It is an awesome task, becoming the editor of Smith Studies, following in the footsteps of past editors such as Dennis Miehls, Kathryn Basham, Gerry Schamess, Joan Laird, Roger Miller, Harold Kramer, Sophie Cambria, and Helen Witmer, the first editor of the journal—all of whom were so proficiently knowledgeable about psychodynamic or family theories and clinical social work practice. It is also a daunting task since Smith Studies is one of the oldest social work journals, publishing its first issue in 1930, with a clear focus on clinical social work practice, whether working with with varying groups or problems or with specific diagnostic categories or cases or integrating an understanding of the contextual/environmental factors affecting client groups, problems, cases, or social workers (i.e., the interface with social policies).
Roger Miller recounts that Smith Studies was designed initially as a “house organ to support student research that focused on direct practice and reflected a psychiatric point of view” (Schamess, Citation2008, pp. 152–153). In a 1989 editorial, Ann Hartman remarked that Smith Studies is “shaped by and focused on knowledge and theory development as it enhances an understanding of human beings and their worlds” (p. 7). New knowledge derived from the dissertations of emerging clinical scholars and MSW and doctoral students has been encouraged and featured in the journal, substantially contributing to the literature (Hartman, Citation1989).
Even though I am honored to assume this role and to pledge to continue the unique contributions the journal has made to the field, one of the first task as editor I did was to briefly peruse previous issues, beginning with the issues released in the 1930s. I thought I would be able to detect specific trends in subject matter and authors of published articles. To do so would require a careful read of these articles, which is something I was unable to do. However, I did take note of the early monographs written in 1934 by Bertha Capen Reynolds (“Between Client and Community”), of Annette Garrett’s 1954 “Learning through Supervision,” and of the 1970 publication of “The Muse in the Kitchen” by Selma Fraiberg. The historical significance of these works in the development of the profession and in its reliance on research (all three authors used empirical evidence abstracted from available agency records and cases to examine questions raised by them) affirms the value of the journal.
In addition, the striking array of special issues featured in Smith Studies suggests it fearlessly approaches pressing topics, including special issues on men, lesbian families, female development, African Americans, and children of incarceration parents. Moreover, the Studies upheld its commitment to addressing knowledge and theory development. In recent years, special issues were published offering critical “Perspectives on Intersubjectivity” (1999) and “Neurobiology and Mental Health Clinical Practice: New Directions New Challenges” (2014). Nor has the journal shied away from examining clinical practice evaluation (2000), clinical supervision (2012), and spirituality and clinical social work practice (2010).
As an instrument of the Smith College School for Social Work, the Studies is often used as a forum to fill the empty spaces in our knowledge about the ways in which various groups practice clinical social work, especially when such issues have not been addressed elsewhere. Over the years, faculty and students at Smith have searched for examples of case materials describing the work of clinicians of color with clients of similar or different racial/ethnic backgrounds. In response to the requests from our faculty and students, Dennis Miehls (former editor of the journal) began working with Maria del Mar Farina, a graduate of the PhD program and assistant director of field work, and Marsha Kline Pruett, Maconda Brown O’Connor Professor, to solicit, select, and compile the manuscripts that make up this Special Issue on “Perspectives of Clinicians of Color.” Working to bring this issue to fruition has been a great joy and has been a wonderful learning experience for me—the number of manuscripts submitted confirms the need for additional articles on this topic. Our expectation is that this issue of the Studies will be widely distributed and used in teaching clinical practice to faculty and students in all schools for social work. We invite you, the reader, to tell us to what extent you found this issue useful.