Ebony Hinton: Exploring the Roles of Interpersonal and Organizational Factors in the Interprofessional Collaboration Practices of School Social Workers
Positioned in schools as primary providers of mental health services and liaisons between the home, school and community, school social workers may be well-positioned as potentially vital contributors to the development of schools that seek to meet the socio-emotional needs of disadvantaged students. The inclusion of school social workers in positions allowing for their contribution to school-wide behavioral and mental health interventions has been advocated for by practitioners and researchers alike for decades. School social workers serving as classroom management consultants and behavioral intervention team members has shown promise as a means of supporting student socio-emotional development school-wide. Nonetheless, various structural, organizational and interpersonal factors continue to undermine the widespread inclusion of school social workers in such efforts. Many school social workers continue to spend the majority of their time providing support to students on an individual basis, leaving little time for their participation in more comprehensive efforts. Social work scholars have contributed useful conceptual models that help to describe the potential range of roles being fulfilled by social workers in schools. Yet, empirical evidence demonstrating the role of organizational factors is lacking. Interprofessional collaboration between school social workers, teachers and principals is one important means through which school social workers can begin to expand their impact. Through a mixed-methods research design, the proposed study seeks to investigate the role of organizational and interpersonal factors in encouraging or discouraging interprofessional collaboration with school social workers. Findings will contribute to an improved understanding of the organizational conditions under which school social workers are more likely to serve in expanded roles beyond individualized services.
