200

This course presents the social policy questions: "Who gets what? And why?"  It provides students with an analytic framework for comprehension of welfare state policies through the process of policy formation and implementation.  This course situates the welfare state historically, and discusses the development of key social welfare programs and policies.  Students learn the skills to analyze social welfare policies and to advocate for changes at the local, state, and federal levels.

This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to identify and work with populations experiencing oppression and discrimination. This course examines perspectives and information related to multiple dimensions, including race, disability, age, gender, religion, and sexual orientation and provides entry-level skill development in applying cultural sensitivity to work with clients.

This course assists the student in building a foundation for understanding human behavior in diverse contexts across the lifespan.  Students enrolled will study the life cycle of the individual from in-utero through old age using biological, psychological, sociological, spiritual, and social work theories.  Course content is sensitive to human diversity, specifically including materials on race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical challenges, spirituality, and socioeconomic factors as they affect human behavior and life span development.  Students will use this material as a background for assessing strengths, limitations, risk, resilience and protective factors that affect clients' social functioning.  Attention will be given to multiple theories and perspectives such as person in environment, systems, ecological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, and strengths perspective, among others, to further understand human behavior.  The combination of theory and human development over the lifespan aid the student in social work practice related to engagement, assessment, and intervention.

This course will provide a framework to identify human behavior within the context of mental wellness and mental illness from a social work perspective.  Emphasis is placed on major forms of psychopathology within a social work perspective.  This course will review current diagnostic classification systems, major theories around psychopathology, etiology, and treatment interventions.  Special attention will be paid to the influence of culture and other issues of diversity.  Students will learn to use a competency-based assessment model in assessing individuals with mental health disorders.

This course allows students to experience and observe first-hand social work services delivered in communities. Learning objectives vary based upon the setting, and the experience is arranged with approval from the Department Chair.