the various problems and challenges social workers can expect to be confronted with are broken down across categories, e.g., problems related to organizational factors such as resistance to change inherent in human service agencies; problems related to diversity; various themes that tend to arise in group work with this type of client, etc. Further, the article discusses the "harm reduction model" which it uses as a general conceptual framework giving direction to the use of various interventions.
An examination of the reference page shows that all of the articles reviewed came from credible, respected, peer-reviewed journals which adds to the credibility of findings. However, the review of literature does not really discuss any methodological problems with any of the cited studies. This makes it difficult if not impossible to evaluate the degree to which confidence can be placed in any given study and decreases the level of overall confidence that can be placed in this article itself. Nonetheless, in some cases, the claims made are backed up by multiple studies showing the same findings; and in these cases, it is easier to believe what is claimed.
Given that the article by McVinney and Hamid (2002) consists of a literature review, it can be assumed that the basic methods used were those of a literature search. However, the authors presented absolutely no information as to the exact nature of the search, e.g., the databases they examined, the search terms that were used, and so forth. This was a small but real failing of the study as being able to evaluate the quality of the conducted search would give some idea as to quality and general nature of the information found.
The discussion of the various studies ARE the findings of the study. A well written conclusions section based on the material covered was presented which helped to tie the presented
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