It is the tradition of Smith College Studies in Social Work to publish the abstracts of our Masters of Social Work graduates and the graduates of our PhD program. You will find the abstracts for the graduating class of 2016 in this issue. I am always interested to see the range of thematic areas that students explore for their respective research studies. I often think that the students give us a foreshadowing of thematic areas and theoretical areas that we will read in the coming years. Their work is often on the “cutting edge” of contemporary issues that are relevant to clinical social work practice grounded in psychological theory, social theory, research theory, and social policy theory, all integrated with an antiracism lens.
In addition to the abstracts, we have three articles and one book review for you to consider in this issue.
Our lead article, written by David Byers and titled Recognition of Social Pain among Peers: Rethinking the Role of Bystanders in Bullying and Cyberbullying, provides an excellent example of how PhD students and graduates move their publication career forward as they capture certain aspects of their dissertation work to lead to publication. Dr. Byers’ abstract for his dissertation is found in this issue. He has parceled out this article from his dissertation. In this article, Dr. Byers accounts for some challenges that antibullying interventions face when institutions or others encourage bystanders to intervene in bullying behavior, including cyberbullying. He conceptualizes the bystander role using an intersubjective field of traumatic enactment. He notes that adolescent and emerging adult bystanders can play a crucial role in mitigating the traumatic effects of peer aggression by providing recognition of social pain from the empathic vantage point of peers. He uses two case examples to illuminate his theoretical framework. This article, an excellent read, will likely be the first article of many that will emerge from his fine dissertation effort.
Dr. Ashley Davis presents an interesting article titled Journaling Together: The Antiracism Project in Social Work Doctoral Education. This research article presents the results of a shared journaling project between peers within a social work doctoral program. Framed in relational-cultural theory, the article demonstrates how relationships between journaling partners deepened over time. The dyads were composed of two cross-racialized relationships (white women with two black women) and one same-race dyad composed of two white women. The participants shared journal entries with each other over an extended period. They discussed issues related to race and racism, among other issues. The results make an interesting read.
The third article, Grounding Judith Herman’s Trauma Theory within Interpersonal Neuroscience and Evidence Based Practice Modalities for Trauma Treatment, authored by Dr. Kristen L. Zaleski, Daniel K. Johnson, and Jessica T. Klein, is an informative article that bridges trauma theory of the 1990s (Herman’s model) with contemporary theory based in neuroscience. The article is finely crafted and presents a good review of Herman’s model of treatment of trauma, with the additional dimension of interpersonal neuroscience. I found the article to be compelling on many levels, and I anticipate that readers will glean a great deal from the article.
Last, Ellen Smith, our new Book Review Editor, addresses herself to our readership, followed by a book review of a text titled Termination Challenges in Child Psychotherapy.
As always, I trust you will find material in this issue of interest and utility.
Best regards,