Social work students' pre-placement anxiety: An international comparison

Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, Nehami Baum

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper compares the degree and nature of anxiety experienced by American and Israeli social work students as they anticipate beginning field placement. Despite having greater prior exposure to social work through relevant coursework and experience, American students were significantly more anxious than Israeli ones. Overall, Americans reported a slightly higher sense of preparedness, but this difference was not statistically significant. While there were some shared worries, notably regarding the quantity and quality of field instruction, and their capacity to meet both field and academic obligations, specific concerns regarding field agencies, clients, and social work education differed between the groups, likely reflecting the distinct social, cultural, historical and educational contexts. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)427-440
Number of pages14
JournalSocial Work Education
Volume29
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2010

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • Field learning
  • Social work education

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