SOCIAL WORKERS' SUGGESTIONS FOR EFFECTIVE RURAL PRACTICE

Course overview

Two focus groups of participants at a national rural social work conference answered the research question, ¿What are your suggestions for engaging in effective social worker practice in rural areas?¿ The participants offered specific recommendations for social work practice with rural people and communities. They supported these recommendations with illustrations from their experiences as social work practitioners in rural settings. Text data drawn from transcribed audiotapes of the focus groups were coded into open, axial, and selective data themes. While generalizability is limited, this small sample of social workers offered a glimpse of their views of rural practice. They offered practical, down-to-earth advice for rural social work practitioners within main data themes of community, connections, generalist practice, and diversity. COURSE SYLLABUS I. Background Literature II. Methods III. Results IV. Discussion and Summary