School Social Workers and American Indian Students

Abstract

This is a descriptive case study design that will describe the professional practices of school social workers in a public school setting on an Indian reservation with a predominate American Indian population (about 90%) in order to understand what school social workers do to meet the needs of American Indians students. The case study design was used to better understand the role of three school social workers when working with American Indian students to include a detailed description of their daily tasks and activities. This study addresses a gap in the literature on how school social workers can provide services to American Indian students that are consistent with accepted professional principles and standards. The foundation question of this study is as follows: What are the professional practices of school social workers with American Indian students in a public school setting on an Indian reservation. The sub questions that will guide this study are: 1. What are social school workers doing to help American Indian students? 2. Are the experiences of school social workers consistent with accepted professional principles and standards? The findings from this study yield important information on how these three school social workers approached their professional work with American Indians. They adhered to some of the professional principles and standards outline by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), however, it is not evident if or how they practiced all of them.