NCCD Researcher Honored for Journal Article

September 29, 2016 | NCCD

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An article co-authored by Kristen Johnson, PhD, a senior researcher at NCCD, received an Honorable Mention for Best Mixed Methods Article of the Year in the Journal of Social Work Education (JSWE). The JSWE Awards recognize articles based on their importance, timeliness, originality of thought, and value to the field of social work education.

Titled “Evaluating Training to Promote Critical Thinking Skills for Determining Children’s Safety,” Johnson’s article appeared in Volume 51, Issue 2, of JSWE. Johnson collaborated with several staff members of the Northern California Training Academy at the Center for Human Services, University of California–Davis, to write about a study that assessed changes in knowledge among social work practitioners who participated in a three-day training on safety-organized practice.

Researchers used both quantitative and qualitative data from the six-month and 12-month post-training marks to examine how training participants had changed their practice since the training. This was compared to information gathered before the training and during the last hours of the training. While Johnson’s article explains the study’s limitations, it also describes a successful shift in practice among trainees.

According to JSWE’s editor in chief, this article and the other award winners were chosen from among all articles published by the journal in 2015. Decisions to honor these articles were based on their originality of thought, sound or innovative conceptualization of the topic, and whether their “conclusions and/or recommendations … add significantly to the professional knowledge base and to social work education.”

JSWE Award winners will be honored at the Council on Social Work Education 2016 Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in early November.