct, any person in the caring professions could use the term social worker irrespective of role or qualification. The English code includes three broad sections: an introduction that describes the function of the guidelines, a code of practice for employers, and a code of practice for social care workers.

Similar to the BASW, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) offers a widely disseminated code of ethics to which members are held. In contrast to the English approach, which enforces ethical standards through a national code of practice that applies to a diverse group of “social care workers,” the individual Canadian provinces have the authority to develop and adopt legally enforceable codes of ethics that pertain exclusively to social workers. The CASW Code of Ethics is a relatively short document; it includes a brief preamble and a summary of core social work values and principles related to respect for inherent dignity and worth of persons, pursuit of social justice, service to humanity, professional integrity, confidentiality, and competence. The CASW also publishes a companion document, Guidelines for Ethical Practice, which offers detailed guidelines regarding a wide range of ethical issues and challenges.

In Canada, enforceable ethical standards exist at the provincial level. Thus, the Alberta College of Social Workers, the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Social Workers, among other regional groups, have the authority to develop their own standards of practice.

In yet another arrangement, the principal set of ethical standards in Australia is promulgated by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), a voluntary professional association. In Australia, the AASW code is the national lodestar, even though the organization does not have the legal authority to regulate social work. Some social workers choose not to join AASW and, therefore, fall outside the AASW’s purview. The AASW code includes a summary of core values, ethical standards, and a brief guide to ethical decision making. The AASW also publishes extensive practice standards with which members are expected to adhere in conjunction with the code of ethics.

In contrast, the Singapore Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics includes a mix of general principles and narrowly focused ethical standards concerning social workers’ ethical responsibilities to clients and colleagues, in practice settings, to the social work profession, and to the broader society. This is an example of a code adopted by a voluntary professional association that incorporates abstract principles concerning social work’s mission and narrowly worded standards concerning such topics as audio recording of clients, sexual misconduct, and informed consent by minors.

The National Association of Social Workers (USA) Code of Ethics has served as an influential model and resource for many codes of ethics around the world. This detailed code includes a preamble and mission statement for the social work profession, a summary of core values and broad ethical principles, and a comprehensive list of specific ethical standards. A number of social work associations, licensing boards, regulatory bodies, and private social and human service agencies have drawn on the NASW code. Within the USA, the NASW Code of Ethics is the best known and most influential set of ethical standards applying to social workers. Ethics codes have also been developed by other social work organizations in the USA, such as the National Association of Black Social Workers and the Clinical Social Work Association.

In the USA, codes of ethics are used by several bodies that govern social workers. The NASW, the nation’s largest professional social work association, uses the NASW Code of Ethics to review and adjudicate ethics complaints filed against NASW members. Further, many of the individual state licensing boards in the USA have formally adopted the NASW Code of Ethics, or portions of the code, and use it to review and adjudicate ethics complaints filed against licensed social workers. Finally, many public and private social service agencies have adopted the NASW Code of Ethics or portions of the code, as formal agency policy, and use the code’s standards to guide and assess employees’ conduct.

In addition to the codes of ethics promulgated by voluntary social work associations, licensing and regulatory bodies, and private agencies in many nations, the code developed by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), Ethics in Social Work: Statement of Principles, provides an overarching, truly international code of ethics. The IFSW represents social work organizations in some 90 nations and places special emphasis on human rights, human dignity, social justice, and professional conduct. The IASSW includes members from educational institutions throughout the world. This code was written deliberately at a fairly high level of abstraction. The IFSWIASSW code makes explicit reference to relevant international human rights declarations and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It is essential for social workers to appreciate the ways in which their involvement in, and view of, ethical issues vary in different nations and cultures. Concepts such as informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and professional-client boundaries have very different meanings in different cultural contexts. Issues pertaining to the allocation of health-care resources are profoundly different in countries with nationalized health care and countries where health-care services are provided by for-profit and nonprofit private-sector hospitals and outpatient clinics. In nationalized health-care systems, resource allocation decisions are not based on implications for investors or shareholders; however, decisions in for-profit health-care settings are likely to be guided by such considerations.

Finally, social workers should be familiar with the various schools of thought and bioethics concepts that pertain to ethical decision making and ethical theory (including relevant theories of normative ethics, such as deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and care ethics). This can be particularly useful when social workers are involved in discussions of cases with professional ethicists, for example, when a decision must be made about when and how to tell a fragile, terminally ill patient the truth about his or her diagnosis or to disclose confidential information, against a patient’s wishes, in order to protect a third party. This training may be offered as part of agency-based in-service education, professional conferences, or undergraduate and graduate social work education.

Especially since the 1970s, social workers throughout the world have been aware of the diverse and complex bioethical issues involved in health care, whether they involve acute or chronic, inpatient or outpatient, or medical, rehabilitative, nursing, or psychiatric care. Social workers’ growing awareness of, and enhanced expertise in addressing, global bioethical issues helps to ensure the protection of patients’ and families’ rights and the soundness of ethical decisions made in health-care settings.

Bibliography :

• Banks, S. (2012). Ethics and values in social work (4th ed.). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Copp, D. (Ed.). (2007). The Oxford handbook of ethical theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Dolgoff, R., Harrington, D., & Loewenberg, F. (2012). Ethical decisions for social work practice (9th ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.
• Gehlert, S., & Browne, T. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of health social work (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.
• Hester, M., & Schonfeld, T. (Eds.). (2012). Guidance for health care ethics committees. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Holtz, C. (2008). Global health care: Issues and policies. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.
• Hugman, R. (2013). Culture, values, and ethics in social work: Embracing diversity. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
• Kerson, T., McCoyd, J., & Associates. (2010). Social work in health settings: Practice in context (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Marsiglia, F., & Kulis, S. (2009). Diversity, oppression, and change: Culturally grounded social work. Chicago: Lyceum.
• Post, L., Blustein, J., & Dubler, N. (2007). Handbook for health care ethics committees. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Reamer, F. (2006). Ethical standards in social work: A review of the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
• Reamer, F. (2012). Boundary issues and dual relationships in the human services. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Reamer, F. (2013). Social work values and ethics (4th ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.
• Reamer, F. (2014). Risk management in social work: Preventing professional malpractice, liability, and disciplinary action. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Slater, L., & Finck, K. (2012). Social work practice and the law. New York: Springer.
• Corey, G., Corey, M., Corey, C., & Callanan, P. (2015). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (9th ed.). Stamford: Cengage.
• Dziegielewski, S. (2013). The changing face of health care social work (3rd ed.). New York: Springer.
• Kirst-Ashman, K. (2013). Introduction to social work and social welfare (4th ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.
• Zastrow, C. (2014). Introduction to social work and social welfare (11th ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole.
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Many students struggle to find suitable social work research topics. This field has many subjects that learners can explore in their dissertations. The simplest social work definition describes it as a set of functions that enable you to improve other people’s lives. A social worker helps children and adults cope with daily issues, personal issues, family issues, and relationship troubles.

Considering the scope of this field, selecting an ideal social work research topic can be challenging. Learners have many pressing issues that they can cover in their papers. Nevertheless, choosing an interesting topic is essential in writing a winning dissertation.

Social Work Research Paper Outline

Once you’ve chosen a topic for your social work dissertation or research paper, the next step is to outline it. Your outline should highlight the components of your work, incorporating the argument. Also, identify your stance on an issue, tying up the other parts of the paper because it will enable you to create a thesis statement. Here are the key sections to highlight in your outline.

Introduction: The intro should present your study’s background while providing relevant details of the problem. Use a strong opening phrase to grab your readers’ attention and engage them so they can read the rest of the paper. The introduction should present your study’s context, formulate its primary goal, and end with an effective thesis statement. Main body: This section should feature the main arguments. It highly depends on your research type and the methods you use. It may include a literature review analyzing other scholars’ findings and identifying gaps in previous studies. Also, this section explains the methods you use in your research, results, and discussions. Conclusion: The conclusion should summarize the findings and wrap up the dissertation. You can restate your thesis statement to remind readers about your position on the issue and your goal. The best approach is to reward the thesis statement persuasively while encouraging readers to think about the problem. Also, you can recommend further research explaining why the topic is worth exploring.

After drafting an outline, you can proceed to research and write your social work paper. Edit and proofread the work or seek professional assistance to ensure its quality.

General Social Work Research Topics Ideas

Maybe you want to write a thesis on general topics in this study field. In that case, here are ideas you can explore in your paper.

• How substance abuse influence parenting
• Teenager adoption- Happiness and hardships that come with it
• How to address the inclination to commit suicide
• Should society question the stigma surrounding mental sickness?
• Foster homes and group therapy- Is it effective?
• How does the lack of child support affect childcare
• Investigating autistic children and social displacement
• How does clinical depression affect adolescent children
• How does continuous mobility influence orphan toddlers
• Analyzing the stigma surrounding depression
• How to manage intrinsic PTSD for medical veterans
• Exploring the stigma surrounding disability
• How homelessness influences a person’s psychology
• How does displacement influence aggressiveness among street children
• How the works of several agencies affect child protection
• Exploring perceptions and attitudes of oppression between the community and health professionals
• Addressing cultural perspectives- Transiting to social work
• The social worker’s role in deciding to end life
• Lifelong learning model- Exploring evidence-based practices
• The reflection law- a learning model or self-indulgence in social work

These are general ideas worth exploring in your social work dissertation. Nevertheless, please select any of these titles when confident you will be comfortable working on them.

Common Social Worker Research Topics

Maybe you’re searching for something your readers can quickly identify with when reading your paper. If so, this section lists some of the best ideas to investigate in your social work thesis.

• How to create dyslexia patients’ awareness
• Analyzing similarities and differences between ADHD and dyslexia
• How alcoholism affects personal, family, and social lifestyle
• How a family can exacerbate depression
• Why academic and social integration matter for kids suffering from down syndrome
• Investigating the social exclusion of kids with down syndrome
• The effectiveness of anti-depressants- A clinical study
• How alcoholism affects a person’s psyche
• The positive impact of sponsors on recovering addicts’ lives
• Investigating family support and its effects on alcohol recovery
• Why group therapy matters for foster home children
• How clinical depression affects teenage girls
• How the lack of support affects child care in America
• How ADHD affects foster home children
• How mental illness misdiagnosis affects people
• How to address suicidal tendencies in military units
• Why social interrogation matters when dealing with stigma surrounding mental illness
• How parents’ bipolar affects their children’s lives and parenting
• Is childhood displacement the cause of antisocial lifestyle among foster children?
• The joys and struggles of teenagers’ adoption
• Investigating the undisclosed rape violence cases among military women- How it affects their service and lives
• How substance abuse affects parenting
• Child-parent separation- Investigating the stigma it brings
• Positive impacts of divorce on children’s lifestyle and health
• Addressing substance abuse issues among teenagers
• How death affects a family’s well-being
• Family support study- Is it a viable option for alcohol recovery?

Most people will identify with these topics because they touch on issues with which they are familiar. However, investigate the matter you select carefully to develop a winning dissertation.

Exciting Social Work Research Questions

Maybe you want to answer a question in your thesis paper. If so, consider any of these questions as a topic for your essay.

• How can you support an adult living with a disability?
• What are the social and psychological impacts of student loans?
• What are the psychological, physical, and emotional effects of incarceration of pregnant mothers?
• What challenges do minority children face in foster homes?
• Transformative change- Can police brutality enhance it?
• How can society deal with the rising obesity in America?
• How can we support bipolar patients?
• What are the effects of incarcerated individuals’ entry into the community?
• What is the percentage of incarcerated adults among minority groups?
• Does substance misuse increase alcoholism cases?
• How does community violence affect LGBT lives?
• What is the difference between Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2?
• Can trauma inform children’s education in foster homes?
• Can protesting police brutality promote transformative change?
• Does divorce affect all children’s psyches negatively?
• Does foster homes’ trauma cause kids’ disappearance from the facility?
• Can implementing learning curriculums with a positive impact on dyslexic students enhance academics?
• Does trauma-informed learning reflect parenting?
• Do food and house security affect foster children throughout their lives?
• Has the criminal justice system failed social lifestyle in America?
• What are the primary workplace trauma signs?
• How can society address workplace violence?
• How do scarcity and poverty affect young children’s psychology?
• How can you identify depression in a teenager?
• Has the American healthcare system failed minority groups?
• What are the risks of kids-parent separation?
• What are the impacts of living with dyslexia?
• Is depression a mental disorder?
• What are the effects of racial disparity?

Any of these questions can be an excellent title for your dissertation. Nevertheless, consult various information sources to write a high-quality paper.

Human Services Research Paper Topics

Human services is a part of the social work field dealing with issues related to human services, factors affecting them, and how to address the challenges. Here are ideas to consider in this category.

• How to address panic, anxiety, and depression in young children
• The psychological impact of human trafficking on victims
• Psychological effects of child trafficking
• Similarities between adult incarceration and juvenile delinquency
• How unemployment affects people
• Factors that increase depression cases among the youth
• Police system- Defunded, reformed, or abolished?
• How the carceral system in America affects minority and low-income homes
• Social integration of dyslexic and down syndrome patients
• Effective ways to enhance welfare conditions
• Food banks and their adverse psychological effects
• The benefits of food banks on American lives
• The impact of home violence on children
• The result of high school bullying
• Why welfare workers need support groups and therapy
• How to enhance love in foster homes
• Resilience practice among social workers
• Juvenile delinquency impacts in America
• The shortcomings of America’s carceral system
• How to address the homophobia issue in the U.S
• How homophobia affects LGBT+ adults
• What causes family violence?
• How to address spousal violence
• How family cruelty affects lives
• Undiagnosed bipolar cases and their effects
• Impacts of misdiagnosed mental illnesses
• How to enhance LGBTQ+ kids’ support systems
• The result of home insecurity on the homeless
• How to bridge the gap between community members and formerly incarcerated individuals
• Incarceration- Abolished or reformed?

These human services topics are worth investigating in a research paper. However, take the time to research your chosen title to write an exciting piece.

Controversial Topics In Social Work

Some social work essay topics are controversial. Some people find these titles controversial because they provoke public interest. Here are some of them.

• Flood and hurricane survivors and their hidden trauma
• How hurricanes affect low-income neighborhoods
• Trafficking- How it affects a society’s social well-being
• Unreported abuse cases in homes and how they promote violence
• Social, health, and psychological implications of the abortion ban for rape victims
• Why the community should enhance awareness of AIDS stigmatization
• Therapy continuous cycle- Why a therapist requires therapy
• The unnoticed and hidden trauma among therapists and counselors
• How court-sanctioned confinement promotes mental illness instead of facilitating correlation
• How to address violence- Is it a social problem in the correctional system?
• Sexual health education- Is it vital for incarcerated women?
• How social media affects a person’s mental health and well-being
• The effectiveness of different types of therapy for treating mental health disorders.
• The prevalence of Eating Disorders in developed countries.
• The role of family dynamics in the development and treatment of Eating Disorders.
• How do different cultures view mental health and mental illness?
• Is there a link between creativity and mental illness?
• Does psychiatric medication use lead to higher recovery rates from mental illness?
• What are the most effective interventions for helping people with substance abuse problems?
• How to deal with grief and loss?
• How can we better support people with chronic physical health conditions?
• Drug abuse- Is it increasing in low-income neighborhoods?
• The negative impacts of incarceration on the imprisoned people’s psychological well-being
• Reasons to investigate confinement and its dangers
• Ways to help addicts facing high drug vulnerability
• How cognitive-behavioral therapy enhances the relationship between social workers and their situations or environments
• The health benefits of hypnosis on individuals
• Why treatment is essential for less represented groups
• Distinguishing undiagnosed depression and clinical depression
• A qualitative investigation of dyslexia among adolescents
• How empathy can enhance the social work sector
• Why qualitative examination of foster homes for peace and child safety matters

These are controversial topics to consider in this academic field. Prepare to take a stance and defend it if you pick any of these social work project ideas.

Social Work Topics For Presentation

Maybe you want to include a presentation in your paper. That’s because social work is a practical field requiring some displays. Consider the following titles for your essay if you want to include a presentation.

• What are Stockholm syndrome and its effects?
• How to understand syndrome victims better
• How incest affects homes
• Investigating sexually violated kids
• Why free healthcare matters in foster homes and low-income neighborhoods
• How adult incarceration and juvenile delinquency affect society
• Juvenile delinquency and trauma
• LGBTQ+ children trauma and adolescent transitioning
• Foster kids and neglect-syndrome
• Why diversity matters in the social work sector
• Social workers- Understanding their trauma
• Foster parenting- What are the positive impacts?
• Do foster homes create a safe space?
• Foster parents and their roles in preventing violence
• Social workers and their role in preventing drug abuse
• The effects of domestic violence
• Psychological violence and its damages
• How spirituality affects techniques in social works
• Social works and their historical development
• Social work and its importance in schools
• Why teenagers’ therapy matters
• Exploring the challenges facing social workers in the forensics sector
• Investigating the struggles facing the minority groups
• Studying abuse and violence in middle-class homes
• Why finance matters in social works sustenance
• The impact of compassion fatigue
• Modern social workers and their challenges
• Drug abuse and its effects on children
• Why inclusivity matters in social works
• Same-sex relationships- Why they matter to a social worker
• Why high schools need drug sensitization
• Investigating depression stereotypes

Pick any of these ideas and use them to draft a paper that includes a presentation. Nevertheless, research your topic extensively to prepare a winning dissertation.

Interesting Social Work Topics

Some issues in social work draw more attention than others because they are unique. Here are such topics.

• The impacts of pregnancy on teenage mothers
• The increasing pressure and effects of social media on teenagers’ lives
• How welfare systems relate to low-income neighborhoods
• Why are rehabilitation centers are essential in America than carceral systems
• How cultural beliefs and gender roles affect marriages
• Low labor and its role in workplace abuse
• How the increasing housing cost affects young millennials
• The part of abortion bans on psychological issues
• How birth control roles affect society negatively
• How are teenagers, the general community, and school related?
• Analyzing first-time menstrual experiences and their impact on teenage girls within foster homes
• Wellness therapy and its sustainability
• Investigating poverty prevalence in the American Deep South- How it prevents the growth
• The implications of relationships on social workers’ interactions
• The negative impact of conversion therapy on the LGBTQ+ community
• How an inclusive and functional healthcare system enhances social growth
• Shelter homes women- Investigating their life experiences
• The prevalent racial disparity in food bank systems in America
• Understanding social relegations and stigma of welfare mothers
• Client-therapist relationship- Investigating psychiatric therapists and their work

These topics address relevant issues that society often neglects. Pick any idea in this category and explore it further through research and analysis.

Social Work Thesis Topics

Educators will ask you to write different papers when pursuing social work studies. A sociology thesis is among the documents you might write when pursuing a master’s or Ph.D. studies. Here are topics to consider for these papers.

• Investigating expecting mothers’ postpartum depression
• How interdependency differs from codependency among youth adults
• Emotional unavailability in homes- Does it enhance codependency?
• Codependency- Is it a displacement feature?
• Foster kids and future attachment methods
• Social work and disability disparity
• Disability challenges facing the healthcare system
• Compassion integration in social works
• ADHD- What are the most common myths about it?
• How emotionally immature parents affect their adult children psychologically
• Drug addiction and treatment plans
• Addressing challenges facing visually impaired students
• Investigating foster homes and child abuse
• The emotional impact of a transition into a nursing home
• Exploring immigrant families and parenthood
• The intricacies of child labor

These are exciting topics to consider for your social work thesis. Nevertheless, prepare adequate time and resources to investigate any of these titles to develop a paper that will earn you the best grade.

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Perhaps, you have chosen a title but don’t have the skills or time to write a top-notch paper. Maybe you’ve never scored high grades on your report, and your professor or parent constantly reprimands you. In that case, you need help with your academic writing.

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199+ Social Work Research Topics [Updated 2024]

In the vast and dynamic field of social work, research plays a pivotal role in shaping interventions, policies, and practices. Social work research is not just an academic pursuit but a powerful tool for effecting positive change in communities. As aspiring researchers delve into this realm, the journey begins with a crucial decision – selecting the right social work research topic.

In this blog, we will explore the significance of choosing the right social work research topics, provide insights into the selection process, highlight popular research areas, discuss emerging trends, offer tips for conducting research, and share valuable resources for social work researchers.

Significance of Choosing the Right Social Work Research Topics

Table of Contents

Impact on Research Quality

The choice of a research topic significantly influences the quality and relevance of the research conducted. A well-chosen topic enhances the researcher’s ability to contribute meaningfully to the existing body of knowledge in social work.

Alignment with Personal Interests and Goals

Selecting a topic aligned with personal interests and career goals fosters a sense of passion and commitment. This alignment not only sustains the researcher’s enthusiasm throughout the process but also increases the likelihood of producing impactful research.

Contribution to the Field of Social Work

The right research topic has the potential to contribute to the broader field of social work by addressing pressing issues, proposing innovative solutions, and advancing our understanding of complex social dynamics.

How to Select Social Work Research Topics?

• Understanding the Scope of Social Work: Social work is a multifaceted discipline that encompasses various domains such as mental health, child welfare, community development, and more. Prospective researchers should explore the diverse scopes within social work to identify areas that resonate with their interests and expertise.
• Identifying Personal Interests and Passion: Passion fuels research endeavors. Researchers should reflect on their personal experiences, values, and interests to identify areas within social work that evoke a strong sense of commitment.
• Considering Relevance to Current Social Issues: Social work research gains significance when it addresses current societal challenges. Researchers should evaluate potential topics based on their relevance to contemporary issues, ensuring that the findings can contribute meaningfully to ongoing dialogues and efforts for social change.

199+ Social Work Research Topics: Category-Wise

Mental health and social work.

• The impact of community support on mental health outcomes.
• Examining the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in social work.
• Exploring stigma surrounding mental health in diverse populations.
• Integrating technology in mental health counseling: Challenges and opportunities.
• The role of social work in preventing suicide and self-harm.

Diversity and Inclusion in Social Work

• LGBTQ+ inclusivity in social work practice.
• Addressing microaggressions and bias in social work interactions.
• Promoting cultural competence in social work education.
• Exploring challenges faced by immigrants and refugees in accessing social services.
• Intersectionality in social work: Understanding and addressing multiple identities.

Social Work and Community Development

• Evaluating the impact of community gardens on neighborhood well-being.
• The role of social workers in disaster response and recovery.
• Strategies for combating homelessness and housing insecurity.
• Assessing the effectiveness of community-based participatory research in social work.
• Social work’s contribution to sustainable community development.

Social Work and Child Welfare

• Investigating the long-term outcomes of children in foster care.
• The impact of parental substance abuse on child welfare.
• Exploring cultural competence in child welfare services.
• Innovative approaches to supporting kinship care families.
• Assessing the effectiveness of early intervention programs for at-risk children.

Global Perspectives in Social Work Research

• Cross-cultural perspectives on social work ethics.
• Human rights and social work: An international comparison.
• The role of social work in addressing global health disparities.
• Social work responses to forced migration and refugee crises.
• Comparative analysis of social work systems in different countries.

Technology and Social Work

• Ethical considerations in the use of artificial intelligence in social work.
• Online therapy and its implications for the future of social work.
• Integrating telehealth in social work practice: Challenges and benefits.
• Cyberbullying and the role of social workers in prevention and intervention.
• The impact of social media on social work advocacy.

Policy and Advocacy in Social Work

• Analyzing the impact of welfare reform on vulnerable populations.
• Social work advocacy for criminal justice reform.
• The role of social workers in shaping healthcare policies.
• Addressing disparities in access to education through social work policy.
• Environmental justice and the role of social work in sustainability.

Substance Abuse and Addiction in Social Work

• Harm reduction strategies in social work practice.
• Supporting families affected by substance abuse: A social work perspective.
• Exploring the intersection of trauma and addiction in social work.
• Assessing the effectiveness of drug prevention programs in schools.
• The role of social workers in opioid addiction treatment.

Gerontology and Aging in Social Work

• Aging in place: Examining the role of social work in supporting seniors at home.
• Social isolation and mental health in the elderly population.
• Addressing elder abuse: Strategies for prevention and intervention.
• Palliative care and the role of social workers in end-of-life care.
• The impact of dementia on families and the role of social work support.

Education and Social Work

• The role of school social workers in addressing student mental health.
• Inclusive education: Social work interventions for students with disabilities.
• Bullying prevention programs in schools: A social work perspective.
• Examining the impact of teacher-student relationships on academic outcomes.
• Social work support for students experiencing homelessness.

Human Trafficking and Exploitation

• Human trafficking prevention and intervention strategies in social work.
• The role of social workers in supporting survivors of human trafficking.
• Addressing labor exploitation through social work advocacy.
• Intersectionality and human trafficking: A comprehensive approach.
• Assessing the effectiveness of anti-trafficking policies and programs.

Family Dynamics and Social Work

• Impact of divorce and separation on children: Social work interventions.
• Foster care reunification: Challenges and success factors.
• LGBTQ+ parenting and the role of social work in family support.
• Domestic violence prevention programs: A social work perspective.
• Blended families: Navigating challenges and fostering resilience.

Health and Healthcare Disparities

• Social determinants of health and their impact on vulnerable populations.
• Access to healthcare for underserved communities: A social work perspective.
• The role of social workers in supporting individuals with chronic illnesses.
• Reducing health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities through social work interventions.
• Palliative care and the psychosocial aspects of terminal illness.

Human Rights and Social Work

• Social work advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights.
• Promoting gender equality through social work initiatives.
• Indigenous rights and the role of social workers in reconciliation.
• Advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities: A social work perspective.
• Social work responses to human rights violations and social justice issues.

Disability and Inclusion

• Social work interventions for children with developmental disabilities.
• The impact of inclusive employment programs on individuals with disabilities.
• Accessibility and social work advocacy for people with physical disabilities.
• Autism spectrum disorder: Social work support for individuals and families.
• Inclusive recreation programs: Enhancing the lives of people with disabilities.

Veterans and Military Social Work

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the role of social workers in veteran support.
• Social work interventions for military families experiencing deployment stress.
• Transitioning from military to civilian life: Challenges and opportunities.
• The impact of substance abuse on veterans and social work prevention strategies.
• Access to mental health services for veterans: A social work perspective.

Community Mental Health Programs

• Evaluating the effectiveness of community mental health clinics.
• Peer support programs in community mental health: A social work approach.
• Social work interventions for reducing stigma around mental illness in communities.
• Integrating mental health into primary care settings through collaborative care approaches.
• Social workers’ roles in school-based mental health initiatives.

Immigration and Social Work

• Social work responds to populations of immigrants and refugees’ mental health issues.
• The effect of immigration laws on social service accessibility.
• Community integration and social work support for immigrants.
• Advocacy for immigrant rights: A social work perspective.
• Family reunification and the role of social workers in immigration processes.

Social Work in Rural Communities

• Access to healthcare in rural communities: Social work interventions.
• Substance abuse prevention in rural settings: Challenges and solutions.
• Community development strategies for promoting rural well-being.
• Addressing mental health disparities in rural populations: A social work approach.
• Social work support for families facing economic challenges in rural areas.

Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

• Integrating trauma-informed care into social work practice.
• Addressing childhood trauma through school-based interventions.
• Trauma-focused therapies and their application in social work.
• Vicarious trauma and self-care strategies for social workers.
• The role of social workers in supporting survivors of sexual assault.

Social Work in Schools

• School-based bullying prevention programs: A social work perspective.
• Social work interventions for students with learning disabilities.
• The impact of school social workers on academic success.
• Mental health support for at-risk youth in school settings.
• The role of social workers in addressing the school-to-prison pipeline.

Criminal Justice and Social Work

• Reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals: A social work approach.
• Juvenile justice and the role of social workers in rehabilitation.
• Addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system: A social work perspective.
• The impact of incarceration on families and social work support.

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

• Principles and applications of community-based participatory research in social work.
• Engaging communities in the research process: A CBPR approach.
• Evaluating the outcomes of community-based interventions using CBPR.
• Challenges and opportunities in implementing CBPR in diverse settings.
• Empowering communities through CBPR: Case studies and best practices.

Social Work and Environmental Justice

• Climate change and its impact on vulnerable populations: A social work perspective.
• Environmental justice and community organizing: Social work interventions.
• Sustainable community development and the role of social workers.
• Access to clean water and sanitation: A social work advocacy approach.
• Indigenous perspectives on environmental justice: A social work lens.

Human Services Administration

• Leadership styles in human services administration: A social work perspective.
• The role of technology in improving human services delivery.
• Strategies for effective human services program evaluation.
• Addressing burnout and promoting self-care in human services organizations.
• Social work ethics and decision-making in human services administration.

Social Work and Artificial Intelligence

• Applications of AI in social work practice: Opportunities and challenges.
• The role of chatbots in mental health support: A social work perspective.
• Bias and fairness in algorithmic decision-making in social work.
• Human-AI collaboration in social work: Enhancing service delivery.

Crisis Intervention and Social Work

• Social work responses to natural disasters: Lessons learned and best practices.
• Crisis intervention strategies for individuals experiencing acute trauma.
• The role of social workers in emergency shelters and disaster recovery.
• Trauma-informed care in crisis intervention: A social work approach.
• Collaborative approaches to crisis intervention in community settings.

Social Work in the LGBTQ+ Community

• LGBTQ+ youth homelessness: Social work interventions and prevention.
• Supporting transgender and non-binary individuals in social work practice.
• Mental health disparities in the LGBTQ+ community: A social work perspective.
• LGBTQ+ inclusive policies in social service organizations.
• Social work advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights and equal access to services.

Social Work and Aging

• Aging in place: Social work interventions for promoting independence.
• Social work support for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their families.
• End-of-life decision-making and the role of social workers.
• Social isolation among older adults: Strategies for prevention and intervention.
• Exploring innovative housing models for aging populations.

Faith-Based Social Work

• The intersection of faith and social work: Ethical considerations.
• Faith-based organizations in community development: A social work perspective.
• Pastoral care and counseling: Social work support in religious communities.
• Addressing religious discrimination in social work practice.
• Interfaith dialogue and its role in fostering social cohesion: A social work approach.

Social Work in Substance Use Prevention

• Social work interventions for preventing substance use among adolescents.
• The impact of early childhood experiences on later substance use: A social work perspective.
• Prevention programs targeting high-risk populations: A social work approach.
• Social work support for families affected by parental substance use.
• Community-based strategies for preventing opioid misuse: A social work lens.

Global Mental Health and Social Work

• Cultural considerations in global mental health: A social work approach.
• Collaborative approaches to addressing mental health stigma globally.
• The role of social workers in disaster mental health response internationally.
• Integrating traditional healing practices into global mental health interventions.
• Comparative analysis of mental health policies and services worldwide.

Social Work and Human-Animal Interaction

• Animal-assisted therapy in social work practice: Applications and benefits.
• The role of therapy animals in reducing stress and promoting well-being.
• Animal cruelty prevention and the role of social workers.
• The impact of pet ownership on mental health: A social work perspective.
• Ethical considerations in incorporating animals into social work interventions.

Refugee Mental Health and Social Work

• Trauma-informed approaches in working with refugee populations.
• Social work support for refugee children in educational settings.
• Addressing mental health disparities among refugee communities.
• Cultural competence in providing mental health services to refugees.
• Resettlement challenges and social work interventions for refugees.

Community Resilience and Social Work

• Building community resilience in the face of adversity: A social work perspective.
• Social work interventions for promoting resilience in vulnerable populations.
• Resilience-based mental health programs in schools: A social work approach.
• The role of social workers in disaster resilience planning.
• Collective trauma and community healing: A social work lens.

Technology and Social Work Ethics

• Ethical considerations in the use of social media in social work practice.
• Privacy and confidentiality in the age of digital record-keeping.
• Ensuring equity in access to technology-based interventions: A social work approach.
• Social work responses to cyberbullying: Prevention and intervention strategies.
• Ethical guidelines for the use of virtual reality in social work practice.

Social Work in Sports

• Sports-based youth development programs: A social work perspective.
• The role of social workers in promoting mental health in athletes.
• Addressing substance use and performance-enhancing drugs in sports: A social work lens.
• Inclusive sports programs for individuals with disabilities: A social work approach.
• Social work interventions for preventing and addressing sports-related violence.

Social Work in the Arts

• Arts-based interventions in social work practice: Applications and outcomes.
• The role of creative expression in trauma recovery: A social work perspective.
• Using theater and performance arts in social work education and therapy.
• Arts programs for at-risk youth: A social work approach.
• The impact of the arts on community well-being: A social work lens.

Social Work and Foster Care Adoption

• Social work interventions for successful foster care reunification.
• Addressing the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care.
• The impact of foster care placement on child development: A social work perspective.
• Post-adoption support services: A social work approach.
• Cultural competence in transracial and transcultural foster care and adoption.

Social Work in the Gig Economy

• The Role of Social Work in Addressing Mental Health Challenges in the Gig Economy
• Exploring Social Work Strategies for Supporting Gig Workers’ Financial Stability
• Gig Economy and Social Work Advocacy: Ensuring Fair Labor Practices
• Navigating Occupational Hazards: Social Work Interventions in Gig Work Environments
• Social Work’s Contribution to Promoting Work-Life Balance in the Gig Economy

Emerging Trends in Social Work Research

• The Impact of Technology on Social Work Practice: Examine how technology is influencing social work practices and service delivery, considering both advantages and ethical considerations.
• Ethical Considerations in the Use of Technology in Social Work Research: Discuss the ethical challenges associated with the integration of technology in social work research and propose guidelines for responsible use.
• Cross-Cultural Studies in Social Work: Explore the significance of cross-cultural studies in social work research, promoting a deeper understanding of diverse cultural contexts.
• Addressing Global Social Issues through Research: Investigate how social work research can contribute to addressing global social challenges, such as poverty, migration, and climate change.

Tips for Conducting Social Work Research

Developing a Research Question

Craft a research question for social work research topics that is clear, concise, and aligns with the chosen social work research topic. The question should guide the research process and contribute meaningfully to the existing literature.

Choosing Appropriate Research Methods

Select research methods that align with the nature of the research question and the goals of the study. Consider whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches are most suitable for addressing the research objectives.

Ethical Considerations in Social Work Research

Prioritize ethical considerations throughout the research process. Ensure informed consent, confidentiality, and respect for the dignity and rights of research participants.

Resources for Social Work Researchers

Journals and Publications

Explore reputable social work journals and publications to stay updated on the latest research, methodologies, and findings. Examples include the “Journal of Social Work” and the “British Journal of Social Work.”

Professional Organizations

Joining professional organizations such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) provides access to valuable resources, networking opportunities, and conferences that enhance a researcher’s knowledge and skills.

Online Databases and Research Tools

Utilize online databases like PubMed , Social Work Abstracts, and Google Scholar to access a wide range of social work research articles. Additionally, familiarize yourself with research tools and software that can streamline the research process.

In conclusion, the journey of selecting the social work research topics is a crucial step that requires thoughtful consideration and reflection. The chosen topic should align with personal interests, address current social issues, and contribute meaningfully to the field of social work. 

As researchers embark on this journey, they have the opportunity to explore diverse areas, from mental health and child welfare to emerging trends in technology and global perspectives. 

By following ethical guidelines, employing appropriate research methods, and leveraging valuable resources, social work researchers can make significant contributions to improving the well-being of individuals and communities.

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Social workers perform a range of services that touch on many disciplines within the greater health and human services field. Case management, which is closely identified with social work, features a skill set that can be applied to many areas within the discipline of social work, ranging from child protection to substance abuse. These skills include problem assessment, treatment formulation, coordination and counseling. There are considerable career development opportunities, and new skill development paradigms provide important resources for professional growth.

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A Career in Health and Human Services

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After exploring all of my career options, I have decided that my Health and Human Service Center career will be in social work. I have also wanted to be a social worker as a way of helping others and my community. If someone is facing a difficult situation sometimes his or her social worker is the glue that holds that situation together. I understand that the field of social work is a vast one. Therefore, I will use this paper to focus in on my desired area of study in the field.

Reasons for My Interest in Social Work

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Introduction This chapter presents the results analysis of the study. As mentioned in the previous chapters, the research employs the use of questionnaire where the questions were set from different criterion. Then, after well completion and compilation of the questionnaire, it was presented to the fifty respondents identified to participate in the study. The results were coded into excel spreadsheets to create figures and tables for the purpose of easy analysis and interpretation.

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World-wide, adoption has become a widely accepted alternative to birthing children. Throughout the United States, approximately 135,000 children are adopted each year (Claridge, 2014, p. 112). In every adoption case, an adoption triad is developed. This adoption triad consists of the adopted parents, the adopted child and the birth parents. This paper attempts to analyze the grief that is experienced throughout the adoption triad, as well as the different counseling models that can be implemented in order to assist these individuals.

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This period starts when a person enter the workforce and start putting aside finances for later in one’s life, and closures when a person really resign. On the off chance that one’s employer offers pension plans, the person would have to join and would also have to make a decision regarding contributions to the fund. In the event that a person is independently employed or a businessperson, they would have to take care of registering themselves with an insurance plan and with the social security networks .

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In South Asian cultures cerography and sculpturing evolved into a religious art that helps the artists in terms of communicating divine messages to the general public, and according to traditional psychological theory, religion remained an effective method of crime control in the past when law enforcing was not that strong regarding the fulfillment of the need to put criminals behind bars so the road towards righteousness and the resultant rewards in the afterlife were means of motivating the masses to stay on course as far as their ethical quality of the lives was concerned. (I have inspired from Hinduism and Islam)

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Method 3 Context 5 Youth Justice Facility Background 7 Discussion 10 Reflection 15 Summary/Conclusion 15

References: 22

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