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ABSTRACTExisting research suggests a majority of faculty include social justice content in research courses but not through the use of existing quantitative data for in-class activities that foster mastery of data analysis and interpretation and curiosity about social justice–related topics. By modeling data-driven dialogue and the deconstruction of quantitative meaning making related to social justice in and around social work practice topics, we can prepare our students to be agents of change in their social work careers and possibly engage our students in an often difficult course. Specifically, I provide examples for how discussions about socioeconomic justice can be infused in teaching about univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analyses from the perspectives of critical consumption and the production of research.

The article presents a personal narrative which explores the challenges faced by the author due to her work on the field anti-racism as a White Social Worker.

he article looks at the benefits and impact of Equity-Minded practice framework for social workers. It mentions Council on Social Work Education definition on Equity-Minded practice. It explores actions as equity-minded practitioners such as racial identity awareness and use of disaggregated data in to inequitable racial and ethnic outcomes. It also mentions opportunities for social workers engaging in equity-minded practice.

The article offers tips from the author on social work intervention and hack for literature review. Topics of discussion includes in social work, interventions are designed to eliminate risk factors and harm, and activate and mobilize protective factors for betterment beyond harm eradication through psychotherapies, treatments, and programs. The literature review analyses the patterns noted over time, key controversies or debates on the particular field of practice.

Youth with mental retardation* (MR) have experienced increasing levels of participation in community life over the last 30 years. This freedom has facilitated access to community life beyond school settings; it has also created the potential for alcohol and drug use and for the development of substance abuse (SA). Little is known about access to SA treatment for youth with MR—an especially vulnerable population. Through the application of a set of standardized performance measures, this study examines SA treatment access among youth aged 12 to 21 with and without MR (N = 150,009). Guided by Andersen’s sociobehavioral model of health care utilization, multivariate logistic regression analyses modeled SA treatment initiation and engagement. Youth with MR and SA were less likely to initiate or engage in treatment. Engagement among youth with MR and SA was associated with being male and/or non-White. Implications relate to a need for improved treatment access for youth with MR and SA through cross-system collaboration.

Despite evidence that standard substance use disorder (SUD) treatment may be less effective in people with intellectual disability (ID), there is an absence of appropriate clinical tools with which to support them. Objectives: This study examined the clinical utility of an alcohol and other drug refusal skills intervention designed to be cognitively accessible to adults with ID. Methods: Thirty individuals at high risk for or in recovery from a SUD in developmental disability services (DDS) community residential and day habilitation settings participated in the 2-week refusal skills group. Measures included pretest versus posttest improvement in refusal skill competency and baseline performance on a standardized verbal learning test. Results: There was a strong effect for refusal skill acquisition (p<.001); and the magnitude of skill acquisition was predicted by group attendance (p< .001) and not by individual differences in verbal learning ability (p= .074) or efficiency (p=.35). Conclusions: The Refusal Skills Group is developmentally appropriate for people with borderline-to-mild ID in that: (1) they can learn and demonstrate refusal skills and (2) their skill acquisition is predicted more strongly by exposure to the intervention than by individual differences in learning characteristics. Delivering refusal skills in DDS settings familiar to clients increased their access to services and minimized disruption to their usual routines and schedules.

Substance abuse (SA) is a documented issue for many people with mental retardation/developmental disabilities (MR/DD). However, little empirical data exist regarding the appropriateness or effectiveness of prevention or treatment approaches for this population. Compounding this issue, access to SA treatment for this population is also limited, making social work case management a challenge. For social workers, the problem of SA among people with MR falls into a gray area between the facilitation of the “dignity of risk” and risk management. Discussions of Deborah Stone's commentary on balancing liberty, equality, and security in social policy are presented in light of ways to encourage the implementation of the “dignity of risk.” Linking theory to practice, a baseline framework is provided for planning individualized, self-determination-oriented case management approaches for people with SA who have MR.

The article focuses on the opinion of social workers on the issue of substance abuse in the U.S. Over the years, substance abuse treatment providers have the difficulty to provide effective treatment specially those drug-related abuse. It also highlights an useful guide to simplify substance abuse among individuals with mental disabilities/developmental disabilities such as dominant intoxication, job problems, health problems and problems with the law.