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Professors: E. Wayne Busby, Bradley Cameron
Assistant Professor: Kristen Humphrey
Instructor: Patty Magee
Descriptions of Courses
SWK 201. Introduction to Social Work. 3 hours. History, development, and philosophy of social welfare as an institutional system in our society--its organization, function and prospective developments. Exploration of the profession's role within the system and its relationship to other helping professions.
SWK 204. Fundamentals of Social Work Practice. 3 hours. Fundamentals of the generalist approach to social work intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Emphasis on social work frame of reference, values and ethics, phases of the Interventive process, and basic helping skills. Designed to assist the student in his/her exploration of social work as career choice. Corequisite: SWK 221 Basic Helping Skills. Prerequisite: SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work or permission of instructor.
SWK 221. Basic Helping Skills. 3 hours. The skillful use of self in a professional relationship to promote client engagement and effectiveness in a planned change effort. Includes a 48-hour volunteer experience in a social agency.
SWK 340. Social Work with Families and Children. 3 hours. Knowledge, policies, services, and intervention processes related to families, children, and youth. Includes both child welfare and juvenile corrections settings.
SWK 341. Social Work and the Aged. 3 hours. Policies, services and Interventive processes are studied with reference to the needs of older Americans.
SWK 342. Health Care and Social Work. 3 hours. Policies, services, and Interventive processes related to medical and health care settings.
SWK 343. Social Work with Families Affected by Disability. 3 hours. A study of theory, research, and best practices related to family-professional partnerships with families affected by disabilities.
SWK 344. Mental Health Theory and Practice. 3 hours. Policies, services and Interventive processes for mental health and developmental disability settings.
SWK 345. Topics in Social Work (____). 1-3 hours. Study of selected social work and social welfare topics with special emphasis upon problem evaluation and intervention. Special subject or topic will be designated in the class schedule. May be repeated when topic is different. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
SWK 365. Social Process and Social Policy. 3 hours. An analysis of the probable origins of major social problems and the social policies (historical, current, and proposed) that have been offered to address them. The influence of societal values on definitions of social problems. Provides a context for social work practice. Prerequisite: SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work or permission of instructor. May be taken for honors.
SWK 375. Multiculturalism and Diversity in Social Work Practice. 3 hours. Exploration of personal values, biases, stereotypes, and social conscience related to multiculturalism and diversity. Consideration of applications to and ethics in social work practice.
SWK 380. Human Behavior in the Social Environment: The Systemic Perspective. 3 hours. Introduction to the utilization of scientific theory in social work practice. Theoretical concepts drawn from the social and behavioral sciences and placed within a social work frame of reference are reviewed. Systems theory is introduced as both a conceptual framework and a means of integrating theories of more limited range into a conceptual whole. An emphasis is placed on theories at the macro and mezzo systems (community to family) levels. Prerequisite: SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work or permission of instructor. May be taken for honors.
SWK 383. Fundamentals of Research in Social Work. 3 hours. Major conceptual tools of the scientific knowledge-building process. including scientific philosophy, methodology, and design. Emphasis on critical analysis, understanding, and consumption of research in the social and behavioral sciences for knowledge-guided practice. Open to social work majors only. May be taken for honors.
SWK 399. Social Work and the Court Process. 3 hours. The importance of legal investigations; proper questioning of victims, witnesses, and perpetrators; defining the role of social work versus that of law enforcement; writing an effective court report; and confident testimony in a court of law.
SWK 420. Advanced Social Work Practice I. 3 hours. The integration and application of social work knowledge, values, and skills to intervention at various systemic levels, with an emphasis on assessment within a generalist framework. Social work with individuals and families and case management receive special attention. Prerequisites: SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work, SWK 204 Fundamentals of Social Work Practice, SWK 221 Basic Helping Skills, SWK 365 Social Process and Social Policy, SWK 380 Human Behavior Social Environment: The Systemic Perspective, or permission of instructor. Corequisite: SWK 580 Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Individual and Family Functioning or permission of instructor. Only open to social work majors. May be taken for honors.
SWK 465. Social Welfare Policy Analysis. 3 hours. A continuation of SWK 365 Social Process and Social Policy. Analysis of social welfare policies and the assumptions underlying their development. Analytical models are introduced. The process of policy development and prevention/remediation issues are examined. Prerequisite: SWK 365 Social Process and Social Policy or permission of instructor. May be taken for honors.
SWK 580. Human Behavior Social Environment: Individual and Family Functioning. 3 hours. The use of micro level social and behavioral science theories in social work practice. The life cycle and its influences on the development of individual differences is emphasized; the impact of racial, ethnic, and cultural differences is included. Prerequisite: SWK 201 Introduction to Social Work or permission of instructor. May be taken for honors.
SWK 598. Chemical Abuse Treatment and Services. 3 hours. Policies, services, and Interventive processes related to the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Prerequisites: Junior, senior or graduate status or permission of instructor.
May be taken for honors.
SWK 620. Advanced Social Work Practice II. 3 hours. Continuation of SWK 420 Advanced Social Work Practice I drawing on field practicum experiences during the professional semester for differential application of specific intervention modes. Special attention is given to intervention at the group and community levels. Prerequisite: SWK 383 Fundamentals of Research in Social Work, SWK 420 Advanced Social Work Practice I, and SWK 465 Social Welfare Policy Analysis. Open to social work majors only. May be taken for honors.
SWK 621. Practicum in Social Work. 9 hours. Practice experience and field instruction in a social welfare setting with a qualified social worker as field instructor, assisting the student to integrate theory and practice and to develop beginning level professional competence. Students will spend four eight-hour days per week within the field setting and the fifth day in on-campus coursework. To be taken during the first or second semester of the senior year. Prerequisite: SWK 420 Advanced Social Work Practice I. Corequisite: SWK 620 Advanced Social Work Practice II and SWK 622 Integrative Seminar in Social Work. Open to social work majors only.
SWK 622. Integrative Seminar in Social Work. 3 hours. A Culminative effort during which the student synthesizes and integrates strands of the social work curriculum by (1) developing and explicating his/her personalized social work frame of reference, and (2) demonstrating utilization of professional literature for knowledge-guided practice, in the context of his/her frame of reference. Corequisites: SWK 620 Advanced Social Work Practice II and SWK 621 Practicum in Social Work. Open to social work majors only.
SWK 641. Social Work and the Law. 3 hours. Analysis of the dynamic relationship between social work and the US legal system. Emphasis on the role of the social worker in dealing with the legal system and the responsiveness of the legal system to the social needs of the people.
SWK 670. Individual Study in Social Work. 1-6 hours. Intensive individual investigation of selected topics in social work and social welfare. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 hours. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
SWK 793. Special Topics in Social Work (____). 1-3 hours. In-depth study of special social work/social welfare issues; definition and evaluation of problems; analysis of Interventive techniques. Course may periodically be offered with a workshop format. May be repeated when the topic is different, Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. |
