The Role of Field Education in Preparing Social Work Students for Trauma-Informed Care: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT

With mounting evidence over the last 20 years regarding the prevalence and severity of trauma histories among social work clients, there has been a concerted effort across schools of social work to embed trauma-informed principles within course content and training. As students work to integrate classroom skills into field practicums, field education departments play a critical role in guiding application of these skills and incorporation of self-care strategies into daily practice. We conducted a scoping review to understand what role field education departments across the United States have assumed in preparing students to work with trauma-affected populations. Following an exhaustive database search (1,523 titles and 895 abstracts were screened; 116 full texts were reviewed), 20 studies met inclusion criteria. The vast majority of initiatives, many of which were externally funded, involved facilitating trauma-informed field placements. Several studies described trauma-informed education models that paired coursework in core trauma concepts with a trauma-focused field placement. Only six initiatives explicitly detailed efforts to equip students with self-care awareness and skills. Findings suggest that while field education departments participate in or design trauma-informed programming, more cross-site and cross-discipline scholarship on best practices is needed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2023.2215273

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the Boston College School of Social Work for financial support of this project.

Notes on contributors

Leila C. Dal Santo

Leila C. Dal Santo is a doctoral candidate at Boston College School of Social Work.

Scott D. Easton

Scott D. Easton is Associate Professor and chair of the health and mental health field of practice at Boston College School of Social Work.

Susan Coleman

Susan Coleman is Assistant Dean of Field Education at Boston College School of Social Work.

Kathleen Flinton

Kathleen Flinton is Assistant Professor of the Practice at Boston College School of Social Work.