Research for Knowledge and Practice: Carrying on the Tradition

This issue marks my beginning as the editor-in-chief for Social Work Research. I am grateful for the fine contributions of my predecessor, Enola Proctor, who worked diligently to improve the quality of manuscripts submitted and to increase the rigor and timeliness of the review process. She accomplished a great deal in her four years as editor-in-chief. The profession and I owe her our deepest gratitude. Social Work Research has a tradition of publishing manuscripts that use cutting-edge analytic tools in the pursuit of practice-relevant knowledge. I am honored to add my name to the list of seven prior editors-in-chief who have worked tirelessly to create a vital dissemination outlet for social work scholars, educators, and practitioners. My term as editor-in-chief comes at a critical juncture in the pursuit of knowledge related to the etiology, prevention, and treatment of individual and societal problems. We are in the midst of a "revolution" of sorts, best characterized by the growing attention paid to principles of evidence-based practice (Bilson, 2004; Gambrill, 1999; Gilgun, 2005; Howard & Jenson, 2003; Rosen & Proctor, 2003). Articles and books containing the phrase evidence-based practice have proliferated in the past five years. Yet, despite extensive discussion of evidence-based approaches, there remains a shortage of empirically supported interventions in our profession. Only a relatively small percentage of articles in core social work journals examine the effects of treatment intervention on client outcomes (Rosen, Proctor, & Staudt, 1999; Taylor & White, 2002).To engage practitioners in evidence-based practices we must increase the number of well-conducted outcome studies published in the social work literature. Social Work Research is an excellent publication source for studies assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of social programs and interventions. As editor-in-chief, I am particularly interested in publishing findings from investigations that use rigorous qualitative or quantitative methods to produce new knowledge about the effects of social interventions on society's most pressing problems. I urge you to send the results of your work to us. Articles in this issue reflect the journal's longstanding commitment to publishing manuscripts that aim to improve etiological knowledge and practice approaches for the nation's most vulnerable populations. Two articles address the concerns of mothers struggling with limited economic resources or mental illness. The first of these articles by Jackson and Scheines examines the relationship among low-wage employment, self-efficacy, depression, parenting behaviors, and behavioral and cognitive child outcomes during preschool and early elementary school. Previous evidence suggests that a number of single mothers who have exited welfare since the 1996 welfare reform law continue to live in poverty and to display depressive symptoms despite their entry in the job force (Elwood, 2000). Single African American women, the subjects in Jackson and Scheines's study, are disproportionately represented among welfare recipients and are at elevated risk of these problems. The authors' findings trace a complex causal path suggesting that employment is critical in reducing depressive symptoms and increasing the frequency of nonresident father-to-child contacts. Interestingly, Jackson and Scheines report that nonresident father contacts predict better maternal parenting, which in turn leads to improved behavioral and cognitive functioning for children in school. The second article, by Mowbray, Bybee, Hollingsworth, Goodkind, and Oyserman, focuses on the influence of alternative living arrangements on the well-being of women experiencing serious mental illness. In this NIMH-funded study, the authors compare overall functioning and parenting abilities of mothers living with their children only, mothers living with their children and partners, and mothers living with their children and extended family members. …