Smith College School for Social Work and Combat-Related Trauma: Allegiance, Scholarship, and Commitment

The Smith College School for Social Work (SCSSW) was founded for the purpose of treating soldiers returning from World War I who suffered from shell shock, conditions that are now described as combat-related trauma. As history evolved, America found itself embroiled in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With each conflict clinical social workers have played a pivotal role in the care of active-duty soldiers and returning veterans. This article explores the School's historical contribution to the treatment of combat-related trauma through its curriculum, theoretical perspectives, and endorsement of different treatment paradigms over the last century. The earlier decades and Vietnam-era time involvement of the SCSSW in clinical social work practice with service members and their families is of particular interest. Specific recommendations are offered to the School that may benefit those practitioners entering the field of combat-related trauma.