SCWK - Social Work

This course provides an introduction to the social work profession through an active partnership with a local human service organization.  Students will learn about the impact of poverty and other social problems on vulnerable populations, and will become familiar with the range of services provided by social workers to address these issues from a strengths perspective.  A review of the history of the profession and social welfare policies relevant to its development and practice will also be introduced.  Throughout the course, students will be exposed to the values, orientation, ethics, and standards of the profession while engaging with course materials and supporting their community partner.  Students will learn about the commitment of the social work profession to social justice and enhancing the well-being of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.  The course introduces the terminology and broad concepts of social welfare and social work and provides a foundation for subsequent competency-focused courses. 

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.

Using the lens of cultural humility, this course examines the diversity in American society through an exploration of power, oppression and privilege. Rooted in the person-in-environment perspective and empowerment practices, this course examines the personal, institutional and structural nature of racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, classism, and other forms of oppression. The concept of cultural humility is fundamental and this course will help students develop the capacity to practice the understanding the cultural experiences of diverse groups. Course content, structure, and learning activities are designed to enhance personal and professional self-awareness in order to develop the knowledge, values, and skills required for culturally sensitive humility in practice.

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.

This course provides students with knowledge and skills regarding interventions with chemically dependent clients and their family members in a variety of settings. Students acquire a clinical understanding of chemical dependency and recovery issues. Non-majors in related disciplines are welcomed to enroll in this course.

This course focuses on the application of basic generalist social work skills that demonstrate an understanding and application of the continuum of social work practice in working with individuals.  This course is designed to provide students with a beginning understanding of generalist social work practice.  Students will learn the social work processes of engagement, assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, termination, and follow-up with individuals.  This course continues the introduction of the NASW Code of Ethics and the ethical standards relevant to beginning professional practice.  In addition, the course focuses on the acquisition of skills needed for generalist practice with individuals. 

This course, designed for students in social work and/or other helping professions, will focus on principles and techniques for helping oneself and others in crisis.  A crisis is defined as a loss of psychological equilibrium, or an upset in an individual's steady state of functioning, triggered by either a normative or traumatic stressor.  This course will explore developmental crises as well as numerous situational crises, including personal victimization, suicide, homicide, violence, natural disaster, trauma, and the crisis of loss.  Students will learn necessary models, techniques, and skills to work with individuals in a crisis situation.  This course will provide students with the ability to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment, while assessing and understanding the individual and/or family in crisis.  Students will learn how to prevent escalation of a crisis, which may result in injury to self and/or others.  Students will also learn to implement a crisis management plan.  Research based practice models and interventions will be discussed and used throughout the course.  Due to the nature of crisis work, burn out, compassion fatigue, and self-care will also be emphasized throughout the course.

This course is designed to introduce students to beginning social work practice associated with families and groups.  This course emphasizes the application of theory and the acquisition of practice skills to work with families and groups in diverse practice settings.  This course will emphasize engagement, assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, termination, and follow-up in mezzo practice.  The impact of the larger social system, as well as cultural factors, on families and groups will be emphasized throughout the course.  In addition, students will gain knowledge and skills in conceptualization of groups, planning of groups, and group facilitation.  Additional therapeutic techniques such as confrontation, conflict management, and additive empathy will also be discussed throughout the course.

This course is designed to introduce students to organizational theories and interventions used in practice with diverse populations in communities and organizations.  Building on knowledge of group dynamics, students will demonstrate skills in organizational analysis, community needs assessment, community and organizational level intervention development, and policy advocacy.  The emphasis of this course is on synthesizing knowledge and skills from ethics, cultural diversity, family and group dynamics, and social policy.

This course introduces students to the nature and centrality of the experience of loss and subsequent grief in their personal lives, in the lives of their clients, and in their role as professional helpers.  This course emphasizes the variety and types of loss experienced throughout the life cycle.  Special attention will be given to cultural variations and norms in the grief experience and the importance of social justice and human rights.  This course examines how psychological, social, cultural, and historical factors influence individuals' coping responses during loss and the last stage of life.  Controversial health care, end of life, organ donation, and after life issues will be explored.  In addition, special populations will be discussed, such as the loss of a child or losing a loved one to violence.  This course is designed to stimulate a deeper self-awareness, a greater ability to be more mindful, and an increased skill in assisting others and ourselves through the grief process.  This class is beneficial for social work students or students in other helping professions.

This course will explore the developmental stages of childhood and adolescence with a specific focus on how at-risk youth populations navigate the normative tasks associated with this stage.  This course will therefore examine the relationship between micro, mezzo, and macro circumstances and atypical youth development.  This course will emphasize how social workers, or those in the helping profession, can help identify youth in at-risk situations and how various resources can be implemented to ameliorate or minimize the harm.  The ecological aspects of at-risk youth will be explored including the environmental settings of family, neighborhoods, schools, and communities.  Besides risky environments, high-risk behaviors will be identified as they relate to school dropout, sexual behavior, youth suicide, teen substance use/abuse, youth violence, and school shootings.  Biopsychosocial spiritual assessment strategies as well as prevention and intervention strategies will be discussed. 

This course looks at issues, facts and information about aging and presents a comprehensive overview of Social Work practice with older adults. The course reflects: a) the most current

information and understanding of how social work has a vital role in providing quality of service in older adults; b) the challenges of providing counseling services in a variety of environmental settings – urban, rural, for profit, not for profit agencies, etc; c) the opportunities and advantages of successful aging and longevity.

Social workers constantly face ethical issues and dilemmas in all fields of social work practice. This course is designed to increase students’ awareness of ethical issues and help them develop ethical reasoning skills. This course focuses on acquiring and practicing the skills of ethical decision-making in micro, mezzo, and macro social work practice. Examining social work values, application of ethical theory, utilizing the Code of Ethics, and methods of ethical analysis will be a central feature of this course. In addition, this course will explore numerous professional issues such as licensure, legal issues, and professional practice. 

This workshop focuses on development of awareness, knowledge, understanding, and culturally sensitive skills for social work practice with Latino/a/x individuals.  This workshop will provide social work students foundational knowledge and skills to provide members of the Latino community with culturally sensitive services.  This workshop will consider the circumstances within which Latino/a/x individuals live, the complexity of their cultural and personal histories and identities.  It will cover pertinent cultural concepts (i.e., acculturation, ethnic identity), and exercises for personal reflections on cultural awareness in order to provide entry-level skill development in applying culturally sensitive practice with Latino/a/x clients. 

This course introduces theories and models of social work interventions with families.  Students will deepen their understanding of the use of the genogram.  An overview of the history of family therapy grounds students as the course explores Family of Origin Family Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, and Solution-Focused Family Therapy.  Application of theoretical concepts are applied to assess and intervene with a case.

This workshop is intended to provide students with information and training that will enhance their personal and professional understanding of intimate relationships.  The concept of intimate relationships will be explored, followed by common problems that exist in our intimate relationships.  Some of these problems are a result of social cognition, communication, changes in culture and societal norms, or due to more severe behaviors such as violence in relationships.

The workshop is designed to give students from all majors the basic facts about HIV/AIDS. The topics will include the history of HIV/AIDS, transmission, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.  This workshop will help students understand the impact of HIV/AIDS and the importance of advocacy.  Other public health issues will be discussed, including other STDs.

This workshop is designed to give students from all majors the basic facts about substance use and the adolescent population.  The topics will include the prevalence, risk factors, assessment, treatment, and prevention of substance use in the adolescent population.  Current trends in adolescent substance use will be examined.

Child sexual abuse in organizational settings--schools, churches, and other youth-serving settings--commands a substantial amount of public attention.  This workshop uses a case-study approach to understand institutional failures which increase the risk of sexual abuse, and institutional prevention strategies which decrease the risk of sexual abuse.  Focusing specifically on organizations, this workshop will analyze how systems-level responses must differ from individual-level interventions and the special role that organizational-level interventions play in the prevention of child sexual abuse.

This workshop is designed to provide students with knowledge and insight of at-risk youth. Guided by the ecological theory and a risk and resiliency perspective, the workshop will emphasize how social workers, or those in the helping profession, can identify, engage, and assess youth who present at-risk. The workshop will emphasize how youth can be identified in at-risk situations and how various resources can be implemented to ameliorate or minimize the harm. The ecological aspects of at-risk youth will be explored including the environmental settings of family, neighborhoods, schools, and communities. Besides risky environments, numerous high-risk behaviors will be identified and explored.

The way that Chicago looks and feels is, in part, due to decades of policy decisions which have created the City as we know it today. This workshop seeks to lift the veil on the ways in which policy shapes even the most minute details of the urban environment and creates geographic inequalities. Urban space is constantly changing, and the possibilities for those changes are shaped by local, state, and national policy. Understanding how to read urban space as a policy text will assist students in analyzing individual- and community-level outcomes.

The profession of social work and the Catholic Social Tradition (“CTS”) contain resonant approaches to certain social problems. By taking a deep, detailed dive into several major works within the CTS, this workshop seeks to place the CTS and social work in conversation. This workshop will proceed as a close reading of, and discussion about, three major encyclicals within the CTS: Rerum Novarum, Centesimus Annus, and Laudato Si’. Students will draw connections between the documentary history and contemporary social problems.

This workshop is intended to provide students with knowledge that will enhance their personal and professional understanding of gender similarities and differences.  This workshop will focus on the larger society's influence on gender norms, gender stereotypes, and gender roles.  Communication and behavioral differences between males and females will be explored.  Students will learn to recognize common misunderstandings in communicating with the opposite sex and strategies for more effective communication.

This workshop provides the knowledge and skills necessary to identify and work with immigrant populations experiencing oppression and discrimination. Students will begin to develop knowledge of local and national policies as they pertain to immigrants, and how issues relate to social work advocacy.  This workshop 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 immigrant clients.

This workshop is intended to provide students with insight and skills that will enhance their professional capacity when working with clients who are treatment resistant.  Resistance will be explored as it applies to individuals with chronic mental illness, involuntary clients, and unmotivated clients.  Concepts related to clinician resistance will also be explored.  Guided by the Stage of Change model, this workshop will emphasize how social workers, or those in other helping professions, can identify, engage, and intervene with traditionally challenging individuals.  Best practice models for service delivery will also be explored. 

This workshop focuses on the professional duties of a school social worker, IDEA, and services to children and their families.  Emphasis is placed on the nature of school social work, education required, and how to prepare for a career as a school social worker.  The workshop explores ethical issues that arise in the school setting.  Case examples are used to illustrate the nature of school social work and ethical considerations.

This workshop is geared towards students who are on the path to becoming helping professionals. Helping professionals who experience work as highly meaningful can easily become emotionally and physically exhausted and stressed, leading to burnout or other types of trauma. The purpose of this workshop is to examine the concept of self-care and its importance in the helping professional’s life. Students will engage in discussion and multiple exercises to help clarify, demonstrate, and develop a meaningful way to care for themselves now and moving into their future careers.

Course content and area of study are determined by the student in consultation with the faculty member supervising the independent study.

Building upon Child Welfare: History, Theory, and Practice, this course engages students in a practice-based, problem-solving approach to child welfare. Each week, students work with child welfare scenarios to reinforce practical child welfare skills. This course applies practice skills related to the continuum of care in child welfare practice - from assessment to planning to intervention - focusing on a culturally responsive and multi-systemic lens. Students use theories and conceptual frameworks to solve practical and ethical problems in child welfare practice. This course focuses on child welfare practice generally, and, as practiced in the State of Illinois specifically.

This is the second course in a two-semester course sequence: Child Welfare: History, Theory, and Practice is offered in the Fall and is a prerequisite for this course. Successful completion of the two-semester sequence qualifies for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services child welfare certification program.

The Field Placement and Field Seminar provide an opportunity for students to integrate generalist practice course content with the field internship experiences as they develop generalist social work skills. Generalist practice skills are characterized as transferable across contexts of practice, agency settings, and populations. Using problem-solving processes, skills are developed to work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels utilizing the social work processes. Generalist social work practice is multi-method and multi-theoretical. Agency-based case examples and presentations, seminar discussion, role-play and class assignments provide the student an opportunity to gain professional and peer feedback regarding the application of social work knowledge and the development of social work skills. Issues related to social work values and ethics, diversity, social, economic, and environmental justice, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services, practice, and research are examined within the context of the student’s field practicum. This course further reinforces social work knowledge and values by providing 240 hours of social work in a community agency during the semester.

The Field Placement and Field Seminar provide an opportunity for students to integrate generalist practice course content with the field internship experiences as they develop generalist social work skills. Generalist practice skills are characterized as transferable across contexts of practice, agency settings, and populations. Using problem-solving processes, skills are developed to work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels utilizing the social work processes. Generalist social work practice is multi-method and multi-theoretical. Agency-based case examples and presentations, seminar discussion, role-play and class assignments provide the student an opportunity to gain professional and peer feedback regarding the application of social work knowledge and the development of social work skills. Issues related to social work values and ethics, diversity, social, economic, and environmental justice, human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy and services, practice, and research are examined within the context of the student’s field practicum. This course further reinforces social work knowledge and values by providing 240 hours of social work in a community agency during the semester.

This course introduces students to the purposes, goals and logic of social science thinking. Instruction focuses on understanding and interpreting the social work ethical obligation of evidence-based practice, research design, quantitative and qualitative analysis in the social work context, and illustrating the use of research in advocating for new programming, funding, and policy on behalf of at-risk populations.  The course is oriented toward providing students skills that can be used in learning how to evaluate the student's own practice in the future and in critiquing the research of others. The advanced writing requirement of the General Education Curriculum is successfully completed in this course.