NGO Education Survey

Department: Masters of Social Work

Courses:

MSWK 502 - SOCIAL WORK THEORY AND PRACTICE II

Social Work Theory and Practice II (TP II) builds on the values, knowledge, and behavioral skills introduced in Social Work Practice I. In this course, students better understand the short-term, crisis, and extended intervention models; self-evaluation and evaluation of practice approaches and models; agency and community practice; advanced practice skills with individuals and families; and the termination process. The field instruction component facilitates the development of the student in the profession by engaging the signature pedagogy of hands-on learning. Through the resources of the Practicum Education Department, students will be placed in an agency for 200 hours (continued from TP I) of supervised practice. Students are expected to move to a competent level of performance as a generalist social worker.

MSWK 501 - SOCIAL WORK THEORY AND PRACTICE I

Theory and Practice (TP I) is the first in a required sequence of four social work theory and practice courses in the MSW Program. In TP I, students gain a general overview of the history, philosophy, process, and efficacy of direct social work practice with individuals and families in diverse settings and of diverse identities. Students discover the various roles that generalist social workers take and the importance of working across multiple systems, including individuals, couples, families, agencies, and communities. The field instruction component facilitates the development of the student in the profession by engaging the historic signature pedagogy of hands-on learning. Through the resources of the Practicum Education Department, students will be placed in an agency for 200 hours of supervised practice. Students are expected to utilize critical thinking to link social work theories with appropriate practice skills, to evaluate their work in class and field critically, and to use research-informed practice to understand how agencies provide services.

MSWK 503 - HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT I

Human Behavior and the Social Environment I (HBSE I) is the first of three courses in the Human Behavior sequence. HBSE I and HBSE II examine human development, and HBSE III covers psychosocial-pathology. This course introduces students to the salient aspects of the human condition. Learning emphasizes the reciprocal and transactional influences between persons and their environment and examining bio-psycho-social factors influencing human development throughout the life cycle. Known as person-in-environment, this interaction forms the basis of an ecological approach to human development, brining into focus current knowledge and theories regarding human behavior and the social environment as they influence each other. The course examines human development beginning with conception through middle childhood. The course focuses on issues that deal with the self in an ecological context, with specific attention to the study of individual, physical, intellectual, and temperamental endowment in transaction with sociocultural norms and family patterns. The crises, struggles, conflicts, risks, and opportunities associated with these conditions and transactions are explored. The emphasis is placed on differences and similarities in the life experience and lifestyles of men and women and minority groups. The relationship between individual experience and wider system forces is examined. Emphasis is placed on the capacity of the individual, groups, and organizations to improve their own life and their community in response to macro-system forces.

MSWK 504 - HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT II

Human Behavior in the Social Environment II (HBSE II) is the second course of three in a sequence that examines the reciprocal and transactional influences between people and their environment multi-dimensionally in the context of biophysical, familial, institutional and societal factors. A major focus is on development of the human biological, psychological and social structure occurring throughout the life span. The course stresses the centrality of culture, race, ethnicity, gender and the socioeconomic environment. This course pays particular attention to the development of human life and experience from adolescence through the adult life cycle. Using systems theory as a critical theoretical underpinning, Human Behavior in the Social Environment II stresses a non-linear view of development in which there is a continuous reciprocal interchange and mutual impact among different systems (individual, family, group, community, organizations). Human Behavior in the Social Environment I covers the life cycle from birth to late childhood. Human Behavior in the Social Environment II continues from early adolescence to old age.

MSWK 505 - SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS AND POLICIES I

Social Welfare Programs and Policies is a foundation course that prepares students with tools for critical thinking regarding major social policies and programs that affect human well-being or quality of life, as well as various aspects of social service delivery. Students will understand the ways in which direct social work practice responds to social policies and is shaped by them. At the foundation level, students will develop expertise to understand social policy content, policy actions of agencies, professional associations and political bodies, and the skills necessary to influence social policy.

MSWK 506 - SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH I

The first of two in the graduate social work research sequence, this course introduces the principles and methods of basic social work research. The development of both substantive research knowledge and methodological research are highlighted. The ethical conduct of research is taught within the context of social work purposes and values. The formulation of problems for study that address the social needs of diverse groups is emphasized. This course 1) fosters methods of research, 2) promotes a systematic examination of current knowledge, service delivery and outcomes, and 3) further the purposes of professional accountability.

MSWK 507 - CULTURAL DIVERSITY, RACISM, OPPRESSION, AND PRIVILEGE

This course is designed to help students work more effectively with clients from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. From developmental and ecological systems perspectives, the course examines racism, sexism, ethnicity, ageism, homophobia, social class, and discrimination against persons with physical disabilities and illness, such as HIV/AIDS. Students will identify their own relationship to diversity and the factors of oppression and privilege that are relevant in social work practice. They will learn to cultivate a cultural consciouness through awareness of self, of the client’s identity through history and cultural contributions, and by paying attention to systems of oppressin and privilge that contribute to our own self-concept and our perceptions of others. The effect of these considerations will be viewed in the context of globalization, immigration, and current events that affect social work practice in urban America.

MSWK 508 - CLINICAL PRACTICE WITH GROUPS

This course is designed to provide students with knowledge and skills relevant to social work practice in groups. It is expected that students will learn basic skills through course readings, papers, videos/films and role-playing of the different approaches to social work with groups. This course builds upon the Human Behavior and Practice foundation courses, and is grounded in developmental, psychodynamic and cognitive theories and linked to fieldwork experience through in class assignments and class discussion. The course reviews the various ways groups are used in social work practice, i.e., socialization, social support, psychological treatment, self-help, advocacy and prevention. Particular attention is given to the recruitment and composition of groups, contracting and goal setting, leadership, structure of groups, phases of group development, group processing such as decision making, tension reduction, conflict resolution, termination and evaluation of evidenced based group interventions. Emphasis is given to how group work practice takes place with particular client systems and within current societal and professional contexts.

MSWK 601 - SOCIAL WORK THEORY AND PRACTICE III

This course builds upon foundational social work practice knowledge, values, methods, and skills in providing a concentration on clinical practice interventions with children, adolescents and their families. The course emphasizes the development of direct practice skills in working with children and adolescents, their families, and relevant environmental systems. The course addresses normative socio-cultural variations in developmental life tasks and expectations, childrearing practices, and life stage concerns pertinent to family dynamics, with a focus on diversity issues. Particular emphasis is given to gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and other types of diversity in relation to individual and family development, resilience, and dysfunction. The course introduces and explores evidence-based practice methodologies in addressing behavioral, emotional, and situational problems of individuals and families in a range of social work intervention settings, and includes a focus on individual, family, and group intervention modalities. Pertinent theoretical frames and strategies for engaging and intervening with children, adolescents and adults are presented, with behavioral and developmental norms considered from a cross-cultural, comparative perspective. Additionally, environmental factors and social justice issues are addressed with respect to the well-being of individuals and their families. As such, the course offers an integral foundation and knowledge base pertaining to social work values, ethics, and empirically-based research that support direct practice interventions.

MSWK 602 - SOCIAL WORK THEORY AND PRACTICE IV

The Theory and Practice IV course is the final required practice course. This course is conducted in a seminar style with the goal of helping students synthesize content knowledge from not only practice courses, but also diversity and policy. Students are guided in advanced practice topics that support the development of a professional social work identity and advanced ethical practice. Topics include professional boundaries, supervision, use of self in practice, termination, leadership, professional licensure and development.

MSWK 603 - PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS IN CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK

Psychopathology and diagnosis in Clinical Social Work will provide the student with exposure to major issues in the area of child and adult psychopathology and diagnosis of mental disorders. The course examines psychopathology and mental disorders from a biopsychosocial and ethnocultural perspective. Emphasis is placed on understanding biopsychosocial influences on the incidence, manifestation, and course of the most commonly presented mental disorders and the differential effect of these factors on diverse populations. Current research from biological psychiatry and the behavioral sciences regarding the impact of poverty, race/ethnicity, class, and labeling theories and the stress and social support model are highlighted. Students pay special attention to understanding the human experience of mental illness and the experience of family members and significant others. Students deepen and extend their assessment and intervention skills in work with individuals and families who face challenges with a range of problems commonly found in clients with mental illness such as: dual diagnoses, substance abuse, trauma, physical illness, disability, and poverty. The DSM 5 is used as an organizing framework to teach diagnostic skills so the student may be adept at providing a comprehensive assessment to insure appropriate intervention.

MSWK 604 - ADVANCED SOCIAL POLICY

Advanced Social Policy is a required course in the advanced concentration year of the MSW program and is taken after successful completion of Social Welfare Programs and Policy I. This advanced concentration course examines local, state and federal social problems from the perspective of their impact on individuals, families, and communities, focusing on at-risk populations in the context of an urban environment. The course builds on the policy content offered in the Professional Foundation Year and links policy to practice and research skills that have been developed. Emphasis is placed on the link between social and economic justice and issues relating to diversity and social action. The first part of the course is an examination of the policy making cycle, inclusive of social problem definition, policy formulation, implementation and critical analysis of policy. A detailed section on evaluation of policies as they affect societal structures, communities, agencies, clients and practitioners is then discussed. Finally, a major section of the course presents theories related to organizational change and strategies for practitioners to influence policies and promote change at the client level, the agency level, the community level and the broader society.

MSWK 605 - SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH II - PRACTICE EVALUATION

This course is the second of a two-course research sequence. The course builds upon the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and statistical techniques practiced in SWRK-506 and builds upon an advanced generalist perspective learned in other advanced practice courses. The course explores advanced techniques for evaluating systems of all sizes and is specifically designed for those in the advanced practice stage of learning who are going to evaluate practice. Methods and strategies for conducting program evaluation and single system research will be emphasized. Special emphasis will be placed on developing strengths-based performance indicators.

MSWK 6xx

Elective (3 Credits)

MSWK 6xx

Elective (3 Credits)

MSWK 6xx

Elective (3 Credits)