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Assessing student confidence competence and calibration a simulation approach to discussing readiness for forensic practice1.22 MB
Published Version (Advanced Access)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Assessing student confidence, competence and calibration: a simulation approach to discussing readiness for forensic practice
Social Work Education, Vol.Advanced access
2025
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
Case management in the criminal justice system includes conducting psychosocial assessments, identifying risks, developing intervention strategies, navigating services, monitoring/evaluation, and advocacy. Social work and criminology graduates are equally qualified for forensic case management positions, yet the work readiness of these graduates is poorly understood. This study used a simulated client interview in a community corrections context to explore students' confidence, performance, and the calibration between these. The study used a quantitative, non-randomized pre-experimental design with a pre-and-post online survey via Qualtrics. Participants included a total of 106 social work and criminology students in Australia aged 20-73 years. The results did not find a correlation between confidence and performance, raising questions about how self-efficacy transfers and functions across social work tasks and contexts. Students' self-reported confidence often did not reflect the assessed performance during the simulation. This was most evident around the skill of engaging in trauma-informed practice and managing ethical dilemmas. The findings highlight difficulties in operationalizing theoretical knowledge into discernible skills for forensic practice. It is recommended that a greater focus be given to adaptive learning to assist graduates with building confidence and skills to support clients within the criminal justice system.
Details
- Title
- Assessing student confidence, competence and calibration: a simulation approach to discussing readiness for forensic practice
- Authors
- Dimitra Lattas (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and SocietyGerard Jefferies - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and SocietyCindy Davis - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and SocietyCatherine Creamer - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
- Publication details
- Social Work Education, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.1080/02615479.2025.2562367
- ISSN
- 1470-1227; 0261-5479
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- Cancer Research Cluster; School of Law and Society; Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991166403402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
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- Web Of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research