Social work education: The availability of alcohol-related course curriculum and social workers' ability to work with problem drinkers

An explanatory cross-sectional investigation was employed to assess how well masters-level social work (MSW) programs in the State of New York prepare students for practice with problem drinkers. The following areas were explored: (1) the incorporation of alcohol-related coursework and field placement opportunities within MSW programs; (2) the relationship between students' completion of alcohol-related courses and field placements and their subsequent ability to diagnose clients with alcohol problems, their willingness to work with problem drinkers, and their levels of alcohol-related knowledge; and (3) subjects' levels of alcohol-related knowledge in relation to their diagnostic ability and their willingness to work with problem drinkers. The sample consisted of 89 MSW-level social work practitioners, who were active members of the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) during the fall of 2005. Fewer than 3% of the sample reported the completion of an alcohol-related course as a mandatory degree requirement and only 29.5% of the sample acknowledged the completion of an alcohol-related field placement. These findings suggest that a possible gap exists in what social workers are being taught and what they need to know to successfully work with problem drinkers. The findings indicate that clients with alcohol problems are at risk of going untreated due to social workers' inability to correctly diagnose them as a result of insufficient training in the area of alcohol studies.