BSW Programs and the Continuum in Social Work

Abstract

The continuum in social work education appears to be an idea whose time has come. Like many such concepts which wield power for action, the continuum notion must be considered closely for clarity and consensus in the social work profession. Interpretations of the continuum, as advanced by the new CSWE Curriculum Policy Statement (CPS), will affect both social work educators and the overall quality of social work education greatly. In the pursuit of excellence during an era of retrenchment, no component of social work education seems more crucial. To paraphrase Socrates, however, the unexamined concept is not worth using. The focus of this paper is to examine the continuum in terms of educational quality through competence outcomes in BSW programs and of implications for MSW programs. The paper specifically addresses the question of how particular interpretations of the continuum concept, by institutionalizing it through accreditation, could affect these competence outcomes. This critical examination is framed primarily in the longstanding generic-specific issue of the profession.

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