A study of knowledge and fears among graduate social work students toward working with persons with aids, 1997

This study is a replication of the study, Attitudes Toward and Knowledge of AIDS Among African American Social Work Students. The overall objective of this study is to see if attitudes of graduate social work students toward providing services to persons with Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have changed since the previous study in 1989. The following areas were addressed: Attitudes of social work graduate students toward providing services to persons with AIDS, differences between the attitudes of first years and second year students and their interest in working with persons with AIDS, the relationship between fear of AIDS transmission and services to AIDS clients, the relationship between knowledge about AIDS and services to AIDS clients, and the relationship between moral beliefs about AIDS and services to AIDS clients. Students responded to a self administered questionnaire. The results of the study indicated: (1) significant relationship between knowledge about AIDS and attitudes of social work students toward working with clients with AIDS, (2) significant relationship between the fear of AIDS transmission and attitudes toward working with persons with AIDS, and, (3) a negative relationship between moral beliefs about AIDS and working with persons with AIDS