Preventive Intervention

SW817, Section 001

Critical review and analysis of prevention theory, intervention methods, and programs. Preventive intervention refers to activities designed to prevent the development of problems by identifying risk factors and reducing causes of problems and/or by promoting factors that enhance well-being and the adaptive functioning of individuals, groups, and larger social systems. Major topics will be effectiveness, empirical bases for underlying assumptions, and the design, delivery and evaluation of preventive intervention methodologies. Subsidiary topics may include the history and context of preventive intervention and its relationship to social work, social planning, and public health; identification of relevant bodies of knowledge; assessment and goal setting strategies; types of preventive programs; and research and utilization techniques for furthering knowledge and developing new or revised preventive intervention techniques. The identification of populations-at-risk and underserved and programs for these groups will also be a focus. Ethical and value issues and key research questions and gaps in our current knowledge will be identified.