Trends in social welfare policy and programs place increasing expectations on families to provide members with various forms of material and socioemotional support. The historic ability of kin networks of many African Americans to provide such support has been compromised by long-term community and family poverty. The potential mismatch between the expectations of social welfare systems for kin support and the actual functional capacities of kin networks places African Americans living in poverty at great risk of chronic poverty and its long-term multiple consequences. This article reviews historical and contemporary research on the structure and function of African American kin networks. On the basis of evidence of functional decline, the authors argue that social workers must re-examine the a priori assumption of viable kin networks as a reliable source of resilience among African Americans living in poverty. Social workers must focus assessment at all levels of practice on a variety of aspects of kin networks to make accurate judgments about not only the availability of resources, but also the perceived costs and benefits of participation in exchange for resources.

This article considers issues of educational inequality in the U.S. South from a social work/social justice perspective. After a review of existing literature and discussion of cultural versus structural explanations for race and socioeconomic status gaps in academic achievement, findings are presented from a study examining child-, classroom-, and school-level factors that influence academic achievement among public school children in the South. Although a sizeable minority of southern children attend schools that are segregated along racial and socioeconomic lines, and although these schools are different in various aspects of educational environment, once family structure, parental characteristics, the use of ability grouping, and rural school location were taken into account, no influence of race on achievement remained. Implications for social work policy and practice are discussed.

Claims of ‘liberal bias’ in higher education raise unique concerns for social work education in the United States. In a time of increasing conservatism in mainstream America, students who identify as political or social conservatives may find themselves particularly challenged by the perspectives, values and ideas they encounter in the social work classroom. This paper explores student perceptions of a ‘liberal’/‘conservative’ conflict in the social and educational environment of their MSW program. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of ‘habitus’ and the social ‘field’ as a framework for interpreting student interview data, we discuss perceptions of ‘liberal bias’ at the nexus of individual experience, educational processes, and broader socio‐political climate.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are 10 categories of childhood abuse and maltreatment, which have a dose–response relationship with common adult health concerns seen in primary care including health risk behaviors, chronic disease, and mental illness. Many of the ACEs-associated biopsychosocial risk factors are modifiable. However, physicians may not address these issues for fear of opening “Pandora’s Box”, that is, a source of extensive problems for which they are not sufficiently prepared with training, resources, or time. Residents need training in how to conduct trauma-focused conversations within the limited scope of an office visit. To address this need, a 4-hour simulation and video-based training program was developed for primary care residents about how to conduct brief interventions connecting their patients’ current health concerns with their experiences of ACEs. Resident participants have evaluated this program as preparatory for real-life encounters and as being designed to allow for educational mastery. This article describes a workshop presenting this training program which was given at the 37th Annual Behavioral Science Forum in Family Medicine. Five skills targeted in the program were presented and a demonstration was made of the components, that is, didactics, provider and patient videos, simulated patient encounters, trainee feedback, and facilitated discussion that encompasses targeted skills, clinical implementation, and self-care. Companion tools were shared, including the syllabus, evaluation rubric, and provider and patient resources. Participants practiced trainee feedback and discussed the challenges in implementation.

Oklahoma's health status has been ranked among the worst in the country. In 1972, the University of Oklahoma established the Tulsa branch of its College of Medicine (COM) to expand the physician workforce for northeastern Oklahoma and to provide care for the uninsured patients of the area. In 2008, the Tulsa branch launched a distinct educational track, the University of Oklahoma COM's School of Community Medicine (SCM), to prepare providers equipped and committed to addressing prevalent health disparities.The authors describe the Tulsa branch's Summer Institute (SI), a signature program of the SCM, and how it is part of SCM's process of institutional transformation to align its education, service, and research missions toward improving the health status of the entire region. The SI is a weeklong, prematriculation immersion experience in community medicine. It brings entering medical and physician assistant students together with students and faculty from other disciplines to develop a shared culture of community medicine. The SI uses an unconventional curriculum, based on Scharmer's Theory U, which emphasizes appreciative inquiry, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving. Also, the curriculum includes Professional Meaning conversations, small-group sessions to facilitate the integration of students' observations into their professional identities and commitments. Development of prototypes of a better health care system enables participants to learn by doing and to bring community medicine to life.The authors describe these and other curricular elements of the SI, present early evaluation data, and discuss the curriculum's incremental evolution. A longitudinal outcomes evaluation is under way.