This study examined the help-seeking behaviors of depressed, African American adolescents. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 urban, African American boys, ages 14 to 18, who were recruited from community-based mental health centers and after-school programs for youths. Interviews covered sociodemographic information, questions regarding depressive symptomotology, and open-ended questions derived from the Network-Episode Model--including knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to problem recognition, help seeking, and perceptions of mental health services. Most often adolescents discussed their problems with their family and often received divergent messages about problem resolution; absent informal network resolution of their problems, professional help would be sought, and those receiving treatment were more likely to get support from friends but were less likely to tell friends that they were actually receiving care. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.

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This article contributes to discourse on signature pedagogy by reconceptualizing how our pedagogies are understood and defined for social work education. We critique the view that field education is social work's signature pedagogy and consider what pedagogies are distinct about the teaching and learning of social work. Using Shulman's work on professional education, we offer a conceptualization that rests on the belief about the necessary outcome of our pedagogy-it must enable students to think and perform like social workers through the development of the professional self. We present a framework that focuses on three integrating features: thinking and performing like a social worker, development of the professional self, and characteristic forms of teaching and learning.The purpose of this article is to offer a conceptualization of social work's signature pedagogy that rests on a belief about the necessary outcome of the pedagogy-it must enable students to think and perform like social workers. The article intends to add to the emerging dialogue about signature pedagogy in social work (Wayne, Bogo, & Raskin, 2010). We argue that field education does not meet the criteria for signature pedagogy as understood by Shulman (2005 b) and interpreted in the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).Our thinking draws on the long history within the profession about the educational and practice frameworks necessary for social work competency and emphasizes the person of the practitioner as an integral component of the thinking and performing of the work. We present an enhanced conceptualization about how signature pedagogy may be understood and defined for social work education. Using Shulman's work on professional education (1999,2004,2005a, 2005b) to frame our understanding, we suggest that the signature pedagogies in social work involve the integration of practitioner knowledge, performative action, and awareness that emphasizes the development of the professional self.In presenting our conceptual framework, we briefly look at some earlier writings related to the history and evolution of social work practice and education (Brieland, 1987;Lee & Kenworthy, 1929;Reynolds, 1942) to help situate the profession's current pedagogical perspectives and to explore how these viewpoints intersect with our thinking about what it means to educate the developing social work practitioner. Our discussion focuses on three integrating components:

Objectives Data are limited on how clinicians contribute to outcome differences between black patients and white patients. Because the clinician-patient relationship is the foundation of mental health services, understanding clinicians’ role in outcome differences may help identify evidence-based interventions that decrease disparities and capitalize on positive differences. Symptoms and functioning in a sample of black and white adults receiving outpatient services were examined to determine the effects of their primary clinician on those patterns. Methods The study included 551 patients (25% black) with serious mental illness and 62 mental health professionals (21% black) identified as the patients’ primary clinician. Treatment outcomes were measured at baseline and two follow-ups (two and four months) with the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale, a measure of symptoms and functioning. Data were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling. Clinicians’ levels of multi-cultural competence, burnout, and education were analyzed. Results Clinicians moderated the relationship between patient race and outcome differences. There was significant variability among clinicians: approximately 20% had black patients whose outcomes were worse than those of their white patients, and 40% had black patients with better outcomes than their white patients. The only clinician factor predicting these differences was clinician's general experiences and relationships with people from racial-ethnic and cultural groups other than their own. Conclusions The occurrence of outcome differences varied across clinicians, with some clinicians magnifying outcome differences between black and white patients and others minimizing them. Factors other than clinicians’ race, multicultural competence, education, and burnout may contribute to outcome differences between black and white patients.

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The authors surveyed a random sample of 1,200 NASW members in post-master's practice in mental health to identify their attitudes toward practice with people with severe mental illness. Contrary to the literature that claims social workers have abandoned vulnerable populations or have negative attitudes toward this population, the authors found that the majority practice with this clientele and find their practice rewarding. Most of the respondents' frustration and obstacles in practice were related to systemic problems, not client-related problems. Respondents' recommendations for education of future practitioners are presented.

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