RESPONDING TO RESEARCH AS A SCHOLAR PRACTITIONER

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Research Response Exemplar

Student Name

Walden University

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Research Response Exemplar

The article I read was titled “Service User or Service Provider? How Social Work and

Human Services Students Integrate Dual Identities” by Newcomb et al. (2017). Newcomb et al.

identified a gap in research relating to social work and human services students as service users.

The purpose of their qualitative study, then, was to explore the experiences of students who

accessed helping services—either in childhood or adulthood—and how those experiences

related to their evolving professional identity. The researchers conducted interviews with 20

students, 15 of whom stated they were either a service user now or had been in the past. From the

interviews, the researchers learned that experiencing adverse circumstances and service use led

some students to study the discipline. Participants stated that the practitioners they engaged with

during past service use exhibited either positive or negative role modeling, which helped them

understand what to do and not do as a provider. Participants suggested that their service use led

to a better understanding of themselves and allowed them to make sense of their experiences.

Finally, participants reported that they feared disclosing their past or current service use to peers

and instructors, even while acknowledging the positive effect the service use had on their

identity. They feared their service use would be judged or stigmatized by others. The researchers

then proposed ways to integrate students’ service user (personal) and service provider

(professional) identities within the social work-human services classroom through instructor

modeling, opportunities for safe disclosure, and campus-based student support services.

I connected with this article as both a human services student and a professional working

in the field. First, in my professional experience at an outpatient psychiatric facility, I work with

Note that as you progress in your program, you will become more familiar with research terminology,

approaches, and methodology. Expectations for your papers will grow accordingly. This exemplar

represents what to strive for at this point in your studies.

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human services practitioners who do not typically reveal their histories regarding mental health

or mental health services such as counseling. This lack of disclosure to peers and residents may

be out of fear for their employment or their sense of authority. However, I see a service use

history as invaluable for the work we do because it establishes empathy with the residents and

demonstrates how service use can help facilitate a productive life. By staying silent, we may be

simply reinforcing the mental health stigma and creating a barrier with the residents when we are

actually quite similar in the adversity that has shaped us. I agree with the researchers when they

say that finding a way to integrate these identities and normalize service user experiences could

lead to success for both practitioners and service users.

As an example, I have used my past experiences with mental health and addiction

recovery at least once in the field—to describe two possible approaches to a service user with

whom I was working. I had been exposed to these human service approaches as an

undergraduate when I was having difficulty with anxiety and benzodiazepine use. Because I had

experienced the approaches on the receiving end, I was able to describe to the service user the

benefits and challenges of each from the user perspective. The service user seemed appreciative

of the firsthand account I provided, and we built a rapport during our conversation.

This research has prompted me to think about how I will continue talking about my own

past service use while working in the field. I would like to do so in a more intentional way that

reduces stigma—and in fact celebrates the process of getting help. It is important to consider the

way in which the provider’s disclosure is made, however. A personal example that helps the

service user contextualize their experience would have a different effect than a provider’s long,

autobiographical monologue dominating a meeting. I may want to look for further studies on the

impact of service use disclosure according to the circumstances surrounding the disclosure.

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Because this article was about students, it is directly applicable to me now. I can apply

the research as a human services student by being open to my fellow students who want to

discuss our whole identities as not just service providers but users. Overall, the research findings

align with my personal and professional experiences and have encouraged me to investigate the

topic further.

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Reference

Newcomb, M., Burton, J., & Edwards, N. (2017). Service user or service provider? How social

work and human services students integrate dual identities. Social Work Education,

36(6), 678–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2017.1327574

(Library permalink to the article:

https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t

rue&db=a9h&AN=124090925&site=eds-live&scope=site)