Class Descriptions

The class descriptions displayed below are for the past Fall 2021 term and may not reflect the current curriculum.
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SW656

Youth Empowerment and Organizing

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change (Host), Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course examines strategies for engaging and empowering young people, with emphasis on approaches in racially segregated and economically disinvested areas. It considers core concepts of youth empowerment at the individual, organizational, and community levels; models and methods of practice; age-appropriate and culturally-responsive approaches; roles of young people and adult allies; and perspectives on practice in a diverse democracy. The course will draw upon best practices from grassroots organizing, civic engagement, youth development, and child welfare.
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SW662

Frameworks for Understanding Social Impact Organizations

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
Foundation Essentials required
Pathway Requirement For:
Management & Leadership (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Community Change, Global Social Work Practice, Policy & Political Social Work, Program Evaluation and Applied Research, Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course will provide an overview of traditional and contemporary organizational theories and strategic frameworks relevant to understanding social impact organizations. A wide range of topics will be covered including but not limited to: organizational survival and adaptation to environmental changes, power asymmetry/dynamics between service providers and clients, staff and client diversity and inclusion, and informal strategies that providers develop to legitimize their practices while satisfying multiple stakeholders’ expectations. Using multiple theories and perspectives, students will develop a conceptual framework for recognizing how various environmental-, organizational-, and individual-level attributes shape social impact organizational behaviors and service provider’s practices. The framework will help students to reflect on organizational experiences and critically analyze institutionalized assumptions and beliefs that reside within social impact organizations. Using the conceptual basis acquired from this course, students will be asked to analyze a social impact organization and recommend strategies to improve organizational functioning.
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SW665

Social Impact Leadership and Governance

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
Foundation Essentials Required
Pathway Requirement For:
Management & Leadership (Host)
Pathway Elective For:
Policy & Political Social Work, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course will examine the attributes, skills, behaviors, problems, and issues associated with leadership in social impact organizations, both in the public and private sectors. Students will explore multiple styles of leadership, as well as the application of those styles in various settings. Some emphasis will be placed on the basic rudiments of executive positions and roles in relation to decision-making and facilitation, organizational governance, and relationships with boards of directors and external stakeholders. Issues pertaining to intersectional dimensions of identity (ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender, gender identity and gender expression, marital status, national origin, race, religion, spirituality, sex, sexual orientation) will be given special attention, particularly as students develop their own identity as leaders and manage relationships and conflict in the workplace. Leadership will also be analyzed in relation to the stages of organizational development. Concomitant with the above executive roles and skills, this course will address strategies for organizational development that are directed toward advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as enhancing adaptability, effectiveness, and efficiency to serving populations that have traditionally experienced marginalization.
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SW711

Working with Latinx Families

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Global Social Work Practice, Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
Latinx constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. The United States Latinx population is immensely diverse, with members originating from over twenty countries. Latinx sub-populations tend to reside in different areas of the United States, have different cultural practices/norms, immigration experiences, and varying levels of economic attainment. These sources of internal variation are important, as they have implications for many social outcomes and social work practice with Latinx families. This course focuses on the theoretical, empirical and practice literature on Latinx families in the United States. The course will allow for students to become familiar with demographic trends, health disparities, acculturation and acculturative stress, and the current debates surrounding the immigrant health paradox. Additionally, this course will cover key methodological approaches aimed at engaging Latinx families in mental health and health care services, as well as barriers and facilitators to mental health and health care utilization. Furthermore, the course focuses on the clinical aspects of working with Latinx families, including but not limited to, culturally congruent assessment, and prevention and treatment models. Students in this course will acquire a general understanding of (1) the demographic, social and political background of Latinx families in the United States, (2) key theoretical frameworks to consider (e.g., acculturative stress) when working with Latinx families, (3) culturally congruent assessment, prevention and treatment approaches for health and well-being, and (3) acquire a general understanding of clinical aspects when working with Latinx families in the United States.
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SW712

Working with Transitional Age Youth

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
Transitional age youth, defined as the transition period from adolescence to young adulthood, represents a developmental period characterized by, among other things, increased risk taking and vulnerability for behavioral and mental health conditions. Yet the social work theoretical, empirical and practice literature remain underdeveloped, particularly for transitional age youth with behavioral health and mental health conditions. Social work practitioners and researchers alike play an essential role in ameliorating behavioral health conditions among transitional age youth. This course focuses on the state of the science when working with transitional age youth with behavioral health conditions. Students in this course will acquire a general understanding of (1) the prevalence and variations of behavioral health conditions among this overlooked and vulnerable population, (2) etiological factors associated with behavioral health conditions, (3) theoretical frameworks to inform practice with transitional age youth, and (4) best programs and practices when working with transitional age youth.
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SW720

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas in the Provision of Services to Children and Families

Grading Method:
S/U
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course will prepare students at the advanced level of social work practice to identify and resolve ethical dilemmas with children and families. Ethics is addressed in all areas of social work education and practice; therefore, this course will provide the theory and framework for making ethical decisions across all levels of practice. Ethical issues include, but are not limited to protection of life, autonomy and freedom, least harm, full disclosure, racial bias and predictive analytics (e.g., disproportionality and disparities), child removal, the termination of parental rights, and privacy. This course begins with an overview of the mission and values of social work practice, utilizing the NASW Code of Ethics as the primary framework for ethical-decision making. Students will learn the difference between a value conflict and an ethical dilemma, how to apply theory, and models for mediating ethical dilemmas in your work with individuals, families, and groups. Theories (e.g. deontological, utilitarian, and moral) will be the basis for ethical decision-making in this course and justification models will be introduced through the use of concrete issues and case examples.
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SW721

Observation and Interaction with Young Children and their Caregivers

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course will provide an opportunity to understand the unique developmental needs of infants and young children (0 to 5) and their caregivers. It will examine theories and techniques for observing and understanding infants and young children and their caregivers' behavior and interactions. This course will emphasize evidence-based tools for observation of interactions that address diverse groups of infants and young children in their primary environments (e.g., family and alternative caregiving contexts). Special attention will be given to diversity issues related to understanding the nature of interactions and developing anti-racist practice skills. The course will be divided into classroom and community-based learning opportunities.
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SW722

Management and Organizational Leadership in Child and Family Systems

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This course will provide fundamental knowledge and skills for leadership and management of organizational work with children, youth, and families whether it be preventive, protective, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or advocacy based services. Students will learn practices to manage human service workers effectively within the competing tensions of child welfare and juvenile justice work such as increasing need and limited resources, high staff-turnover, policy changes, and emotionally taxing work. Students will gain skills in supervisory management for effective team building, organizational innovation, group decision making, and conflict mediation; concepts and skills for reflective supervision; practices to develop supervisory leadership; consider outcomes and measurements for program effectiveness; and principles of fiscal management and grant writing.
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SW723

Prevention of Child Maltreatment

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
3 Credit Hours
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Global Social Work Practice, Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
In this course, we will examine correlates and consequences of child maltreatment, as well as the social, environmental, and cultural buffers and mitigating factors that lessen risk and promote protection/ resilience in maltreated children. We will also explore disparities in child maltreatment and child welfare system involvement. Throughout the course, you will learn about the public health model of child abuse prevention and examine programs that align with different tiers of a public health approach. In discussing these programs, you will be asked to consider how social work professionals can play a role in prevention, health promotion, and advocacy for children’s rights and protection from abuse.
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SW724

Theories and Practices of Infant Mental Health

Grading Method:
Graded
Credits:
1 Credit Hour
Prerequisites:
None
Pathway Elective For:
Children, Youth, and Families
Description:
This is an introductory course on the relationship between theory and practice in infant mental health. It is intended for graduate students in Social Work, Education, Nursing and Psychology. Its purpose is to furnish a conceptual framework, based upon attachment theory, for understanding how the emotional qualities of the infant-parent dyads influence the infant's development, the parent's capacity to give care, and finally the professional's state of mind regarding the family. Emphasis is given to how the experiences of early childhood persist over time, and how they are summoned up again by the presence of a baby. This understanding becomes in turn the basis for learning how to plan a treatment approach that takes into account the family's capacities for change. This course meets several educational components for students interested in post-graduate endorsement in infant-family practice.
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