Substance misuse and social work qualifying training in the British Isles: a survey of CQSW courses

In 1989, all Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) courses in the British Isles were included in a survey of the training offered social work students on responding to psychoactive substance misuse. There was a 74% response rate. Eleven per cent of the courses that responded provided no formal substance misuse training. Those that offered training provided a median of 8 hours, with over 70% of students receiving less than 11 hours, indicating that many students were being given the briefest of overviews. Outside of four or five 'centres of excellence', social workers and probation officers training in 1988-89 received less than adequate preparation to work with people with alcohol- and drug-related problems, despite evidence that they account for a large and growing proportion of their caseloads.