Elfriede G. Schlesinger

An Accelerated and Traditional MSW Program Compared

Abstract A traditional two-year and accelerated sixteen-month MSW program were evaluated by comparing the performance of students on cognitive, skill, and value measures at the midpoint and end of the program. A comparison of score changes and test results at graduation failed to show a meaningful pattern of significant differences between the two groups. The authors concluded that the accelerated program was as effective as the traditional program in producing the desired educational outcomes. Implications of findings are considered in the context of other research in social work education and professional education in other fields.

Child maltreatment in the United States

Abstract This paper critically examines child maltreatment in the United States. It presents an overview of the magnitude of the problem and discusses the “residual” approach to social welfare which has had a major impact on the way in which child maltreatment has been defined and handled in the United States. Recommendations at the program and policy levels are made. An innovative approach which encompasses broad community collaboration in identifying and intervening in child maltreatment is discussed as well as the need to make structural changes which move us closer to an “institutional” model of social welfare.

African Americans and Jewish Americans: Searching for a new Song

Abstract Drawing on diverse source materials, the history of oppression of both peoples, dating to Biblical times, as well as more contemporary evils of slavery and the Holocaust are reviewed to show the commonalities in historical experience. Suffering tempered by religious beliefs has also been part of the history of both peoples. Current conflicts as well as shared values are discussed, as the case is made for the importance of understanding these two peoples by social workers. Suggestions for inclusion of materials in the social work curriculum are made.

Book Review Department : "An Ethnography of a Chiropractic Clinic: Definitions of a Deviant Situation." James B. Cowie and Julian B. Roebuck. New York The Free Press, 1975. 167 pp

The material is rich in detail, though somewhat plodding. There is excass description of the physical setting and min-imal quotation from and description of interaction. The latter so often provides insightful imagery characteristic of this approach. Most disappointing is the concluding chapter. The dterims to methodological innovation can harchly be taken seriously by those familiar with classical social research approaches or acquain;ance with the work of the dramaturgical school. Those who, like this reviewer, look to the book for comparative analysis or con, eeptuot tools to facilitate study of other occupations the prevailing contention that those labeled deviant