Last Spring, professor Lisa Cox at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey gave her students a “creative assignment”—to write reflections on their field placements and submit them for publication. THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER was the lucky recipient of several of these submissions. In this issue, we feature three of these writings, each of which tells of the now-graduated student’s experiences on the road to becoming a social worker.
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Research plays an important role in informing our practice, so in this issue, we have included two research reports.
Research plays an important role in informing our practice, so in this issue, we have included two research reports. 
Brian Garavaglia reports on memory loss in older adults on page 18. Do you assume that an older adult’s memory loss is due to his or her age? Think again—there may be other influencing factors. Nadezhda Dimitrova Dyulgerova provides an interesting look at six- and seven-year-old children in her country of Bulgaria. Through drawings and interviews, the researcher ascertained some telling information about these children.If you are just beginning the process of applying to MSW programs, you are in luck. Felicia Townsend shares her insights into this process on page 16. Are we too dependent on our PDAs, cell phones, and other technology? What has happened to the fine art of hand lettering?
Are we too dependent on our PDAs, cell phones, and other technology? What has happened to the fine art of hand lettering?
Read what Marshall Smith and Robert Rivas have to say on this subject on page 26.Do you have information you would like to share with THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s readers? Think about submitting an article. It could be an overview of your practice setting, a look at ethical issues you have faced, tips for students in field placement, career development/job search ideas, or anything that would be of interest to a social work student or new practitioner. Get creative! I’d love to hear from you. Also, I am always looking for photos of social work students and social workers “in action.” You can e-mail your article submissions and high-resolution photos, with captions, to me at
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Until next time—happy reading! Table of ContentsStudent Role Model:
Amal Elanouari
In this issue, Barbara Blank provides a close-up look at Amal Elanouari, MSW student at the University of California-Berkeley and NASW’s MSW student board member.
by Barbara Trainin Blank
page 3
Ethics & Field Placement: Classroom Comes to Life in HIV/AIDS Field Placement
Through her field placement, the writer learned that “what we learn in the classroom forms the body of the profession, but the way in which we apply our education in our work is its heart and soul.”
by Nancy Martin
page 4
Field Placement:
Empowerment Through Group Process
A student learns through her internship with a parenting group that she has made the right career decision.
by Leslie Stanton
page 6
Ethics & Field Placement: Cultural Competence in a Field Placement as a Victim Witness Advocate
Cultural competence is very important when working with victims of different nationalities. A social work student uses her Spanish language skills to put clients at ease.
by Adalgisa Estevez
page 8
Research: Six- and Seven-Year-Old Children and Their Families
A Bulgarian researcher uses a drawing test and interviewing to assess young children’s perceptions of their families.
by Nadezhda Dimitrova Dyulgerova
page 11
Overhauling the Image of the Social Worker
It is time to discard the historical image of the social worker. The writer offers an adopted image of what it means to be a social worker.
by Susan C. Westgate
page 14
Tackling the Graduate Admissions Process With a Graduate Education Action Plan (G.E.A.P.)
Dominican University’s graduate social work admissions director shares tips and insight into the application process.
by Felicia L. Townsend
page 16
Research: The Confounding Influence of Age as an
Explanation for Memory Loss Among Older Adult Long Term Care Residents
When problems in older adult memory happen, is the attribution of the aging process causing these changes a satisfactory explanation?
by Brian Garavaglia
page 18
Playing Nice, and Other Lessons From the Field:
The First 18 Months
These lessons cannot be taught in the classroom, but are vital to one’s success as a new social worker.
by Sandra Fortier
page 22
Your Social Work Career: Beginning Anew, Again—
Reflections of a New Social Worker
Nobody likes to be a newbie in the office. How does the new social work practitioner fare when beginning anew, again, in a new work environment?
by Veronica L. Vaiti
page 24
Electronic Connection: Handwriting vs. Keyboarding, Fountain Pens vs. PDAs
Have we gotten too dependent on our PDAs? What ever happened to cursive writing? And what is a BadDogShark?
by Marshall L. Smith and Robert Rivas
page 26
On Campus page 27
Books page 28
Classified Ads page 32
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