Social and Political Sciences

This article addresses the challenging task of preparing baccalaureate social work students to master proficiency as first responders
in stress and trauma situations. We begin with a brief description
of the context, goals, admission procedure, structure, and process
of a stress and trauma studies (STS) program. We then compare
the development of resilience and general and specific self-efficacy
among STS students and graduates, with parallel developments
among non-STS students in the BSW program. The evaluation
of the program by the participating students should further an
understanding of the significance of their learning experience.
KEYWORDS first responders to stress and trauma situation, stress
and trauma studies, social work education, general self-efficacy,
specific self-efficacy for stress and trauma, resilience
SOCIAL WORKERS AS FIRST RESPONDERS
The relevance of the social work profession is a function of its ability to
respond to evolving social concerns. This reality includes the need to address
client survival needs that are prominent in the era of globalization, civil
Address correspondence to Moshe Farchi, Department of Social Work, Tel Hai College,
Galilee Aliyon, Kiryat Shmona, 12210. E-mail: Moshefar@telhai.ac.il
129130 M. Farchi et al.
war, political strife, human trafficking, forced migration, and natural disasters. In these situations, targeted professional interventions are necessary
(Wessells, 2009). While the prominent trauma literature and practice tend
to focus on long-term mental health interventions (Foa et al., 2005; Shin
et al., 2004), there are indications that a window of opportunity for relief lies
in interventions that target clients’ acute stress reactions. Examples of such
work (which enlists first responders) are evident in a number of traumarelated fields today, such as work with refugees (Gupta & Zimmer, 2008;
Weine, 2011); communities stricken by disaster (Prasetiyawan, Maramis, &
Keliat, 2006); schools affected by violent behavior (Newman, 2000; Randell,
Eggert, & Pike, 2001); civilian victims of terrorist attacks (Somer et al., 2004),
and survivors of sexual and physical abuse (Rogowski, 2011).
Another recent change in focus is from a perspective of treatment to
one of prevention. This shift is characterized by work on building resilience
in entire populations that may be at risk of or exposed to traumatic events.
One example is the work done with residents of the city of Sderot, Israel,
which is frequently subject to rocket attacks. The new approach that we will
discuss has been shown to provide emotional immunization against trauma
before and during the course of traumatic events (Farchi & Gidron, 2010;
Fridman-Peleg & Goodman, 2010).
As part of planning for the unthinkable and in recognition of social
work’s anticipated role in disaster response (Smith, Lees, & Clymo, 2003),
Tel Hai College in Northern Israel offers stress and trauma studies (STS)
training to a select 20% of its students as a supplementary curriculum in its
BSW curriculum.
STRESS AND TRAUMA STUDIES
Goals of the Program
The goal of the STS program is to train social work students to serve as first
responders in crisis and disaster situations. Accordingly, the program consists
of the teaching of theoretical knowledge as a foundation for intervention in
stressful and traumatic situations and the imparting of practical knowledge
via hands-on experience in sequential interventions of prevention, immediate response, treatment, and rehabilitation in response to posttraumatic
situations. The program is designed to cultivate professional self-efficacy by
enhancing the students’ personal resilience and training them for precise,
effective, and successful coping in emergency situations.
Admissions Process
During the first semester of their first year in the social work program,
60 of the 120 BSW students applied for the STS program; 25 of them wer