LBSU 302

Week 8- Literature Review

The Journey Ends...............

I guess this is hello for the last time fellow bloggers. It has been a wild ride I must say!

This week was very difficult for me, however I am happy that I was able to complete my final assignment, in what "hopefully", was the correct way. I hesitate because that is where my struggle began and ended this week (finding the correct writing organization for the information I had). Structuring and organizing a literature review was more difficult than I remember it being. Finding ways to group my sources and then arrange them was the hardest thing for me. Additionally, I found it impossible to shrink it down to 2-3 pages as required. There was just too much information to cover with six sources.

Writing a literature review was a long process, however, I believe I will use this process again the next time I am required to write an actual research paper. With all of your sources organized and summarized, it would be much easier, and would probably be a considerably better research paper.

Writing this literature review revealed a few unanswered questions for my research topic. Although there is plenty of information out there on ethics and therapist self-disclosure, I did not find any indicating the variances of reactions, and effects, of therapist self-disclosure between different ethnicity or age groups. This is an area that needs to be explored further. It is my theory that older generations may view therapist self-disclosure as inappropriate, but so far I have not located a study that addresses this aspect. I will however, continue the search!

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

LBSU 302

Week 7- Annotated Bibliography

My Journey's Almost Over......

Hello again fellow bloggers! Busy busy week, eh? This week I was looking for sources to fill the gaps in my research. I had found a number of sources that had the same general ideas about the ethicality of therapist self-disclosure, however, I needed more information with opposing views. I needed to find specific uses for therapist self-disclosure as well as specific contraindications of self-disclosure to complete my research. I again used Letherby Libraries to look for peer-reviewed articles as well as Google Scholar. When I found a source I was not too sure of, I applied the CRAAP test as well as Googling the authors, journals and publishers. 

I personally have found my topic to be very interesting, however that is probably because it will be very applicable for me as I enter my field of social work. With that said, there are a few things that even the average Joe would find interesting. For instance, before I started my research I hypothesized that all of the research information I found about therapist self-disclosure would state that it was completely unethical and that it should be avoided at all costs. However, not only was I 100% wrong, I also discovered that 90% of all therapists self disclose to some extent. I believed a false idea that therapists kept their personal histories private from their clients. Additionally, I had not thought about the unintentional self-disclosure aspect, such as profiles on social networks, journals that the therapist may have written, as well as decorations in the therapists office and the clothing that the therapist wears; all personal self-disclosures. 

As always, thanks for reading my blog! See you next week! 

LBSU 302

Week 6- Academic Integrity and Open Access Articles

My Journey Continues…..

According to the website plagiarism.org, 36% of college undergrads admit to paraphrasing and/or copying from an internet source without siting it. I think that it is important to note that this percentage is probably hugely distorted due to the fact that admitting to plagiary is admitting to a crime.

This week’s readings were highly informative for me. Although I was aware of the simple definition of plagiarism, I did learn something new. Specifically, I didn’t know that each source could have its own set of copyright terms. As a rule, I simply assumed that I could use any information in my research as long as I sited it. With that said, I have used many sources during my college education without searching for their copyright terms and adhering to those terms. I am embarrassed of my ignorance, however, now I can move forward with a better understanding and appreciation for copyright laws and how they pertain to me on my research journey.

With my new knowledge, I set out this week to find a source of information on my topic in Open Access Journals. It proved to be the most challenging research assignment for me thus far. I had no luck with the suggested online collections DOAJ and OAJSE, so I tried Google Scholar Open Access with the same results. I resorted to just plain Google and ended up with a great source! Although I had some trouble finding an Open Access source I am pleased that I now know many locations on the WWW to find free information.  During my search I looked very closely at each sources copyright terms and was shocked at what I saw. For instance, one source stated in its terms that it could be used as a source as long as no more than 500 characters were used, and of course, it was cited. I had no idea that copyright restrictions could be so specific! Having this new knowledge will forever change the way I look at information, as well as the way I use the information I find while doing research.

Thanks for reading my blog, and have an amazing week!

Information retrieved on 12-6-2015 from the following URL:

http://www.plagiarism.org/

LBSU 302

Week 5- Finding Empirical Articles

My Journey Continues…….

           

Hello again fellow bloggers and classmates! This week has been exciting and

exhausting, and I am sorry to say that I am glad it is almost over. I am not sure if 

have a tough subject to tackle or if I am just not that good at research just yet.

Regardless of which one, the research process is extremely time intensive for me.

Upside, however long it takes me, I am happy with my results once again. I was 

able to find an article written about a study done on the effects of therapist self-

disclosure on the outcome of the therapy itself. With my question being, “when is 

it ethical for therapists to self-disclose?” my research can go in many directions. I 

could look at the ethics attached to therapy, the ethics associated with therapist 

self –disclosure, the when and the what of therapist self-disclosure, and the effects

of therapist self-disclosure on the client. Additionally, I could look at how 

therapist self-disclosure effects the therapist-client relationship. In reality, I will 

need to look at all of these aspects in order to answer my question.

            While doing my research this week, I stumbled upon several questions 

closely related to my topic. One question is, how therapist self-disclosure effects a 

client’s willingness to self-disclose? Another is, how does therapist self-disclosure 

effect a therapist’s credibility with a client? Additionally, I am interested to know 

how clients perceive therapist self-disclosure.  One more issue I want to explore is 

whether withholding therapist disclosure impairs treatment.

            I have learned so much over the last few weeks about my topic due to all of

my newly learned research strategies. I still find it difficult to find specific 

information in Leatherby Libraries, but have learned new Google strategies to 

help with that. For instance, you can Google Scholarly Articles on a specific 

subject. Most of the time you will find what you are looking for, but you will not 

have full access to it. That is when Leatherby Library comes in, at least for me. 

           Well that is all for now fellow bloggers! Thanks again for reading my blogs 

and I will see you next week!

LBSU 302

Week 4- Finding Articles

My Journey Continues……….      

    Hello fellow bloggers and classmates! I am happy to report that I finally have a

topic narrow enough to have a research question. It has taken way more effort

than I originally planned, but completely worth every hour spent.  When I decided

to change careers, it was something that I had thought about for a long time. It

wasn’t on a whim. However, if it weren’t for this class I wouldn’t fully know what I

was getting into, or what options I would have after school. So for that, I am so

grateful!

Now, on to my weekly research…….

    This week I was interested in the further narrowing of my topic, hoping that I

could come up with a worthy research question. I read a few chapters in my book

from last week and decided that the topic of self-disclosure was of great interest

to me as well as having great significance in the role of a clinical social worker.

As a clinical social worker, you work very closely with individuals with a wide

range of psychosocial problems and disorders, in a clinical setting, providing

counseling and therapy. After doing extensive research this week, and reading

many articles, I have found that therapist self-disclosure is a hot topic that is up

for debate. To self-disclose, or not to self-disclose?  Some research states

therapist self-disclosure is harmful to the patient, and some research states it is a

great tool when used correctly in order to enhance the client-therapist

relationship. Either way, therapists are doing it, and I am sure to some extent I

will be faced with the question at some time in my career, and I want to know

when it is ethical and when it is not.

I had great success this week finding articles relevant to my topic. Finding

scholarly articles was much easier for me than finding books, possibly due to the

vast database of information available at the Leatherby Library. I used almost all

of the advanced search options to narrow down my search. This week I did

something I had not done previously. I chose an additional AND-KEYWORD with

Title as my field. This was extremely helpful in narrowing down articles that had

my keyword actually in the title. At that point I just needed to decide on which one

to choose, because most of the articles had some relevance to my topic. In the

following weeks I hope to find more research that explains ethics in relation to

therapist self-disclosure. Wish me luck!

Thanks again for reading my blog!!! See you next week!!!

LBSU 302

Week 3

The Journey Continues…..

     Welcome back to my journey! This week was interesting, full of frustrations and triumphs. I

have never known research to be that way, but I have a feeling I have never put this much

into it before. As I stated last week, I changed my focus to Clinical Social Work to narrow it

down. Guess what? I have narrowed it down again. While doing my research this week,

again, I found that there are an endless number of environments for a Clinical Social worker.

You could work with people struggling with poverty issues, or with people fighting addictions,

or even in corrections. However, I have discovered that I am most passionate about trauma

survivors and counseling. With that said, I chose the book, Trauma Counseling: Theories and

Interventions, by Lisa Lopez Levers, for this week’s assignment and research. I chose this book

because it encompasses a wide range of traumatic events along with guidelines for different

treatments. I have also discovered while doing this research that I am particularly interested

in long-term trauma, and so I am looking forward to reading that section in the book.

    I used Leatherby Libraries for the first time this week and it was amazing. The best part for

me, is the fact that I have free access to a book that would otherwise cost me $80.00. All

kidding aside, after I learned the tricks to advanced searches, it was amazing how much

information was there. The most important thing I learned while doing advanced searches, is

to choose your words wisely. The order of your words, the context of your words etc. For

instance, Clinical Social Work mostly entails counseling, but in a number of settings. If you

type in Clinical Social Work as your key words, it reveals no results, but if you type Social

Work it reveals too many results. So I broke it down further, to counseling and then again to

trauma. Additionally, I learned a great way to limit the number of results is to limit my search

to the last five years, which almost narrowed it too much. Another thing I found helpful in my

search was limiting my search to E-Books only. I did this because I wanted instant access to

the entire text and knew I was too short on time to get it any other way.

Thanks for reading my blog, see you next week!

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 [th1]

The Journey Continues……

Week 2-Finding and Evaluating Background Information

                Whew! That is what I have to say after doing this week’s research into my topic, career

opportunities in the field of social work.  What I have discovered while doing my research is that 

there are so many different roles that a social worker may have, if you haven’t narrowed it down to a 

specific category, you are in trouble! That is where I am, in trouble! I did however broaden my 

knowledge of career paths for social workers. I found that if you are interested in child welfare you 

could work with adoption agencies, child day care facilities, foster care agencies, and family 

preservation agencies, in addition to the most common Child Protective Services (CPS) that everyone

has heard of. I also learned that if you have an interest in School Social Work, you may not work in a 

school, but rather an early intervention program or special education placement offices. Lastly, and 

most importantly, I learned that Clinical Social Workers work in almost all aspects of Social Work, 

including, but not limited to, Alcohol and drug abuse treatment, individual and family counselling, 

grief counselling, victim services, corrections, aging, child welfare, health care, and group therapy. 

With that said, my blog focus has now evolved, from this point forward, toward a focus on clinical 

social work. 

          

         While doing this assignment I learned a whole lot more than I had in mind. I know, how could

you have too much information? Well, I guess it wasn’t too much information, just the wrong

information. I used Gale Virtual Reference Library and I also did several advanced Google searches

(which I had never done before), to do my research. I also restricted my searches to .edu, .gov, and 

.org domains’ in order to find credible sources (my first time for this also).  I got a whole lot of 

information about attaining the education needed for a social work degree, and when my criteria was 

narrowed, I found information on specific fields of social work. It was very difficult to find what I 

was looking for, however I did finally find a great source of information that lead to the evolution of 

my blog. It was a long and grueling process and I am glad this part is over.

       Thanks for reading my blog and stay tuned for more information about clinical social work!

My Journey Begins

   According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS), social work is one of the fastest growing careers in the United States, with

a projected growth of 19% between the years of 2012 and 2022. With that much

growth in any one field, there is a need to specialize in order to grow to your full

potential in that field. With that said, there is a huge range of career opportunities

in the field of social work and I am finding it difficult to decide where to place my

focus. This is what led me to this blog title, and the content will be my continued

extensive research on the different roles of a social worker in today’s society.

Ultimately, I am hoping this blog will help me make a decision on my career path.

           

            My name is Jessica, and my major is obviously social work. I just started

attending Brandman University, as a junior, in August. I transferred from College

of the Desert. As stated before, am not sure where I want to focus my career as of

yet, however I believe this blog will be a great tool for me to do research, and

present what I find, and use that information to make a solid, educated evaluation

of the spectrum of social work careers that are found in all aspects of community

life such as: in hospitals, in schools, for county social services in Child

Protective Services (CPS) or Adult Protective Services (APS), in mental health

facilities, in military services or Veterans Affairs, in substance abuse programs,

disaster relief, in prisons and courts, for Tribal Social Services,  and many other

special interests organizations. In addition to researching the careers in social

work, I want to research the specific challenges each field addresses, such as

poverty, discrimination, abuse, addiction, illness, divorce, disabilities, death,

unemployment, PTSD and other mental illnesses, and educational problems, to

name a few. My hope is, that as my blog evolves, so will the focus of my blog. For

instance, I may find a research topic that sparks a special interest, and therefore

leads me to a more advanced examination of that topic.

            One more thing I hope to achieve with this blog, is the ability to research

effectively all aspects of my topics and effectively share all aspects. What do I

mean? Well, we all have opinions and biases about different things. Additionally,

when you go into a research topic with your biases and opinions on your sleeve,

you will find the information you are looking for to back up your opinion. If I

wanted to write about how peanut butter helps you lose weight, because I love

peanut butter, I could type “peanut butter and weight loss” in my browser on my

computer and I would get the information I was seeking, and disregarding the

information I may have gotten if I had done an additional search for “peanut

butter and weight gain”. When looking at social issues is especially important to

keep your own personal biases in check and report the facts, whether you are for

or against them. With that said, I want to develop my researching abilities, and my

ability to deliver the information I find in the most unbiased way

possible.

            Thanks for reading my blog, and welcome to my Journey into the Field of

Social Work!

Statistics found here

            

            http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm#tab-

Image URL's found here

http://web.ppis.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Passion-for-People.jpg

http://socialmarketing.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341c595f53ef010536a7859b970c-pi