- Women
- Native Americans
- Elderly
- Published since 1997
- Peer-reviewed
- At least one should be a report of a research project
- One may be an personal interview
- Patterns of use in this population
- Impact of chemical dependency on this population
- Methods and rates of treatment and recovery
- Create a works cited page
Since human service professionals have to make decisions or develop plans, you could approach this project as if you had to make a decision or a plan. See the article "Decision making in social work practice." by Enola K. Proctor, Social Work Research, Mar2002, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p3
"Social workers' decisions determine efficiencies, effectiveness, and even fates. Services are delivered or denied. Children stay in foster care or return to once-abusive parents. Couples choose counseling or divorce. Social workers' decisions are increasingly subject to scrutiny for purposes of payment authorization or quality assurance. Although decision making is a routine component of practice, it has been rarely addressed in social work research. Social work would benefit from concerted research on practice decision."
Questions that require a decision or plan include the following:
- Should my client seek a divorce for spouse abuse?
- Can my client try to get her spouse arrested for family violence?
- Which method of substance abuse counseling is most effective with teenagers?
- Have studies shown school social work to have a significant effect in decreasing dropout rates?
- How can I help my elderly client remove himself from an abusive situation?
The Human Services Research Guide is an excellent place to begin your research!
Start your research by using the Library Catalog. Books will give you background and an overview of the subject.
Continue your research by finding articles in professional journals.
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education
How Can I Recognize Professional Journals?
Ask these questions. POPULAR MAGAZINE PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL What does the cover look like? Glossy, often color pictures Often bland, with few colors Who is the targeted audience? General public Professionals in the field What kind of articles are included? General interest. Current events. Research reports or professional concerns Are there advertisements? Yes, often in color Usually few or none Who writes the articles? Journalists or reporters Scholars, researchers, or practitioners Are the authors names listed? Sometimes not ("unsigned articles") Yes ("signed articles") Who selects the articles? Editor or editorial board Experts in the field ("peer-reviewed") Is there a bibliography for each article? Usually not Yes Where is the publication sold? Newsstand, subscription Subscription Who publishes it? Corporation Professional association or scholarly publisher
How Can I Find Articles in Professional Journals?
EBSCOhost MasterFILE Premier: Searching for articles in professional human services journals
- Try these searches:
- ("drug abuse" or "substance abuse") and "social work"
- "drug abuse" and (juveniles or youth or adolescents)
- "drug abuse" and "native americans"
- Put quotes around a phrase.
"social work"
"drug abuse" - Type and to combine words and
phrases.
"substance abuse" and "social work"
poor and "social work" - Put an * after the singular form of the word to also search the plural and variations: adolescen* finds adolescent, adolescents, and adolescence
General OneFile: Two ways to search for articles in professional human services journals are Subject Guide Search and Keyword Search.
Created by: Vicky Leather
Last Updated: February 7, 2008