This study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of three group interventions on trauma symptoms for children who have been sexually abused. All of the groups followed the same treatment protocol, with two of them incorporating variations of animal-assisted therapy. A total of 153 children ages 7 to 17 who were in group therapy at a Child Advocacy Center participated in the study. Results indicate that children in the groups that included therapy dogs showed significant decreases in trauma symptoms including anxiety, depression, anger, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociation, and sexual concerns. In addition, results show that children who participated in the group with therapeutic stories showed significantly more change than the other groups. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

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This paper discusses specific gatekeeping issues facing social work educators, both university- and agency-based, and uses case analysis to explain how one undergraduate program handled these issues. The cases highlight procedures used in the gatekeeping process and reflect the difficulty of gatekeeping including many problems that can arise in any educational setting. Focusing on case examples may help educators develop and further refine approaches and strategies for gatekeeping in order to guard the gate to the social work profession.

Social work programs are expected to provide students with the research knowledge, skills, and applications they can use in their practice to develop interventions and evaluate their own practice effectiveness. Based on CSWE's Curriculum Policy Statement and Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, a rationale for and a model incorporating practice evaluation and research with the field practicum are described here. Several issues concerning implementation, such as alleviating student fears and enlisting agency support as well as the authors' experience incorporating practice research in the field practicum, are presented and discussed.

This paper presents a model for using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a self-awareness tool in baccalaureate social work education. The model is based on eight years of use in one Social Work Program. The paper also presents the results of an exploratory study done to assess the model. The MBTI is a scientific instrument used to indicate different preferences on four dimensions: source of energy, perception, decision-making, and relation to the external world. The development and purpose of the MBTI are discussed and a description of the components of the instrument is included. Techniques for effective and ethical testing and use in the classroom to promote self-awareness are provided. Implications for social work educators are also addressed.

Event history analysis examines events, the duration of time between events, the likelihood of events occurring, and the pacing of events. Programs with such diverse goals as obtaining employment, abstaining from drugs, reducing reincarceration, or increasing the likelihood of graduating from high school can be evaluated using an event history analysis. This article presents an overview of event history analysis, explains how event history analysis can be used in program evaluation, and describes how it was used to study a welfare- to-work program.

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Analysts and program evaluators have rightly focused on the impact policies have on participants achieving programs' goals and objectives. Yet a potentially neglected aspect of these analyses is the impact policies themselves have on who is initially eligible to participate in the programs and the impact policy parameters have on the length of time people participate in the program. This article reports the findings of a study on the length of time families receive AFDC (now TANF) benefits in two counties in a high benefit state, Wisconsin, between 1987 and 1989 and a low benefit state, Texas, from mid-1989 through 1992 and the influence the states' maximum benefits have on who is eligible to receive benefits and how families lose eligibility. Results of a life table analysis indicate that families in Texas receive benefits over significantly less time. However, results of a multivariate analysis indicate that when selected personal and familial attributes are held constant, the difference disappears. Copyright 2002 by The Policy Studies Organization.