An evaluation of child welfare inservice training: The relative effectiveness of substance abuse content in improving worker knowledge and attitudes

Given the seriousness of substance abuse as a child welfare problem, the purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of an inservice training curriculum for child welfare workers. The training was designed to improve worker knowledge and attitudes in working with substance abusing families. Seventy (70) child welfare workers from public and private agencies in two south Florida counties participated in a pretest/posttest control group design that also trained and retested the control group. The literature review supports that the general preparedness of child welfare workers for the issues presented by substance abusing families is in question. Confounding this problem is a lack of understanding of substance abuse dynamics, worker biases, and predispositions. The two research hypotheses focused on whether inservice training could increase worker knowledge and improve worker attitudes in working with this population. Training delivery was in the form of a five-day inservice focusing on an array of substance abuse knowledge and attitudinal topics. Separate knowledge and attitude instruments were developed for the research and were administered, before and after training, to a purposive sample of participants that were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The data analysis supported the research hypotheses but raised a question. Specifically, the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement in posttest scores on both instruments after receiving the training; whereas the control group, with training withheld, also demonstrated a significant improvement at posttest, but only on the knowledge instrument. Although the question was unanswered, when examined at a more critical significance level, only the experimental group remained significant. The hypotheses were reconfirmed when, after training and retesting, the control group also displayed significant improvement on both instruments. The findings support the conclusion that this substance abuse inservice was effective in improving worker knowledge and attitudes regarding working with substance abusing families. As an implication for social work practice, it suggests that similar inservice training can be a viable training resource when formal substance abuse training is unavailable. Additional research is suggested regarding to what degree increased substance abuse knowledge and improved worker attitudes correlate with improved practice.

A Typology of Workplace Commitment Elements and Antecedents Affecting Organizational Effectiveness

The purpose of this paper is to present a typology workplace commitment of workplace commitment illustrating levels, elements, and antecedents of organizational and individual commitment. This typology focuses on elements that can be manipulated by the human resource development (HRD) researcher and practitioner to affect organizational performance.

Evaluation of the Scent Collection System for Its Effectiveness in Volatile Organic Compound Collection and Use in Canine Training

As a result of increased terrorist activity around the world, the development of a canine training aid suitable for daily military operations is necessary to provide effective canine explosive detection. Since the use of sniffer dogs has proven to be a reliable resource for the rapid detection of explosive volatiles organic compounds, the present study evaluated the ability of the Human Scent Collection System (HSCS) device for the creation of training aids for plasticized / tagged explosives, nitroglycerin and TNT containing explosives, and smokeless powders for canine training purposes. Through canine field testing, it was demonstrated that volatiles dynamically collected from real explosive material provided a positive canine response showing the effectiveness of the HSCS in creating canine training aids that can be used immediately or up to several weeks (3) after collection under proper storage conditions. These reliable non-hazardous training aids allow its use in areas where real explosive material aids are not practical and/or available.