Nancy Boyd Webb

The Role of the Field Instructor in the Socialization of Students

The author discusses the role of the field instructor as an agent of socialization into the social work profession. A self-assessment profile is presented to help students and field instructors identify their physical and personality attributes as well as their cognitive styles.

From Social Work Practice to Teaching the Practice of Social Work.

Abstract Similarities between social work practice and the teaching of social work practice offer opportunities to discuss how these commonalities evolve through interactions in the classroom. This article emphasizes working within a time- and goal-specific framework in both class and field; a conscious use of oneself as a role model; and the teaching of specific practice skills by focusing on group processes in the classroom. Understanding the parallels between practice and teaching can enhance the confidence and competence of instructors and students as together they use the classroom to teach and learn social work principles, values, and skills.

Book Review: Psychotherapeutic Strategies in Late Latency through Early AdolescencePsychotherapeutic Strategies in Late Latency through Early Adolescence. By SarnoffCharles A.. Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1987. 275 pp.

In the forty years since Erikson (1963) published Childhood and Society (first published in 1950), the stages of development of the normal life cycle have been the focus of sustained and growing interest. Erikson (1968) stretched our vision beyond Freud’s focus on psychosexual development during the first six years of life and also added substantially to our understanding of adolescence. Building on Erikson’s work, Blos’s three volumes on different substages of adolescent development (1962, 1967, 1970) attest to the value of intensive study of segments of a developmental stage that spans many years. Fourteen years ago, Sarnoff (1976) produced a scholarly guide to the latency period. Now he has narrowed his focus, not to a developmental stage per se, but to the transitional per i od between two critical stages-latency and adolescence. In this recent work, Sarnoff argues the impact of latency on early adolescence and studies the “unbroken continuation of lines of development, with origins during the latency years, that influence adolescence.” Sarnoff states that the relationship between the psychological events of the late latency years and pathological development during adolescence has been relatively unexplored in the field of child development. As an analytically trained child psychiatrist and supervisor, Sarnoff draws on many years of clinical experience as the basis for his theoretical formulations and clinical applications. The book is divided into three sections: Part I deals with the borderland between latency and adolescence; Part 11, on early adolescence, deals with sexuality and falling in love; Part III presents clinical aspects of psychotherapy with clients in this developmental stage. An epilogue, “Late Adolescence into Adulthood,” traces the influence of developmental impairments of late latency/early adolescence on later adolescence and adult life. Sarnoff stresses repeatedly the three forms of maturational and developmental changes that occur during the transition to early adolescence. These occur in the following areas: (1) cognitive (the change from primarily evocative to communicative speech and symbols), ( 2 ) physiological ( the development of orgasmic potential), and ( 3 ) psychological (the diminution in the use of symbolic play for drive reduction, termed the “ludic demise”). The author identifies and discusses the impact of these changes on therapeutic work with children who are experiencing them. For example, t he decreasing influence of fantasy symbols for the purpose of drive reduction means that the use of play therapy with the late latency/early adolescent youth may be inappropriate and ineffective. The cognitive development of these children is moving toward socialized thinking, with a shift from inner-oriented to reality-oriented perceptions. The use of art may be helpful, however, especially with the early adolescent in whom ludic demise is recent, and who may be ambivalent, a t best, about speaking t o a therapist. Sarnoff writes sensitively regarding the intense feelings of embarrassment typically felt by pubertal youngsters regarding their sexual development (erections and breast development, respectively). The chapter on masturbation stresses its role not only as an outlet for sexual tension but also as a “bridge to the object world” through which the youngster’s fantasies serve as preparation and rehearsal for interpersonal relationships. The chapter on anorexia nervosa, by contrast, presents this clinical syndrome as a retreat into latency by girls who are unable or unwilling to risk the move into adolescence, with its connotation of sexuality and interpersonal relationships. Both the chapter on masturbation and the chapter on anorexia are excellent overviews for practitioners working with this age group. The contribution of the book, from my perspective, is its focus on the critical transition point between two developmental stages. I t effectively portrays the inner world of the young person who has one foot in childhood and the

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national scene (the argument that Western paradigms are not congruent elsewhere) she finds more convincing. That is not to say that there are no global umversals to be found m the lives of women. Bernard’s review of the United Nations 1985 conference for the Decade of Women in Nairobi belies the fact It is, however, surprisingly skewed toward a U S Republican political interpretation of the facts There is no discussion or

Book Reviews : Adolescent Mothers in Later Life. By Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., J Brooks-Gunn, and S Philip Morgan New York Cambndge University Press, 1987, 204 pp ,

The close relationship between crisis intervention and prevention is examined in the context of social work consultation with preschool and senior citizen centers. The location of service in community settings provides opportunities to reach “nonclient” populations facing either anticipated or unanticipated crises.