Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review:

Education and Writing in Social Work

Genifer Heath

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

Dr. Vierra

May 1, 2020
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Abstract

Social work is a broad term to describe a professional that belongs to a collection of

occupations that has the main goal of bettering the lives of families or individuals in a

community. Obtaining an education is vital to serving society as a social work professional.

Specifically, writing plays an important role considering that this is an occupation that relies

heavily on documentation. Not having the necessary writing skills can impact a social worker’s

ability to effectively communicate and can have detrimental effects on vulnerable clients.

Through much research, it is evident that social work graduates are not entering the workforce

properly prepared for the writing demand put on them. Many universities, including the

University of Texas at El Paso, does not require writing classes beyond freshman year. By

including courses or workshops related to specific professions, more graduates would enter their

work fields better prepared.

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Literature Review:

Education and Writing in Social Work

“Child-snatcher” is an infamous term that is commonly associated with a social worker.

Not only is the term wrong, but it is also indecorous. Social workers are educated individuals that

make it their mission to help the people in their community. An individual must have many

characteristics to be a successful social worker, an important one being communication and

writing. Despite the need for writing skills in the field, universities and social work programs

have not expressed the need for this skill through adequate courses. Writing plays a crucial role

in job performance, yet many social work professionals feel that writing is no longer needed in

the field. Some believe that this problem is due to the fact that students of social work are not

given the sense of the importance of writing in their universities. Most degree plans for students

of social work do not involve writing classes past those on the freshman level. Specifically, The

University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) does not require a writing class beyond what the student

takes their freshman year, including graduate students.

The topic will be explored by the following research questions:

 What is social work and what does the job entail?

 What type of education is required for social work professionals?

 How important is writing in the social work profession?

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 What writing class curriculums does UTEP offer compared to other universities?

Thesis

Because writing classes are limited to only two courses during undergraduate studies, the

University of Texas at El Paso should offer students writing courses or workshops specific to

their professional fields. This course of action matters because without adequate writing skills,

social workers are not able to properly serve their community.

Discussion of Research

The Function of Social Work

Social work is a broad term used to describe a field that involves a professional that

belongs to a collection of occupations that has the goal of bettering the lives of families or

individuals in a community. Dr. Anna Scheyett, dean of social work at the University of South

Carolina, gave a TEDx conference in Columbia, South Carolina that explained to the community

that at some point in everyone’s life, they will need help and that social workers exist for this

reason (Scheyett, 2017, 2:46.) Examples of this would be needing a social worker if a baby is

born premature, a child is bullied at any point in school, if loved ones are affected by a mental

health problem and needs counseling, or when facing difficult end of life decisions such as

hospice or in-home healthcare. In addition to helping individuals, social workers can work for

nonprofit organizations and as advocates in the court systems to ensure social justice and to fight

for changes in laws. Scheyett also explains that social workers are able to help people because of

what they learn in their accredited university programs, and what they learn is their mission to

promote welfare and fight social injustice and how to make change happen. The education

programs that students of social work attend are said to be rigorous and researched based.
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Understanding change and continuity in social work helps give an understanding of

future possibilities in the field. Until society becomes perfect, there will always be a need for

social work professionals. The history of the profession can be difficult to obtain due to a

hindsight bias, which occurs in almost any aspect of history (Payne, 2005 p. 17). History is only

given from the perspective of a social worker, which makes it celebratory instead of factual.

Despite these concerns with accuracy, a lot can be taken from the information that is there. When

social work first started, it was more of a volunteer situation instead of a profession (Payne, 2005

p.119). What can be concluded from that is that the first social workers were not the educated

individuals they are today. Despite the field not being a career until more recently, history shows

the progress of the field to become what it is today (figure 2). The field today calls for highly

trained and educated individuals than there has ever been before. These new resources and

requirements make the field stronger and is only possible because of the profession’s history.

Social work has a unique relationship with the medical field. Mount Sinai Hospital of

New York was the first in the nation to have medical administration offices and the third to form

a Social Services Department. This department was created in 1906, when Dr. Goldwater felt

that social worker would “directly contribute to better care of patients” (Rehr 2006, pg. 6). He

felt this was important due to the fact that medicine was evolving. Doctors went from doing

home visits in the small communities they lived in to commuting to large hospitals in big cities.

This has caused patient care to become more complex. Since 1906, the program at Mount Sinai

has continued to grow and have an impact on the nation. This only further proves that social

work is a necessity to the medical field. The authors of this monograph give a detailed history of

this specific medical facilities social work program history. The program has had to overcome

over a century of challenges, including the nation’s largest economic crisis and the development
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of health care insurance companies. In a society where most Americans believe our healthcare

system is “bleeding”, the field of medical social workers becomes more and more relevant.

Social Work Education

Social work may not have been a profession that required an education when it first

started, but it has evolved into a health science that requires ongoing education. Authors Nelson

Reid and Richard Edwards discuss the purpose of schools for social work and the American

perspective on social work as a profession. Without being considered a profession, the authors

believe that would mean social work had no place in academia (Nelson 2006, p. 462). This might

have been true in the nineteenth century when social work surfaced due to social disorder, low

wages, and ruthless working environments. Then, the field was more of a sub subject of

sociology that combined with charity for those in need. It was later in this era that social work

emerged as a profession by taking on the responsibility of dealing with poor and welfare

dependent populations. Today, the profession has evolved into more of a science. As an

American profession, social workers are involved in collecting data, performing research, and

drawing conclusions.

Modern social work is a health science and uses scientific research and evidence to run

efficiently. Author William Epstein defers to this statement by stating that social work is only a

political term and is too scientifically immature to have credible research regarding the work

performed in the field. The author also believes that “Social Work has deteriorated in the

academy” (Winters 2000, pg. 150). This statement tries to take away the professions credibility

of having competent and educated graduates emerging into the field. Epstein is also a critic of

social work research due to social workers shortcomings throughout history. These shortcomings

were blamed on the fact that he believes that social workers aligned with political agendas. His
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distrust comes from the fact that in the past, research had been missed or misinterpreted in order

to line up with an agenda. This is something present in all science and non-science professions.

Just because a doctor fabricated a study connecting autism to vaccines, did not discredit all

medical doctors and the research they did. Therefore, this should not be the consensus of social

work research conducted.

Social work graduates are not transitioning well from student to professional. A study

was conducted that concluded that 17 out of the 27 subjects changed jobs within 18 months of

employment (Glassburn 2020, p.9). The study was broken into four different areas, which were

preparedness, job orientation, satisfaction from the job, and transition factors. Many students felt

unprepared in many ways, some examples include experiencing overwhelming emotions, being

put in dangerous situations, and even things such as how much to ask for concerning salary.

Other students quickly became bored, especially of the social work jobs in therapy. They did not

feel the expected satisfaction from their new careers. Some students felt they had great new job

orientations, but most subjects felt it was too short and some stated they never received an

orientation (p. 5). When it came to transition factors, the study found that many subjects had

issues of bad supervisors or no supervisors. This was the main factor found concerning the actual

transition (p. 8). The author concluded from this study that students were not properly prepared

as students to enter the professional world of social work. This causes fast burnout, and despite

having many graduates there are not enough graduates that fill the much-needed areas of this

field.

The Importance of Writing in Social Work

There is an exceptional amount of writing in social work, and most of it has major effects

on people’s lives. According to the author of the journal, students of social work must learn more
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than just basic technical skills in order to effectively work in the field (McDonald 2015, p.359).

One of the major writing challenges in social work is that whatever is written must be legible for

multiple audiences. The other major aspect is the fact that most of what social workers write is

confidential information. Because of the nature of what is being written and how it must be

written, a social worker’s writing skill must be ethical and professional. The author also believes

that social work professionals need to be taught the responsibility they have with their writing

from the time they are students in order to see their writing skills through an ethical and

professional lens (McDonald 2015, p.361). In order to benefit clients in the field and properly

serve the public, education should be promoting the social work students understanding of the

importance of their writing.

Students and educators of social work are facing challenges when it comes to writing

abilities and the ability to teach writing. Many students, especially minority students, are entering

the social work programs at an undergraduate level unprepared for the writing skill needed to

succeed. The author of the article states, “…Latina/o, African American, female… students all

reported more writing challenges compared to their peers” (Cronley 2016, p.1). There were also

studies conducted that showed a difference in writing skills according to where in the United

States the student went to school. While acknowledging a problem is a great first step, there has

been little to no solutions offered up since this problem came around in the 1970s. In fact, social

work educators are having a difficult time, compared to their colleagues, teaching writing to their

students. The author believes the solution to this problem includes preparing educators,

especially those without a writing background, through extra classes and by having early

intervention with at risk students (Cronley 2016, p. 3).

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Writing is a crucial skill for all social work professions, regardless of what type of social

worker they are. The University of Southern California (USC), has a large and successful social

work program that posted an article on what they feel the top five skills needed to be a social

work professional are. These qualities are listed in the following order: observation, self-

awareness, critical thinking, verbal communication, and writing. The largest portion of this

article is what is written under the “written” section. This shows the importance that writing has

in social work. The website states, “If it isn’t documented, it never happened” (USC Staff 2011,

para. 6). They follow up by saying that phrase is the first and most important lesson learned in

almost any social work employment. An important aspect of writing is communication. When

social workers do not effectively communicate, then critical mistakes happen. This is not a

profession where mistakes, big or small, can be made.

Social work professionals are tasked with writing a variety of documents, proposals, case

reports, treatment plans, and more. Writing is a crucial skill, considering the confidential and

important information that social workers are in charge of. Regardless of the type of social work,

writing at least a basic form of case notes is required (figure 1). The website, socialwork.org

states that unconcise writing can make the case worker overlook facts in cases such as a child’s

wellbeing (socialwork.org 2020, paragraph 2). Case workers handle cases that their decisions

could mean life or death for innocent individuals, therefore documentation is crucial. The

website also states that the three most common writing mistakes that social work students make

is concision, punctuation, and grammar (socialwork.org 2020, paragraph 5). This is surprising

considering the fact the social workers receive higher education, yet a majority do not possess

the writing skills needed in the profession. The website gives many writing resources to assist
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with this issue, but university educated individuals should not be entering the professional world

without the proper writing abilities to be successful in their fields.

While some social work professionals disagree, having adequate writing skills are crucial

to be a successful social work professional. The University of Denver’s dean of Social Work,

Catherine Alter, and fellow professors believe that social work graduates are entering master’s

programs with inadequate writing skills (Alter 2001, paragraph 2). If professors and educators

feel that students are unprepared, then it is fair to assume that employers feel the same way

(figure 3). This is not a problem isolated in the United States, and the author of the article

explains that statement by providing studies conducted in the United Kingdom, as well as North

Africa. There is a debate among social work professionals all over pertaining to rather or not

writing skills are important for social workers. Some state that the writing skill of social workers

only go as far as case notes and reports, therefore concentrating too deeply on writing skill is a

waste of time. The author of the article clearly disagrees and wants this problem acknowledged

in order to find a solution. Professors and mentors should stress the importance of writing, as it is

important to a student’s success.

Comparing UTEP’s Writing Curriculum to Other Universities

The course catalog for any major or degree at the University of Texas at El Paso,

formally known as College of Mines and Metallurgy, in the year 1920 was drastically different

than it is today. In 1920, the closest course to rhetoric was the English class taken the student’s

first semester in college (University of Texas at El Paso, 2020). Its main focus was composition

and rhetoric, which appears by the description to be a basic understanding of sentence and

paragraph structure and writing practice. The English class offered the second semester did not

include any type of writing instruction, but instead was the study of English literature and poetry.
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At this time, social work was not a degree or certificate program, since social work did not

become an official degree program at the University of Texas at El Paso until 1979. Then, it was

considered a liberal arts degree instead of a health science degree. Writing was a core class

requirement at that time. According to the course catalog, this degree required two composition

classes, two linguistics classes, and three English classes. Given that information, it appears the

course requirements were very similar to today’s requirements. Instead of being called rhetoric

classes, they were called composition, but both names mean writing.

Social work did not become an official degree program at the University of Texas at El

Paso until 1979. Then, it was considered a liberal arts degree instead of a health science degree.

Writing was a core class requirement at that time. According to the course catalog, this degree

required two composition classes, two linguistics classes, and three English classes (Office of

Admissions and Records, 1979). Given that information, it appears the course requirements were

very similar to today’s requirements. Instead of being called rhetoric classes, they were called

composition, but both names mean writing.

Primary Research

To achieve firsthand insight on the role of writing in the social work field, as well as how

prepared or unprepared graduates feel entering the field, it was best to interview social work

professionals for the primary research method. This method produced specific examples of the

problems caused by students of social work not being properly prepared. In an interview with

Melody Gomez (phone interview, April 4, 2020), a current social work graduate student and

founder of a community- based nonprofit, the importance of communication and writing

becomes obvious. Gomez mentioned that her university program does not offer students classes

to assist in professional writing. Classes to alleviate this issue could lead to student’s success in
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the field. In another interview with Jessica Rubio (April 4, 2020, via phone), a Master of Social

Work graduate and professional with a decade of experience, led to insights regarding graduate

preparedness and writing’s role in her field. She discussed how a whole medical office was left

without any caseworkers, due to burnout and people losing their jobs from not writing

documentation properly. Both interviews contributed to a greater awareness of the problem.

Social workers are not prepared for success in their fields during university programs,

and it is resulting in burnout and preventable mistakes. An interview with Jessica Rubio, a

Master of Social Work graduate and professional with a decade of experience, led to insights

regarding graduate preparedness and writing’s role in her field. Rubio’s first job after graduation

required an intense amount of writing and documentation. She stated that she was not prepared

for the type or amount of writing that had to be done to fulfil her duties, and that she was not

alone in this. She stated, “clients were left without caseworkers”, which was a result of half the

caseworkers quitting over burnout after the other half were let go due to not being able to keep

up with documentation properly. Fortunately, her current position offered training to alleviate

this issue and educate professionals on not only how to properly write and document cases, but

tips on keeping up with the writing. However, in the case of her first position, proper university

writing instruction tailored to social work could have prevented that extremely negligent

situation.

Communication and writing play a major role in social work. In an interview with

Melody Gomez, a current social work graduate student and founder of a community- based

nonprofit, the importance of communication and writing becomes obvious. Gomez stated, “…

we are taught how to physically communicate with clients well… that’s not the only

communication required”. She also mentioned that it is not always the most important either.
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Without adequate writing skills and knowledge of document requirements, clients would not

receive the help they need and nonprofits would not exist to fill in the gaps. In social work, if it is

not documented, then it never happened. Gomez also mentioned that her university program does

not offer students classes to assist in professional writing. Classes to alleviate this issue could

lead to student’s success in the field.

Conclusion

After various forms of research, it is evident that writing plays a major role in the field of

social work. This makes sense considering that a large portion of the job deals with writing case

notes, progress notes, and utilizing written communication. Despite knowing the importance of

writing skills in the field, university graduates on both the undergraduate and graduate levels are

entering the profession without the writing skills needed to effectively and efficiently perform

the job tasks. Some believe that this problem is due to the fact that students of social work are

not given the sense of the importance of writing in their universities. Most degree plans for

students of social work do not involve writing classes past those on the freshman level.

Specifically, The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) does not require a writing class beyond

what the student takes their freshman year, including graduate students. By tailoring courses or

workshops to each profession’s needs, students would graduate more prepared.

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References

Alter, C., & Adkins, C. (2001). Improving the writing skills of social work students. Journal of

Social Work Education, 37(3), 493. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.23043882&site=eds-live&scope=site

Cronley, C., & Kilgore, C. D. (2016). Social work students and faculty: Testing the convergence

of perspectives on student writing abilities. Routledge.

doi:10.1080/10437797.2016.1151275

Lynn Glassburn, S. (2020). Where's the roadmap? the transition from student to professional for

new Master of Social Work graduates. Qualitative Social Work, 19(1), 142-158.

doi:10.1177/1473325018807746

McDonald, D., Boddy, J., O'Callaghan, K., & Chester, P. (2015). Ethical professional writing in

social work and human services.  Ethics and Social Welfare, 9(4), 359-374.

doi:10.1080/17496535.2015.1009481

Nelson Reid, P., & Edwards, R. (2006). The purpose of a school of social Work—An American

perspective. Social Work Education, 25(5), 461-484. doi:10.1080/02615470600738817

Office of Admissions and Records. (1979). The university of Texas at El Paso catalog. (No. 63).

El Paso: Retrieved from https://www.utep.edu/catalogs/1967-2000/THE

%20UNIVERSITY%20OF%20TEXAS%20AT%20EL%20PASO%201979-1981.pdf

Payne, M. (2005). The origins of social work: Continuity and change. New York: Palgrave

Macmillan.

Rehr, H., & Rosenberg, G. (2006). The social work-medicine relationship: 100 years at mount

sinai Haworth Press. Retrieved from http://0-

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search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b2096461&site=eds-live&scope=site http://www.l

oc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0515/2005017697.html

Scheyett, Anna. Social workers as super-heroes. TEDx Columbia, S. C. (Director). (2017, April

10,). [Video/DVD] Columbia, SC

SocialWork.org Staff. (2020). Writing guide for social workers. Retrieved

from https://www.socialwork.org/resources/writing-guide/

University of Texas at El Paso. (2020). Academic and research programs. Retrieved

from https://www.utep.edu/about/about-utep.html

USC Staff. (2011). Top five skills in a social worker’s professional toolbox. Retrieved

from https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/top-five-skills-in-a-social-workers-professional-

toolkit/

Winters, W., & Gourdine, R. (2000). School reform: A viable domain for school of social work.

In J. Hopps, & R. Morris (Eds.), Social work at the millennium: Critical reflections on

the future of the profession (pp. 138-160). New York: Free Press. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b1871500&site=eds-live&scope=site
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Appendix A: Images

Figure 1. A format for a basic outline for social work case notes.

Source: nasw.org
Figure 2. Table from a monograph that gives a summary to historical trends in social work

Source: Payne 2005

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Figure 3. Table that displays student readiness by how employers see their preparedness and how
students see themselves being prepared.

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers

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Appendix B: Interview Questions

Did you feel that your university program properly prepared you for work as a social worker?

What courses did you take that you felt prepared you the most for the field?

Were the social work curriculum courses what you expected?

What kind of training, if any, did you receive once hired as a social worker?

What kind of work do you do as a social worker?

How much writing (or typing) would you say is involved as a part of your daily job duties?

How big of a role does communication play as a part of your daily job?

Why is communication such an important aspect of your field?

Statistically, “burnout” is very common in the social work field, why do you think that is?