Betty Garcia

Changing Perceptions of Diversity and Oppression: MSW Students Discuss the Effects of a Required Course

Meeting the Council on Social Work Educations standards related to diversity content poses unique demands for faculty, who may encounter student resistance and heightened classroom emotions. This article reports on data gathered from the self-reports of 43 MSWstudents enrolled in a required course on diversity and oppression in the fall 1994 semester. The authors analyze barriers to student learning about the effects of social identity and discrimination, and make recommendations for curriculum development and classroom teaching.

Facilitating Learning on Diversity: Challenges to the Professor.

Abstract This article focuses on faculty responses to critical classroom incidents related to race and the importance of faculty being sensitive to issues of racism in order to effectively handle such situations. Data from a national study of 304 graduate and undergraduate level social work faculty are presented. Discussion addresses teaching challenges and approaches for addressing issues of diversity, oppression, and difference when they trigger student conflict and strained classroom interaction.

A New Methodology for Assessing Social Work Practice: The Adaptation of the Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (SW-OSCE)

The Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) methodology was originally developed to assess medical students. OSCE is a carefully scripted, standardized, simulated interview, in which students’ interactional skills are observed and assessed. Here it is examined for its potential use in assessing social work practice skills. The development of the Social Work OSCE (SW-OSCE) and the Clinical Competence-based Behavioural Checklist (CCBC) are described. Findings from a pilot study assessing MSW students’ clinical skills with explicit observable criteria of the CCBC are presented. A quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods data analysis was applied. The CCBC had high internal reliability, for both the overall sample and for the different case scenarios, with Cronbachs alpha values ranging from 0.888 to 0.965. The validity of the instrument was also examined: qualitative content analysis of the taped interviews indicated that clinical skills and cultural empathy are not synonymous. The racial/ethnic match between the student and the ‘client’ did not predict better rapport or more cultural empathy. Examination grades are not necessarily consistent with actual performance in either clinical competence or cultural empathy or vice versa. Nevertheless, the results provide some support for the use of the SW-OSCE as a tool for assessing performance in social work practice. They also indicate its potential for evaluating the outcomes of educational programmes.

The Use of Literary Sources in the Preparation of Clinicians for Multicultural Practice

Abstract Competency in multicultural practice requires skill in use of self and an ability to connect with others different from oneself. The potential for countertransferential responses is intensified in practice settings where there is diversity between client and practitioner. In these situations, there is a heightened need for practitioners to be aware of the effects of social power in the practice relationship. Bibliothera-peutic activities are proposed as a classroom learning method that assists in the preparation of practitioners for multicultural practice.

Clinical Algorithms as a Tool for Psychotherapy With Latino Clients

Clinical algorithms have the advantage of being able to integrate clinical, cultural, and environmental factors into a unified method of planning and implementing treatment. A model for practice is proposed that uses 3 algorithms as guides for conducting psychotherapy with Latino clients, the uses of which are illustrated in a single, ongoing case vignette. The algorithm format has the additional advantage of easily adapting itself for data gathering for research purposes.

Chapter 6: Incarcerated Latinas and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

SUMMARY An increase in incarceration rates and incidence of drug-related incarcerations for women has shown particularly high rates for ethnic women. Profiles of incarcerated women in general show a number of factors that create psychosocial obstacles. Recent statistics indicate that Latino women are twice as likely to be in prison in comparison to white female prisoners. The literature on Latinas and alcoholism and other drug abuse is reviewed, clinical observations of incarcerated Latinas are discussed and recommendations are presented for service delivery needs.