SW
250 Introduction to Social Welfare
Spring 2006
Instructor: Mr. John Moody
Bradley 103
Ph: 677-4786
E-mail: moody@bradley.edu
Office Hour: Mon: 8:00 -10:00 a.m., Tues: 11:00-12:00 a.m. Wed: 8:00-10:00 a.m.
Or by appointment
Class Schedule: M-W-F 10:00 -! 0:50 a.m.
Accommodation: Any student with a disability or special need who requires accommodation should inform the instructor at the beginning of this course
Non-discrimination Statement: Students will be expected to display respect of fellow students'
unique characteristics including race, color, religion, creed, ethnic or national
origin, age, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual
orientation and political orientation. All written assignments will use non-
discriminatory language.
Intercollegiate
Competition: Any student
representing
Relationship to other Courses in the Curriculum: This is an introductory course open to both
social work and non-social work majors. It is designed to acquaint students with an overview of the issues and policies involved in social welfare and to assist students who are undecided in deciding whether to major in social work. For those students who continue as social work majors, the course is designed to provide a basic framework to understand social welfare issues and policies.
Generalist Practice Principles: This course in the Social Work Curriculum is supported by the following 8 principles of the generalist social work perspective:
1. A systems approach provides the basic
framework for understanding the generalist practice
perspective and planning interventions with multiple systems.
2. Problems in living are presented from a
person-in-environment perspective, with focus on the transactions between individuals and the environment.
3. Assessments and interventions must
address both intrapsychic and environmental strengths and
stressors.
4. Generalist practice involves assessment
and interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
5. Practice is based on the problem
solving process and knowledge, skills, and values, which are applicable across settings with
diverse populations and in a variety of problem areas.
6. Critical analysis of social problems is
inherent in generalist practice and results in both practice and policy responses.
7. Empirical research provides a solid
foundation for both education and practice and generalist
practitioners are expected to participate in practice evaluation activities.
8. Generalist practice often requires the
social worker to function in multiple roles depending on the
needs of the client system.
I. Course
Description:
This course will explore
the social welfare system including social problems and policy responses of society. This course explores the major social
problems, political ideology
influencing these
problems, program and policy initiatives, and philosophies of social welfare
programs. In addition to class lectures
and assigned readings, learning methods will include class discussion, small
group activities, monitoring current policy issues in the media, community
agency contacts, and guest speakers representing related fields of
practice.
II. Course Objectives:
Students will be expected to demonstrate
learning in the following areas:
Knowledge
1.
Students will acquire a basic understanding of social problems affecting individuals
and families within our
society.
2. Students will acquire a basic
understanding of the etiology of social problems and societal responses that influence,
exacerbate, or remediate the problems.
3.
Students will acquire a basic understanding of the policy responses our
society has made to social
problems and be able to critically analyze the results.
4.
Students will acquire a basic understanding of the influence of
political ideology on social policy responses both historically and
currently.
5.
Students will acquire the ability to critically analyze the impact of
social stigma and
discrimination associated with many
social welfare issues
6.
Students will be able to identify the inherent values of society within
social welfare issues and
policy responses.
7.
Students will gain an appreciation for the complexity, synergism, and
intercorrelation of
many social welfare issues and thus
be more able to analyze the effectiveness of policy
responses.
8.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of current theoretical
perspectives regarding
the social welfare system and the
implications for policy, legislation, and service delivery.
9.
Students will acquire the knowledge of how some policies contribute to
economic and social
injustice in the manner of implementation.
10. Students will acquire the knowledge of
how to access the empirical literature to foster a value of being lifelong
learners.
Skills
1.
Students will demonstrate the ability to locate and identify appropriate
community agencies
to address particular problems in order to make effective referrals or
take constructive
community action.
2.
Students will demonstrate an awareness of multiple fields of practice in
the social services
and the issues particular to each
field.
3.
Students will demonstrate a beginning awareness of their own
intrapersonal and inter-
personal attributes and values that
may correlate with social work as a career choice.
Values
1.
Students will appreciate and respect the dignity and unique characteristics
of people of
all socioeconomic status, ethnic
background, religious beliefs, age, gender, sexual
orientation and political
orientation.
2.
Students will appreciate the effects of discrimination of all forms on
social issues and
understand the consequences of social
and economic injustice to the lives of the people experiencing the
discrimination.
3.
Students will appreciate the complexity of social welfare issues and
understand the values
associated with analysis of the
issues and policy responses enacted.
4.
Students will be able to analyze social welfare issues in a
non-judgmental manner and be
able to assess the strengths as well
as limitations of people experiencing social problems.
5.
Students will be able to appreciate and analyze the contextual nature of
all social welfare
issues and therefore assess the
person, problem, and policy responses in light of the social
environment.
6.
Students will demonstrate an appreciation for professional ethics and
recognition of each
Individuals right to
self-determination.
III.
Resources:
A.
Required text: Zastrow, Charles.
(2000). Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare.
B.
Additional articles relating to class topics will be assigned and on
reserve in the library.
1. Students are expected to attend class on time.
2. Students are expected to keep side conversations to a minimum in order not to disrupt the lecture.
3. Students are expected to not share results of tests or papers. Any questions or concerns regarding tests or papers see professor and make appointment to discuss.
TESTS AND PAPERS WILL NOT BE
DISCUSSED IN CLASS
V.
Learning Evaluation:
A.
Class Participation: 100 points
Preparation, attendance, and
participation will be required throughout this course. This
course is a basic foundation to all future
coursework in the study of social work and
human services. Students will therefore be expected to read
the assignments prior to
class attendance, participates in
class discussion, and integrates learning from week to
week, thereby gaining a
comprehensive understanding of social welfare issues.
Students are expected to be
concerned citizens of our society and must therefore be
aware of social issues and
policies that are currently emerging in society.
B.
Paper: 100 points
Students will write a paper discussing the
questions at the end of this syllabus. Length of paper no less than three pages
(see back page for instructions) Due Date: Mar. 10 The paper must be double
spaced and stapled. No papers will be
accepted that are not stapled or double spaced.
C.
Exams: 300 points
Three exams will be given
throughout the semester with each worth 100 points. Dates for the exams are included in the
following class schedule.
Total Course points: 500
450-
500 = A
400-
450 = B
350-
400 = C
300-350
= D
VI. Class Schedule
Week 1: The History of Social Welfare
and Social Work
Reading assignment: Chapter 1 of text
This section will begin
with an overview of the class and expectations.
The class will examine the
historical development of social welfare institutions and the social work
profession including its mission and philosophy. Discussion will examine the influence of
political ideology and values on social welfare policies. The class will
examine how social policy impacts on peoples' achievement of optimal health and
well-being and the affect of policy on social work practice
Jan 20, 23, 25
Week 2:
Social and Economic Justice
Reading assignments: Chapter 4 of text
This section will
examine the impact of poverty on individuals and society and provide an
understanding of the consequences of economic injustice. This section
will examine how
vulnerable populations such as people of color, women, the
elderly and the disabled
are disproportionately represented among the lower
Socioeconomic
groups. This section will critically
analyze the historical policy
response to poverty and discuss the
effectiveness of the responses.
Jan 27,
30, Feb. 1
Week 3: The Mentally
Ill as a Vulnerable Population
Reading assignments:
Chapter 5 of text
In class review: excerpts from movie One Flew Over the
Cuckoo Nest
will be used to
highlight the social context of mental illness and compare and
contrast the medical
model versus a social interactional model this section examines policies and
laws regarding mental health code, involuntary admission, voluntary admission,
etc. This section will overview mental
illness and critically analyze the social context of mental illness in determining
diagnosis and treatment, analyze the impact of social and economic injustice,
discrimination and oppression on people with mental illness, and discuss and
evaluate
the effectiveness of
current and past policy responses to mental illness.
Feb.. 3, 6. 8
Week 4: The Family in
Society
Reading assignment:
Chapter 6 of text
In class, viewing of
movie Home is where the Hurt is regarding domestic violence
and child abuse This
section examines historical trends in the institution of the family, issues
related to families in society, and an examination of how our society's policy response may deter or help
in maintaining or achieving optimal health and well being of individuals within
families. Discussion will focus on child
abuse, domestic violence, and divorce and how these events impact on
populations at risk such as women, children, and people of color. The influence of social and economic injustice,
discrimination and oppression will be examined as an influence on the family and
it’s functioning in American society.
Feb.. 10 13, 15
Week 5: Human
Sexuality
Reading
assignments: Chapter 7 of text
This section examines
problems in society regarding human sexuality including
sexual assault, sexual
abuse, incest, and child molestation.
Discrimination and
oppression of gay and
lesbian populations is critically examined.
Policy responses
are evaluated Video to a Safer Place will be viewed
.
Feb. 17,
20, 22
Exam 1 Feb. 24
Week 6: Addiction
Reading assignments: Chapter 8 of text
In class viewing of
video Pieces of Silence which discusses family process in
family with
addiction. There may be a guest speaker
this section overviews the problem of drug alcohol addictions in the
contemporary society. This section will
critically analyze treatment approaches and examine policy responses to
addictions and people who are addicted.
Feb. 27, Mar. 1
Week 7: Crime and
Juvenile Delinquency
Reading assignment: Chapter 9 of text
This section discusses an overview of crime in
justice systems and the
policy response to crime in society.
Video Crime and Punishment will be watched and discussed
Mar. 3, 6, 8
Week 8: Social and
Economic Justice Issues in the Education System
Reading
assignments: Chapter 10 of text
This section will
examine the current American educational system with its inherent
Prejudices’ and
injustices to people of color and people of low
socioeconomic classes this section discusses a social institution that
is neither
humane nor responsive to human needs and challenges students to become
active. Policy
responses to educating our society's youth and the impact on the "quality"
of education will be
discussed.
Mar 10 20,
22
Week 9: Social and
Economic Justice Issues in Employment
Reading assignments:
Chapter 11 of text
This section will
discuss trends and changes in the labor force including current
challenges of labor
force transitions and the evaporization of "blue collar jobs" and
The human challenges of industrialization and technology
will be highlighted This section examines the impact of social and economic
forces on individuals and social systems in
enhancing or deterring
the maintenance and achievement of optimal health and
well-being.
Mar 24, 27, 29
Exam II Mar.
31
Week 10: Issues of
Diversity
Reading
assignments: Chapter 12 of text
On reserve: Chapter 1
from Ethnicity and Family Therapy
by McGoldrick, Giordano,
and Pearce
In class, viewing Racism
on College Campuses regarding affirmative action in education and
employment which discusses the historic need for affirmative action and the
policy response to remediate for discrimination, prejudice, and oppression of
population at risk., will be discussed
This section examines issues of ethnocentrism, institutional racism, and differing experiences of cultural
groups within society. This section
examines differences and similarities in the experiences, beliefs, and needs of
people of various diverse backgrounds. Social
and economic justice issues are
examined by discussion of various policy responses that creates institutionalized racism and discussion will focus on how
social institutions could be more humane and responsive to human need by
accepting all unique characteristics of diverse
populations.
April 3, 5, 7
Week 11 Social and
Economic Justice Issues of Gender
Reading assignment: Chapter 13 of text
In class, viewing of video Stale Roles
and Tight Buns to examine inherent gender
prejudice and discrimination in media depicting
male and female roles, will be examined. This
section examines sexism, sexual
harassment, and gender inequality and the resulting social and economic
injustice from the oppression of this population at risk. Discussion
will examine the policy responses of society and how social institutions could be more humane
and responsive to human needs.
April 10, 12, 14
Social and Economic
Justice Issues relating to Gerontology
Reading assignment: Chapter 14 of text
Possible guest speaker from Senior Strength
Agency to discuss issues of elder
abuse.
This section examines ageism in society and the social and
economic discrimination, deprivation, and
oppression of the elderly.
Social welfare
institutions and policies are examined in meeting the needs
of this population at
risk.
April 17, 19
Week 12: Gerontology
Continued
Issues in the Social Welfare Institution of
Health Care
Reading assignment: Chapter 15 of text
This section examines the impact of medical
illness on the well being and
functioning of individuals and families. This section also examines how
past and current trends in healthcare, the
current healthcare "non-system",
and policies and programs have either enhanced
or deterred the maintenance or
or achievement of
optimal health and well being of recipients of service.
April 21,
24
Week 13: Social and Economic Justice and Diversity
Issues
of People with Disabilities as a Population
at Risk
Reading assignment: Chapter 16 of text
Experiential in class exercises are used to
increase sensitivity to experiencing life
with a disability. This section examines the impact on
functioning, health and
well being, and achieving human capacities
with various developmental, emotional,
and physical disabilities. Societal responses of discrimination,
economic deprivation, and
oppression are examined. Policy
responses, particularly
April 26
Week 14: Issues of
Environmental Concerns
Reading assignment:
Chapter 17
This section examines
global problems of overpopulation and concerns with pollution that deter societies from fostering
an environment that develops each
person's capacity for health and well being This section emphasizes the
international interdependence of nations and the need for worldwide cooperation. Video Race to Save
the Planet will be watched and discussed
April 28
Week 14: Ethical Considerations
Reading assignment: NASW
Code
Discussion will review
previous topics in light of the code of ethics and the mission
of social work
May 1
Final Exam TBA
SW 250 Introduction to Social
Welfare
Fall 2005
Agency Paper due
Mar. 10
Choose a social welfare
issue and than select an agency that services this area. I can help with suggestions for agencies in
You must interview staff
person from the agency and obtain information about your issue?
You must include in your
paper the following:
1. Why did you choose this welfare issue?
2. How long has agency been in existence
providing service for this issue?
3. How is it an issue? In addition, for whom?
4. Have services increased or decreased
regarding this issue over the time period that agency has been providing the services?
5. Does agency staff believe that the agency has
done well in providing the services?
6. Would you go to this
agency for these services? Why or Why
not?
7. How has this paper influence you’re thinking
about Social Welfare? What did you
learn?
Grading for the paper will
focus on:
10 points for each
question
30 points for critical
thinking and organization and how well paper is written.