DO SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS ASSESS AND ADDRESS ECONOMIC BARRIERS TO CLIENTS IMPLEMENTING AGREED TASKS?

Abstract

Identical vignettes except for a sentence describing a client's economic resources were randomly assigned to 129 MSW students. The vignettes described a social worker who agreed with a client's decision to relocate her residence as a partial solution to a presenting problem but did not assess or address economic barriers to the client's relocating. Students evaluating the "no economic resources" vignette were just as likely to agree that the social worker adequately assessed and addressed barriers to the client's relocating and to state that economic factors influenced their ratings as students who rated the "economic resources" vignette. The results provide little evidence that MSW students are sensitive to clients' economic circumstances.