Social Work With Groups’ Practice Ethics and Standards

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this research was to (a) learn how confident social work students were with social work with groups' ethics and standards, (b) explore strengths and challenges, (c) examine if group work experience impacts results, and (d) discover if confidence improved when the International Association of Social Work with Groups (IASWG) Standards became required class reading. Method: Social work students (n ¼ 234) were given the Inventory of Foundation Competencies in Social Work with Groups (IC-SWG) at the beginning and end of 15-week group work classes. Descriptive statistics, analyses of variance, and t tests were conducted. Results: Students' scores improved from pretest to posttest (p ¼ .000). They were confident in their ability to respect and highly value diversity (mean ¼ 3.5/4) but were challenged employing special skills with and understanding dynamics of mandated clients (2.99/4). Conclusion: Incorporation of the IASWG Standards and group work experience were associated with greater competencies. The IC-SWG identified challenges that can be addressed in classrooms, field internships, and group work practice settings.