Underexplored Aspects of Group-work Education in MSW Programs

ABSTRACT

Warnings about social group work’s diminished place within social work education date back to 1978. This article reports the findings of a national study exploring the state of group-work education in Council on Social Work Education accredited programs. Our 2014 publication compared study results with those of the 1994 Birnbaum and Auerbach publication. This article highlights additional findings regarding underexplored aspects of group-work education including concentrations/specializations in group work, social work faculty expertise and involvement in group-work associations, efforts to link students with professional group-work associations, continuing education opportunities in group work for field supervisors, online/hybrid group-work course offerings, links between institutional characteristics and group-work offerings, and faculty members’ perceptions of the state of group-work education.

KEYWORDS:

• social group work
• group-work education
• professional associations
• continuing education
• online group-work education
• social work faculty
• institutional characteristics

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1. Subsequent to the 2014 article, the public program requiring three courses eliminated their group work concentration/specialization.

2. Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities; Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities; Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities; Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.

3. An online course delivers its content via an online platform, typically without face-to-face meetings. A hybrid/blended course contains online and face-to-face interactions with significantly fewer face-to-face meetings than a traditional course (Allen & Seaman, 2013).