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Despite a growing emphasis on international offerings within social work education, researchers have conducted few outcomes studies regarding the implications of these courses for students' professional development. This study addressed this gap by analyzing data from a survey of 122 social work students at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, before and after they completed (a) a guided study-abroad course or (b) an on-campus course on international social work. Results indicated that students in both courses demonstrated gains across multiple domains, including self-rated skills, understanding of international service, identification as a global citizen, and empowerment. Students in the study abroad courses demonstrated greater gains in self-rated skills than students in the on-campus course. (Contains 3 tables.)

Despite ongoing prevention efforts, young gay and bisexual men (YGBM) accounted for more than three fourths of all recent HIV infections. Furthermore, they continue to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors at alarming rates. Nowadays, families are beginning to emerge as important resources for these youth. However, the viewpoints of YGBM and their families are largely missing from HIV prevention research and intervention development. To address this gap, we solicited the opinions of YGBM and their parents as to why YGBM engage in unsafe sex and what might be done to help them avoid HIV. Participants discussed youth’s sense of invulnerability, sexual arousal, parental disapproval, and lack of societal acceptance as contributors to unsafe sex. Participants called for gay-sensitive sex education and community programming as well as increased societal acceptance. Overall, respondents recommended interpersonal and structural-level interventions that emphasized the importance of reducing stigma as a key component of HIV prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]