Experiences of Social Work Educators Working With Students With Psychiatric Disabilities or Emotional Problems

Abstract

Social work educators have an ethical responsibility to graduate students who are academically, behaviorally, and professionally prepared to enter the social work profession. Although a student's suitability to the profession is not necessarily hindered because of the effects of a psychiatric disability or an emotional problem, sometimes it is. Meanwhile, little is known about how social work educators perceive and understand their work with students who experience these types of vulnerabilities. Qualitative face-to-face interviews were conducted with 26 full-time social work educators from 22 accredited social work programs. The findings indicate that these educators experience a combination of personal, ethical, and programmatic challenges during their work with students affected by or recovering from psychiatric disabilities or emotional problems.