Vicarious growth among social work students: What makes the difference?
Anat Ben-Porat1, Shelly Gottlieb1, Tehila Refaeli2
1Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Health & Social Care in the Community
|November 23, 2019
Summary
Social work students gain vicarious growth from working with trauma victims, influenced by supervision, professional commitment, and secondary traumatization. Third-year students reported higher growth, underscoring the importance of supportive field training.
Area of Science:
- Social Work Education
- Trauma Studies
- Psychological Growth
Background:
- Field practicums are crucial for social work students' professional development.
- Working with trauma victims presents unique challenges and opportunities for growth.
- Understanding factors influencing vicarious growth is essential for effective training.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine background, personal, and environmental factors contributing to social work students' vicarious growth.
- To investigate the role of secondary traumatization in the vicarious growth process.
- To identify key elements that promote student growth during trauma-focused field practicums.
Main Methods:
- Survey of 259 social work students across three Israeli schools.
- Participants completed field practicums in social services, working with trauma victims.
- Analysis of contributions from background variables, professional commitment, peer support, supervision, and secondary traumatization.
Main Results:
- Moderate levels of vicarious growth were reported by students.
- Third-year students showed significantly more growth than first-year students.
- Supervision satisfaction, professional commitment, and secondary traumatization positively correlated with vicarious growth.
Conclusions:
- Social work students can experience significant vicarious growth during field practicums with trauma victims.
- Supervisors play a critical role in facilitating student growth and managing distress.
- Factors such as academic year, professional commitment, and supervision quality are key predictors of growth.
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