MSW Program > Course Descriptions
SWRK 601: History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare
Required
This course offers an historical perspective for understanding current issues of social welfare and social work. It examines the social, racial, political, and economic forces that explain the development of social welfare and social work in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of gender and race in shaping social policy. Programs, policies, and issues are analyzed as responses to long-term changes in social and economic conditions in the United States and the needs and demands of oppressed groups for full participation in the life of the country.
SWRK 602: Human Behavior in the Social Environment I
Required
This course introduces the student to the individual and family components of social interaction in a variety of milieus. Theories of self and personality are studied along with theories related to traditional and non-traditional family styles, different social and ethnic groups, and assimilation and acculturation. Emphasis is given to the impact of different cultures and traditions on individual functioning. Additional attention is given to selected social characteristics of the larger society, such as factors of socio-economic class that influence individual and family behavior and functioning.
SWRK 603: American Racism and Social Work Practice
Required
This course explores racism in America as an historical and contemporary phenomenon. It emphasizes the development of evidence-based knowledge about institutional systems of racism, analytical skill in understanding the complexity of institutional racism and other forms of oppression more broadly defined, self- awareness, and the implications of racism for social work services and practices. Required.
SWRK 604: Foundations of Social Work Practice
Required
This is the first of a four-course sequence designed to help students develop a professional stance and evidence-based framework for social work services to individuals, groups, families, and communities. It integrates the student's theoretical learning with the experience in the field placement agency. The student is introduced to a holistic process-oriented approach to social work practice and to methods for implementation. The course emphasizes the social context for practice with special attention to agency purpose, functions and structure; the client system and its perceptions of need; goals and resources; and the social worker as a facilitator of change.
SWRK 611: Contemporary Social Policy
Required (Prerequisite SWRK 601)
This course introduces students to the analysis of contemporary social welfare policy. Several social welfare policy areas, including social inequality, poverty, health care, and housing are examined. Each topic area is also used to illustrate a component of the policy analysis process, including the analysis of ideologies and values as they shape policy formulation, the process by which legislation is proposed and enacted, the roles of advocacy and lobbying organizations, and the challenges of policy implementation and evaluation.
SWRK 612: Human Behavior in the Social Environment II
Required (Prerequisite SWRK 602)
The focus of this course is on developing an understanding of how human behavior occurs in the context of group, organizational, and community relations. The dynamic nature of how groups, organizations and communities come into being, are nourished and change over time and impact upon client systems will be fully explored.
SWRK 614: Social Work Practice
Required (Prerequisite SW 604)
This is the second in a four-course sequence and continues to examine varied practice frameworks and methods for service delivery in working with individuals, groups, families, and communities. It emphasizes the eradication of institutional racism and other forms of oppression along with the integration of a culturally-sensitive approach to social work practice. Attention is given to understanding client problems in the context of different social work practice approaches and service requirements and to increased use of professional values to guide and inform practice.
SWRK 701: Health and Mental Health Policy
This course provides an overall view of the historical, social, and economic dimensions of the health care delivery system: how health policies are developed and implemented, and how such policies influence social work practice, program planning, and research. Key health policy issues such as financing, cost, access, and the allocation of resources are explored in the context of health reform proposals. Students investigate how health policy affects specific population groups such as women and children, persons with chronic mental illnesses, persons with AIDS, older adults, and minorities.
SWRK 702: Social Work Practice in Health Care
Clinical Practice Elective
This course focuses on key issues in social work practice in health care settings. Social aspects of health and illness, including cultural variations, health beliefs and behavior, and the impact of illness on the patient and the family, are examined and their relevance for practice is discussed. Appropriate theoretical models for practice are identified and applied to practice in the areas of prevention, primary care, chronic and long-term care. New roles for social work in varied health delivery systems and inter-professional collaboration are explored.
SWRK 703: Impacting Government Policy In Pennsylvania
Macro Practice Elective
This course focuses on social changes in health care as it impacts the lives of older people and their families. Using Pennsylvania as a model, we will focus on the administrative and legislative systems. Topics will include the recent controversial changes to Medicare, re-balancing of the long-term care system and efficacy of behavioral health treatment programs. Students will learn how to impact social change at the policy level by planning a social marketing campaign. They will develop materials to influence consumer understanding and behavior, such as editorial and legislative briefings. Students will have the opportunity to interact with officials, legislators, and advocates as they build the framework to support a social change agenda.
SWRK 704: Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice I
Required for Clinical Practice Concentration
Building on the foundation established in the foundation social work practice courses, this course introduces advanced theoretical frameworks for clinical practice from which students build conceptual practice frameworks. The course helps students choose and learn the components of a practice approach in the context of social assessment, agency auspices, and the student's developing theoretical framework.
SWRK 706: Policies for Children and Their Families
This course examines policies for children and their families with a specific focus on child welfare policy. The course examines the interrelationship between: the knowledge base on child abuse and neglect; evaluations of interventions; programs and policies designed to protect maltreated children; and child welfare policy at the state and national level. The course also examines federal and state laws that govern the funding and operation of child welfare systems; the history of child welfare policies; the operation of child welfare systems; and the legal, political and social forces that influence the structure and function of child welfare systems in the United States.
SWRK 708: Advanced Macro Social Work Practice I
Required for Macro Practice Concentration
Advanced Macro Social Work Practice builds on the foundation social work practice courses and is composed of three interrelated disciplines: community organization, planning, and administration. In Macro Practice courses, the student develops knowledge and skills for practice in communities, organizations, and/or other social systems. This course, the first of two Macro Practice courses, begins by developing a theoretical framework for macro practice. Knowledge and skill development focuses primarily on social work practice within communities and on the planning of service delivery at the community level. Students learn how to identify community-based social problems, organize and build relationships with communities, and develop programs. Specific skill development includes learning how to conduct needs assessments, staff committees, run meetings, and write grants. The content is integrated with fieldwork and is specific to the service needs of the populations with whom students are working in their field agencies.
SWRK 709: Heterosexism
This course builds on the foundation-year focus on institutional oppression by applying this model to the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in U.S. society and in social welfare systems. The course assesses the relationship of heterosexism and homophobia to other forms of institutional oppression, including racism and sexism. The course includes an overview of the treatment of sexual minorities in the U.S. and in the social work profession with a focus on issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients as an under-served and mis-served population. The intersection of racism and heterosexism is a focal point to explore the concerns and needs of LGBTQ people of color. Current theoretical frameworks for understanding sexual identity and the unique situations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people throughout the life cycle will be identified. Social work strategies for addressing heterosexism in social welfare agencies and communities will be explored by examining both micro and macro social work practice issues. The course will include a critical assessment of the state of social work education on the topic.
SW 712/URBS 401: City Limits: The Impact of Urban Policy
Prerequisite: Students must have taken an introduction to research methods.
This course assesses the changing role of public policy in American cities. In the past, government often believed that it could direct urban development. New realities—the rise of an informal labor market, global capital and labor flows, the flight of businesses and the middle class to the suburbs—have demonstrated that government must see itself as one—but only one—‘player’ in a more complex, transactional process of policy making that crosses political boundaries and involves business, organized interest groups, and citizens.
This seminar uses a case study method to study how public policy can make a difference in the revitalization of distressed American cities. The seminar is designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Seminar readings and projects will be organized around three themes: 1) history and vision, 2) data and analysis, and 3) policy development and implementation. Students will be divided into project teams assigned to work on current development issues that will be reviewed by both public- and private-sector experts.
Extensive use will be made of real estate, economic development, and social indicator data to understand the complex forces at work in both large and small cities. Students will learn to access, analyze, and map information; to frame and interpret these data within a regional perspective; and to construct profiles of cities and neighborhoods. Students will study recent urban redevelopment initiatives in the Philadelphia region -- including Philadelphia's Neighborhood Transformations Initiative and New Jersey's Camden Revitalization plans.
SWRK 713: Understanding Social Change: Issues of Race and Gender
Required (Prerequisite SWRK 603)
Formerly listed as SWRK 613
This course builds upon the foundation of historical, psychological, sociological, economic, political, and personal knowledge about institutionalized forms of racism and discrimination developed in SWRK 603, American Racism and Social Work Practice. The course uses understanding elements of oppression to critically examine strategies for addressing racism and sexism in organizations and communities through systematic assessment and planning for social change. The course examines change at three levels: organizations, communities, and social movements.
SWRK 714: Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice II
Required for Clinical Practice Concentration (Prerequisite SWRK 704)
The focus of learning in this semester is differential intervention and the expansion of the professional role and repertoire. Students extend and refine their practice knowledge and skills and learn to intervene with group systems and selected problems. Students consolidate their identification as professionals and learn to constructively use environment to affect systems change.
SWRK 715: Introduction to Social Work Research
Required
This course presents the broad range of research tools that social workers can use to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their practice. The course emphasizes the process of theory development, conceptualization, and hypothesis formulation across a broad spectrum of social work practice situations. The course includes methodological considerations relating to concept operationalization, research design (experimental, survey, and field), sampling instrumentation, methods of data collection and analysis, and report preparation and dissemination. The course also emphasizes how social work research can help professionals better understand and more effectively impact problems of racism and sexism in contemporary American society.
SWRK 718: Advanced Macro Social Work Practice II
Required for Macro Practice Concentration (Prerequisite SWRK 708)
This course, the second of two Macro Practice courses, helps students develop the knowledge and skills required to become an effective and creative social work manager. Management and behavioral science theories and concepts, as well as techniques and methods, are introduced. Students also learn how to strategically plan programs at the organizational level and explore how public policy influences service delivery. Students learn to utilize administrative skills to promote social change within a variety of systems that influence the lives of client populations. Students have the opportunity to apply this administrative content to their field agency.
SWRK 719: Prenatal and Early Childhood Development
This course presents a coherent portrait of the development that transforms a person from the prenatal period to infancy to young childhood. The course bridges standard theories of development with new approaches such as social learning, cognitive development, developmental psychobiology, and other psychological theories used to understand the child. Integration of different perspectives on development is geared to demonstrate the interrelated nature of growth in cognition, learning, language, emotions, personality, physical growth and social behaviors. Students research areas of individual interest.
SWRK 720: Middle Childhood and Adolescence
This course focuses initially on growth and behavior in the often overshadowed period of middle childhood, and in greater depth on the adolescent period. Change in the psychological, physical, cognitive and social domains of growth is examined and is related to changing relationships and overt behaviors. The influence of social factors is a continuing theme. Concepts like "adolescent rebellion" are questioned and re-evaluated. Connections between uneven development and social problem behavior are examined. Knowledge is salient to school social work as well as to other practice domains. Students research areas of individual interest.
SWRK 722: Practice with Children and Adolescents
Clinical Practice Elective
This course provides a foundation for social work practice with children and adolescents. Beginning with an overview of normative child and adolescent development and psychosocial developmental theory, the course covers various methods for helping at-risk children and adolescents and their families. Emphasizing the complex interplay between children and adolescents and their social environments, consideration will be given to biological, temperamental, and developmental status; the familial/cultural context; the school context; and other aspects of the physical and social environment. Particular attention is paid to working with socially, emotionally, financially, and physically challenged and deprived children and adolescents and their families.
SWRK 724: Developmental Disabilities
Clinical Practice Elective; Required for Home and School Visitor Certification
This course enhances the students' ability to practice social work with and on behalf of people with developmental disabilities and their families. The course provides a base of knowledge about developmental disabilities and differences, their causes and characteristics. Students learn how disabilities and learning differences impact personal, familial, educational, social, and economic dimensions for the individual, family and society, with attention to the person's special life cycle needs and characteristics. The course also emphasizes legislative, programmatic, political, economic, and theoretical formulations fundamental to service delivery.
SWRK 726: Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention
Clinical Practice Elective
This course focuses on theory and practice of planned brief treatment in social work practice, primarily with individuals but with attention to couples, families and other groupings. The course covers the history of and different approaches to brief treatment. Topics include treatment issues such as criteria for selection of clients, understanding the importance of time in the treatment relationship, the use of history, the importance of focusing, the process of termination and other issues related to brief interventions. Particular attention will be paid to the use of brief treatment approaches in crisis situations. The course presents various methods of assessing an individual's crisis and of helping clients mobilize their strengths to utilize customary methods of coping and learn newer ways of coping.
SWRK 727: Practice with Families
Clinical Practice Elective
This course provides students with assessment and intervention skills for social work practice with varied family/partner configurations. The course begins with a grounding in family systems theory and proceeds to explore patterns of interaction in terms of the wide range of problems that families and partners bring to social agencies. Emphasis is given to exploring ways of supporting change in interaction patterns. Readings are augmented by videotapes of family sessions and simulations of clinical situations from students' field practice.
SWRK 728: Ethnicity in Contemporary America
This course focuses on major ethnic groups in America as a way of exploring cultural differences, ethnic retention, and the nature of pluralism in our society. Students examine family patterns, religion, educational institutions, and other factors that transmit and maintain cultural and ethnic differences. Students define and develop the implications of these social factors for use in social work practice.
SWRK 729: Social Statistics
Research Option
This course provides students with a broad range of statistical methods and applications. It introduces social work students to the use of quantitative data for planning and evaluating social programs and social policy. Course topics include conceptualization and measurement of variables and basic techniques and concepts for exploring and categorizing data, for generalizing research findings and testing hypotheses, and for statistical data processing. Students will gain experience in using a Windows-based statistical software package on personal computers. Emphasis is placed on the practical application of data to address social policy and social work practice issues. Students have the opportunity to critique the application of data analysis and presentation in technical reports and professional journals.
SWRK 730: Community Mapping
Macro Practice Elective
Geographic space is important to family and community well-being, as we know. Community Mapping introduces students to geographic information systems (GIS), computer software for making maps and analyzing spatial data. Students will learn how maps have been used in social welfare history as well as how GIS can be used for needs assessments, asset mapping, program evaluation, and program planning. The course builds on research skills developed in SW 715. For the final project, students have an opportunity to apply their GIS skills to creating maps related to their field placement. The use of such maps may lead to both program and policy change in neighborhoods and communities.
SWRK 733: Catholic Social Thought and the American Catholic
This course examines the increasing gap between the nation's and the Church's challenge to American Catholics. Racial intolerance and poverty in our own country are considered. Peace and disarmament teaching are examined for their implications for spiritual living, teaching, and preaching.
SWRK 734: History of the Catholic Church in America
This course provides a historical survey of the Catholic Church in the United States from the beginning to the present, with special emphasis on the church in Philadelphia, PA.
SWRK 735: Policy for Social & Economic Development
Macro Practice Elective
Social policy reflects the dominant political and economic ideologies of societies at distinctive moments in their history. This course focuses primarily on the evolving nature of the socio-economic policy development process (SED) in the United States and in “low-income” and “developing” nations. Drawing on their current practice experiences, the course will help students identify the unique contributions made by social workers, social welfare and social policy specialists in strengthening the policy frameworks of both of their country of origin and those of selected developing nations. Particular attention will be given to the range of SED policy "actors" and the dominant sectors of SED activity in which development-oriented social policy practice occurs (e.g., housing, health care, income security, community development, etc.). The contribution of SED policy in promoting social and economic justice, particularly among historically vulnerable population groups, will receive special attention. Given the course’s emphasis on comparative policy analysis, students will be expected to demonstrate at least beginning skill in the use of comparative research methods in analyzing an international social work, social welfare, or social policy dilemma of particular interest to them.
SWRK 736: Building Community Capacity
Macro Practice Elective
This course provides an introduction to community organization and community capacity building. The course encompasses strategies, models, and techniques for the creation of organizations, the formation of federations of existing organizations, and coalition-building, all designed to address problems requiring institutional or policy changes or reallocation of resources to shift power and responsibility to those most negatively affected by current socio-economic and cultural arrangements. The course emphasizes development of strategies and techniques to organize low-income minority residents of urban neighborhoods, and to organize disenfranchised groups across geographic boundaries as the first required steps in an empowerment process.
SWRK 738: Anxiety and Depression
Clinical Practice Elective
Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental disorders seen in social work clients, and frequently they occur concurrently. This course describes the medical and "physical" concomitants and psychosocial factors associated with both conditions and introduces diagnostic and assessment procedures and methods of intervention that social workers use in working with clients with these conditions. The course also considers how culture, social class, gender, and other social differences affect the expression of these disorders and their concomitant treatment.
SWRK 740: Strategic Planning and Resource Development
Macro Practice Elective
Resilient organizations engage in a continuous process of self renewal. Referred to as "strategic planning," this process requires the active participation of a broad range of organizational "stakeholders" who, in their work together, seek to realign the organization's goals, structures, programs and funding patterns so as to make them more responsive to the changing needs of their service populations. Building on the content of the program's other foundation courses. "Strategic Planning and Resource Development" has been designed to strengthen the student's leadership capacity for engaging in strategic planning and resource development practice across a broad range of governmental (GOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs). The importance of organizational flexibility, innovation and the creation of cooperative public-private partnerships is emphasized throughout the course.
SWRK 742: Practice with At-Risk Youth
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective; Option for Home and School Visitor Requirement
The discourse on juvenile justice in the United States, once driven by themes of treatment and rehabilitation, has been dominated in recent years by vocabularies of punishment and incapacitation. The juvenile court, an enterprise founded by social reformers and the social work profession at the turn of the century to "save children," is now under severe political and legislative pressure to impose harsher penalties on younger and younger offenders who are increasingly portrayed as violent "super-predators," while its most vulnerable segments, children and youth, stand in greatest need of what a social service system can offer. Not surprisingly, those most likely to wind up under supervision are economically poor, under-educated, disproportionately of color and disproportionately at-risk to become victims of violent crimes. How does the profession situate itself in this discourse and what are individual social workers to do?
SWRK 743: Action Research
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
Action research is a form of social research that combines research with intervention. It is characterized by a collaborative relationship between the researcher and a client organization that is in an immediate problematic situation. The research process is directed toward addressing the problem situation and producing knowledge that contributes to the goals of social science. Action research is compatible with many of the values and principles of social work. This course also addresses issues of social work ethics and values encountered by the action researcher.
SWRK 744: Direct Practice Research
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
This course provides graduate social work students with research knowledge and skills aimed at enhancing their direct practice with clients. The course examines methods of assessment, methods for choosing and evaluating techniques of intervention, methods for determining the effectiveness of practice and the use of research in social work decision-making. A successful outcome of the course will be that students perceive a more positive relationship between research and social work practice and possess a set of tools that they will be able to utilize in their future careers as social workers. The course starts from an assumption that students have some familiarity with research and are primarily engaged in direct practice with individuals, families or groups.
SWRK 745: Policy Research
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
This course introduces the process of policy analysis, stressing the joint use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Targeted to both the social work activist and the social worker within the agency, the course first explores how and why policy analyses are used and then introduces specific techniques. Methods will be illustrated through examples of policy research. These examples improve students' skills in understanding how policy analyses may directly impact who they serve and the resources available to those they serve. Assignments develop research skills while allowing students to use methods most suited to their interests. Specific techniques discussed include interviewing, observation, descriptive data analysis, researching the legislative process, cost-benefit analysis, and simple quantitative models. Combining techniques allows for more complete discussions of process evaluation, social experiments, and discriminating between alternative policies.
SWRK 746: Political Social Work
Macro Practice Elective
This course focuses on the role of social workers and the social work profession in advocacy and the political arena. It examines the methods of advocacy (e.g., case, class, and legislative) and political action through which social workers can influence social policy development and community and institutional change. The course also analyzes selected strategies and tactics of change and seeks to develop alternative social work roles in the facilitation of purposive change efforts. Topics include individual and group advocacy, lobbying, public education and public relations, electoral politics, coalition building, and legal and ethical dilemmas in political action.
SWRK 748: Women's Voices in Social Work and Social Welfare
This course offers students a feminist lens through which to think about and examine constructions of gender that affect social work practice and social welfare policies. The course enhances students' knowledge of women's contributions to the field of social work, feminist theories, women's "ways of knowing," and feminist practice approaches as they apply to selected arenas of social work. Special attention is given to economic, psychological, and social risks faced by women and ways in which social workers can better understand, validate, and empower women clients and transform social services to promote human well-being. The course is predicated on the idea that women are diverse and that gender intersects with other "isms," including racism, ageism, heterosexism, ableism, and classism.
SWRK 749: Welfare and Economics
This course examines the social welfare aspects of major economic decisions in the United States. Particular attention is paid to exploring the implications of social choices in relation to the following goals: the achievement of increased equality in the distribution of income and power; the elimination of unemployment; and the control of inflation. Growth of public welfare programs and the base of funding for social services are examined in terms of the nation's economic and political objectives.
SWRK 750: Comparative Studies in Social Welfare
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
Social welfare is the major institutional vehicle through which societies assure a minimal level of “well-being” for their citizens. Building on the social policy and research content already covered in the curriculum, the content of this course focuses on achieving a fuller understanding of the complex social, political, and economic dynamics of contemporary welfare development throughout the world. The social development challenges confronting the world’s richest nations will received special attention in this course. The responsibilities of economically advanced countries in helping to advance the social, political and economic development of the world’s poorest nations also will be emphasized. Given the course’s emphasis on comparative policy analysis, students will be expected to demonstrate at least beginning skill in the use of comparative research methods in analyzing an international social work, social welfare, social development, or social policy dilemma of particular interest to them.
SWRK 752: Welfare Politics
This course examines the impact of the political environment on the formulation and implementation of social welfare policy. It examines the structure of the American federal system: the division of power among federal, state, and local governments and among executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Particular attention is paid to the role of special-interest groups in achieving social welfare goals within the system. In addition, the role of protest and insurgent political movements in transforming the welfare system is addressed.
SWRK 754: Fiscal Management and Management Information Systems for Nonprofit Organizations
Macro Practice Elective
Effective fiscal management and the development of integrated management information systems are two of the leadership responsibilities shared by senior administrators of all not-for-profit organizations. Building on the content of both the foundational (including SW715) and advanced macro practice curricula (SW708 and SW718), this course will introduce students to the stewardship responsibilities incumbent on administrators of not-for-profit organizations in allocating and accounting for the use of all fiscal, human and other resources under their control. Special emphasis in this course will be placed on identifying principles of financial planning and accountability, the development of effective electronic systems for tracking and monitoring the use of financial resources, the integration of agency-specific financial information into larger reporting and accountability systems, and the application of these principles to enhancing organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Attention also will be given to identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas confronted by organizational managers as they seek to optimize use of the fiscal and other resources for which they are responsible.
SWRK 756: Human Sexuality
The aim of this course is to increase the student's ability to deal more comfortably with the sexual aspect of human functioning. Readings, written assignments, and classroom presentations are directed to realizing the diversity, complexity, and range of human sexual expression. Current information about sexuality from the biological and physiological sciences is reviewed. To increase comfort and skill in discussion and handling of sex-related behavior, personal and societal attitudes are explored. A variety of sex-related social problems encountered by social workers in family, education, health, and criminal justice settings are discussed. Diagnostic interviewing and treatment methods are presented in role play, group exercises, and case studies.
SWRK 757: Loss Through the Life Cycle
Clinical Practice Elective
This course considers loss as a central theme throughout the life cycle. Content focuses on the physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and cultural aspects of loss, dying and bereavement processes and the interaction among individuals, families and professionals. Students examine historical trends of family, community, and institutional support for the terminally ill and those experiencing traumatic loss and learn ways to advocate for a system of services that supports full decision-making on the part of the client. Course materials, journals, and special projects identify how self and other factors impact service delivery to individuals, families, and communities experiencing loss, including ethical considerations prompted by cost, technology, and end of life issues.
SWRK 758: Faith-Based Practice and Management
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective
This course prepares students to work in existing and newly formed faith-based social service agencies. It also serves as a national laboratory to extract new knowledge of best practices and the variability of managing and practicing in faith-based social service agencies.
SWRK 759: Substance Abuse Interventions
Clinical Practice Elective
This course addresses intervention approaches used in social work practice with individuals, families, and groups who misuse addictive substances themselves or are affected by another's misuse. Students learn about addictive substances, models of intervention, how to engage and assess clients, and how to intervene and evaluate the effectiveness of their interventions. The course incorporates theory and research findings on various strategies of intervention.
SWRK 760: Mental Health Diagnostics
Clinical Practice Elective
This course familiarizes students with mental health and mental disorders within the context of the life cycle, viewed from a biopsychosocial perspective. Prevalent categories of psychiatric disorders are considered with respect to their differentiating characteristics, explanatory theories, and relevance for social work practice, according to the DSM and other diagnostic tools. The course includes biological information and addresses the impact of race, ethnicity, social class, age, gender, and other sociocultural variables on diagnostic processes.
SWRK 761: Spirituality and Social Work Practice
Clinical Practice Elective
This course strives to seek a balance in exploring the universalistic as well as the pluralistic in relationship to spirituality. Some pluralistic religious and/or spiritual traditions are studied as they exemplify commitments of spirituality and as they intersect with a more universalistic spirituality. The course considers how spiritual and religious systems are related to diversity, including gender, social class, ethnicity and culture, and sexual orientation.
SWRK 763: Immigration: Policy and Practice
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective
This course will begin with the history of migration to the US, as well as legal definitions of newcomers, including obtaining documents for lawful permanent residence, refugee status, as well as grounds for exclusion and deportation, and paths to naturalized citizenship. We will then review how a framework of cultural competence, and a strength or asset-based approach can inform service to immigrant clients. The core portion of the course will then focus first on the intersection of immigrants and health, mental health, employment, crimes, public entitlements, and public education. The course will conclude with family issues relevant to immigrant families: women, children, lesbian and gay, and elderly immigrants. Public policy issues will be integrated throughout, and the course will end with specific suggestions on systems change at various levels. By the end of the course students should be able to identify strategies for individual clients advocacy (micro); agency and community strategies (mezzo), and government advocacy (macro) to empower immigrant clients to become full community participants.
SWRK 765: Social Work Leadership and Management
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective
This course builds on social work knowledge, values, and skills gained in foundation practice courses and links them to the roles and functions of social workers as supervisors and managers in human service organizations. Course focus is on providing students with an overview of basic supervisory and human resource development concepts so they may be better prepared as professional social workers to enter agencies and provide direct reports (supervisees) with meaningful and appropriate direction, support, and motivation.
SWRK 766: Organizational Politics and the Dynamics of Change
This course explores how and when organizational change is possible. It is based on two bodies of thought: (1) the behavior of individuals within groups and the behavior of groups within organizations, and (2) the ways conflicts emerge and develop a "life of their own" within human systems. The dilemmas associated with changing human systems are investigated using a paradoxical lens, spotlighting counterintuitive ideas such as "to change, preserve the status quo," and "to grow, cut back." The effectiveness of the change strategies adopted by the "powerful," the "powerless," and those caught "in the middle" is examined.
SWRK 768: Social Policy Through Literature
This course uses works of fiction that pertain to a specific social issue in order to examine the effect these issues have in human terms on the individual, the family, and the community. Through appreciation of the human condition as portrayed in literature, students learn to frame issues more precisely and present arguments in compelling and convincing ways, thus enhancing the role of social worker as advocate for policy change.
SWRK 769: Aging: The Intersection of Policy and Practice
Macro Practice Elective
This course examines a variety of social welfare policies that affect the rights and interests of older adults. These include policies related to economic security, health, long term care, and civil rights. In addition, the course reviews the policy-making process with a discussion of the influence of legislative sanctions and case law in establishing aging policy in the U.S. The focus of the course is on critical analysis of the key assumptions driving policy and policy change, e.g. social responsibility vs. individual responsibility. Finally, the course includes a critical examination of the intersection between policy and practice, that is, the influence that policy has on the design of interventions and service delivery practices at the state and local level and the impact of changing policies on communities, providers and older adults.
SWRK 770: Social Welfare and the Law
This course helps students understand the ideal and real functions of the law and recognize the influence of behaviors on the law, and of the law on behaviors. Students have the opportunity to evaluate strengths and limitations of law for empowering historically disadvantaged populations.
SWRK 771: Social Work Values and Ethics
This course is concerned with the influence of ideology, values, and ethics on the development of social welfare policies and social work practice. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of such concepts as freedom, equality, and justice on the creation and implementation of social service programs and on the underlying value structure of alternative modes of social intervention. The course also provides students with a framework to understand and apply ethical concepts such as confidentiality, self-determination, truth-telling, paternalism, conflict of duties, and "whistleblowing," in the daily realities of professional practice. These concepts and their relationship to terminal values are taught through the analysis of cases from the changing environment of policy and practice in the United States.
SWRK 772: Post-colonial Social Work Practice: International Social Welfare in India
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective
In this course, students examine the global welfare system and its engagement with marginalized communities. This six-week course in Kolkata, India, centers around a sex workers’ collaborative in Sonagachi, one of Asia’s largest red light districts. Interviews with the collaborative’s workers and study of their grassroots movement are combined with class discussions and research projects in which students engage with texts on HIV, sex work, feminist postcolonial theory and international social work.
SWRK 773: Mental Health Challenges in Childhood and Adolescence
This course will be an opportunity for the student and the instructor to
explore the concept “psychopathology” as it has been and is applied to
childhood and adolescence. There are some psychopathological challenges
that are unique to childhood and some which can manifest themselves
throughout childhood into adolescence and adulthood. The social
worker/practitioner will encounter a wide range of symptomatic
presentations among his/her clients. At this time in the fields of
clinical social work, psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy there
are numerous frameworks available to the practitioner to aid in an
understanding of symptoms in children and adolescents. During the next
several weeks three conceptual frameworks will be articulated.
These three frameworks will elucidate the possible meaning, origin
and/or function of the symptoms and offer to the student a vocabulary
with which to engage the situation. At the turn of the 19th century
into the 20th century, psychoanalysis emerged in Europe as a method of
understanding symptoms from the point of view of internal conflict
within the child or adolescent. After World War II in the U.S.A., a
model of understanding symptoms from a systemic/cybernetic point of view
revolutionized the diagnostic processes involved in working with
children and adolescents. Since the late 1980’s postmodern ideas,
primarily from Europe and Australia, have greatly influenced and
informed the understanding of psychopathology in children and
adolescents. Narrative, social constructivist, and linguistic usage
patterns have become a common vocabulary in the discourse on
psychopathology. This course is not intended to be a reading of the
history of child psychopathology. It is intended to expose the student
to the most influential paradigms in the field of child psychopathology.
This is an elective that builds on knowledge of human behavior over the life cycle gleaned from the two HBSE courses. SWRK 602 and SWRK 612 and the foundation practice courses, SWRK 604 and SWRK 614. It continues to sensitize students to populations at risk and those affected by racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression learned across the foundation curriculum. It informs social work practice with children and adolescents in a variety of settings and practice roles.
SWRK 774: Program Evaluation
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
This course introduces students to theoretical and practical aspects of social service program evaluation. Students learn about the design and implementation of all phases of an evaluation, from needs assessment to analysis of findings. Skills such as survey construction and budgeting are introduced. Intensive analysis of existing studies illustrates how evaluations are designed and how findings affect social programs and policy.
SWRK 775: Intimate Violence
The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the definition, theories, causes, processes, consequences, and social interventions in intimate violence. The course will attempt to provide insight on the phenomenon of intimate violence by examining the ways in which it affects survivors, perpetrators, and their children. This will be accomplished by reviewing the current research as well as by exploring how intimate violence is constructed by the participants on the personal, interpersonal, and social structural level.
SWRK 776: Community and Economic Development
Macro Practice Elective
This course examines the evolution, practice, and strategies of community economic development (CED) in the United States. The definition of and the history behind community economic development and its relationship to traditional economic development and community organizing are explored. Critical analyses of CED and examination of development strategies that seek to respond to these critiques are considered. The course focuses on the identification and development of skills employed in community economic development. Strategies for community economic development including housing development and rehabilitation, microenterprises and small business development, job training and workforce development, and promotion of the arts are examined.
SWRK 777: Cognitive Behavioral Treatment with Children and Adolescents
Clinical Practice Elective
This course provides students with the skills and techniques for providing cognitive therapy to adults, adolescents, and children. The course begins with a grounding in the cognitive therapy diagnostic assessment process. Students will be instructed how to use the various cognitive therapy psychological testing scales. Emphasis is then placed on learning to use the cognitive therapy model to treat emotional and personality disorders. Students will be taught how to apply cognitive therapy techniques in both psychotherapy practice as well as in other social work settings such as child welfare, foster care, case management, aging, and hospital social work. Readings will be augmented by videotapes, role plays, and observations of cognitive therapy assessments and cognitive therapy sessions.
SWRK 781: Qualitative Research
Research Option (Prerequisite SWRK 715)
Qualitative research encompasses a variety of methods that enable the researcher to enter into the “lived experience” of research participants. These methods are particularly sensitive to the voices of populations whose perspectives are silenced by dominant societal discourses. The course begins by giving attention to underlying philosophical issues and traditions of qualitative research and proceeds to examine qualitative research design, methods of data collection, strategies to ensure rigor, data analysis, and presentation of findings. Students will learn about research interviewing, focus groups, and participant observation and ways in which qualitative research can be used to inform and evaluate social work practice and programs. Students will have the opportunity to apply qualitative research methods to in-class activities and individual or group projects.
SWRK 782: Christian Social Ethics
This course examines the church's historic teachings and current understanding of sexuality, marriage, and family, and of controversial issues in this area through the use of theology, fiction, and films.
SWRK 783: Alienation and Reconciliation
This course examines alienation from a theological perspective and then shifts focus to a sociological look at how alienation operates in society, particularly around the dynamics of economics, color, and gender.
SWRK 784: The Congregation in the Community
This course is an exploration of the dynamics of the relationship between a congregation and its community. Attention is given to various theological and phenomenological models of church and community and to the tools needed to study both a congregation and its surrounding community.
SWRK 785: Introduction to Urban Ministry
This course introduces theological and biblical perspectives on the city within the Christian tradition, including a consideration of urban culture, politics, economy, and systems. The role of the church within the complexity of needs and resources comprises the central focus and goal of the course.
SWRK 786: Economic Ethics
This course examines the economics, experience, and meaning of work in our society and the role of the church as it ministers with employed and unemployed workers, works for economic justice, and appropriates a meaningful "Theology of Work."
SWRK 793/NURS 640: Global Health and Health Policy
Macro Practice Elective
This participatory interdisciplinary seminar course examines contemporary issues in public health policy and global health. The organizing framework is social determinants of health. We consider evidence that inequalities in education, income, and occupation influence health status, and the policy dilemma that broad interventions to improve population health may increase health disparities. We critically examine whether prevention is always better than cure, and what modern medicine has to offer in terms of health. We explore the public policy process in health using the "tobacco wars" as a case example, of how politics, policy, law, commercial interests, and research intersect to affect the public's health. We examine whether global health is in a state of decline, and the extent to which failures in public health, public policy, and foreign policy have contributed to increasing threats to world health. Likewise we will examine the potential for greater integration of health into foreign policy to create global infrastructure upon which to advance health. We will examine the global health workforce and the impact of widespread global migration of health professionals on receiving and sending countries. There are no prerequisites. The course is designed for graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences, health professions, public health, business and law.
SWRK 794: Practice with Older Adults and Families
Clinical Practice Elective
This course focuses on practice with older adults and families within a life course and resiliency perspective. It examines the nature of the aging process, needs and life issues, the ways in which persons adapt to changes, and the ways in which interventions may assist with these adaptations. Students learn assessment, case management, and intervention skills, including the use of rapid assessment and diagnostic tools, needed to work effectively with older populations and family caregivers in a variety of community-based and institutional settings. The course emphasizes evidence-based practices that enhance quality of life, dignity, respect for differences, and maximum independent functioning.
SWRK 796: Families on the Edge
Clinical and Macro Practice Elective
In this course, the experiences and voices of mothers, fathers, children, employers, children’s teachers, human service workers, job training providers, policymakers and others in cities across America graphically illustrate the “real life” economic challenges facing today’s families and organizations. These people, organizations and policies dramatically show how economic, educational, and cultural practices and conditions intersect to perpetuate inequality among low-income and even many middle-income working families. The labor market, welfare and workforce programs, public schools and government are some of the institutions implicated in this intersection. In the course, notions such as "work ethic," "family-friendly workplace," "good jobs," and “hard work pays off” are deconstructed in terms of their meaning for today’s families, organizations and policies. At base, this course examines occupational mobility in America from multiple perspectives within the broad framework of capitalism, democracy, race, ethnicity and gender. Students read classic and contemporary literature from occupational social work, sociology, cultural anthropology, and political science to explore generative roles and directions for “meso-oriented” clinical, macro and policy professionals. As a result, this course augments the advanced clinical and macro social work practice courses in addition to courses from other master's and doctoral degree programs at SP2 and across the University.
SWRK 798: Global Social Impact 360
All societies face the same needs to provide access to health care, education, a robust economy, and a sustainable environment, among others. In most societies, the three major sectors - government, commercial-for-profit, and non-profit sectors – all play their role in affecting and meeting these social needs. In many situations, the lack of trust, poor coordination, silo-operations, and misaligned goals and objectives among the sectors lead to missed opportunities and suboptimal outcome in delivering social goods. Furthermore, decision makers in all sectors often struggle with balancing immediate needs with long term goals. This course introduces students to a holistic strategic framework in designing and implementing meaningful and effective social change initiatives. We will develop perspectives that critically consider the impact of social intervention from macro/micro and short/long term view, and will actively explore opportunities for synergistic collaboration across sectors in order to achieve enhanced social impact.
SWRK 798: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Clinical Practice Elective
In this 5-day intensive course we will examine the underlying theories, empirical foundations, and fundamental skill sets associated with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). Students will be expected to participate in role plays, lead mindfulness exercises, and carry out chain analyses. Prior to the class start date, students will have to submit an 15 to 30 page outline of the required text (Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press) and to review and complete the study guide for the HBSE text (Pryor, K. (2002). Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training. Gloucestershire: Ringpress Books). Students will not be admitted to the first day of class unless these requirements have been met prior to class. No Exceptions. You will be dropped from the class.
SWRK 798: Psychodynamic Theory and Clinical Social Work Practice
Clinical Practice Elective
The purpose of this course is to review the evolution of psychodynamic theory and consider key concepts in psychoanalysis, ego psychology, object relations theory, self-psychology, attachment theory, relational and intersubjective theories and current findings in cognitive neuroscience. Participants will explore human psychological functioning as explained by these various psychodynamic theories and through the biopsychosocial lens that informs social work practice. Students will examine how external factors such as race, class, gender, culture and biology are interwoven with often unconscious, internal psychological determinants, creating the complexities of human behavior that challenge us in our clinical work. Case presentations by students, the instructor and guest lecturers will demonstrate how concepts from psychodynamic theory can be applied to social work practice with diverse clients in varied settings.
SWRK 798: Spanish for the Social Service Professions
Spanish for the Social Service Professions is a semester-long elementary Spanish Language that incorporates activities, vocabulary, and readings of particular interest to social service practitioners. The course is designed to develop the fundamentals of practical Spanish, with a special focus on social service situations and basic terminology. In this course, particular attention will be given to developing speaking and listening skills, as well as cultural competency. Students will be expected to participate in classroom activities such as role-plays based on typical office and case study procedures in order to develop meaningful and accurate communication skills in the target language.
SWRK 798: International Social Work: Practicing in the Global South
This course will introduce students to societal problems in the developing world; familiarize them with global professions in social work, education, public health, etc.; and prepare them for overseas/cross-cultural practice. Through the course students will identify numerous strategies and skills social workers and other professionals have used to collaboratively build interventions within the social welfare, education, health care and sustainable community development arenas. This interdisciplinary course will expose students to alternative views of development as they relate to individual, interpersonal, family, community, societal and international change. Students will learn about the history of specific global problems, how cultures affect response, different social services delivery systems, and initiatives aimed at resolution. Students will explore a specific development issue within a country and community i.e. human trafficking, disaster relief, water & sanitation, women’s empowerment, microfinance, etc.
SWRK 798: Criminal Justice Policies: Implications for Social Work
The United States prison population has risen more than three hundred percent in the last three decades. More people are currently incarcerated than at any other point in the history of the United States, and that of the world. This unprecedented period of incarceration has gone largely invisible although it represents one of the greatest social epidemics in the history of the United States. This course provides a critical analysis of the criminal justice system in the United States from a historical and contemporary perspective. It examines the implications of significant criminal justice policies such as the Rockefeller Drug Laws, 3-Strike Legislations, and Mandatory Minimums on the current state of incarceration, and the phenomenon of “Reentry” and “Recidivism”. The intersections of criminal justice and social work practice are unmistakable when examining staples of social work practice such as homelessness, mental health and substance abuse, thus the course is intended to facilitate a more informed/holistic practice for all social work students.
SWRK 798: Forensic Social Work
Forensic social work is an area of specialty within social work that focuses on issues related to the law and legal systems. Forensic social workers are called upon to provide a variety of services including: recommendations on adult and child mental health status for court evaluation, testifying as an expert witness regarding child welfare and/or domestic violence cases, interfacing with juvenile courts, drug courts, and/or mental health courts, as well as child custody issues involving separation, divorce, neglect, and termination of parental rights, to name a few. The purpose of this course is to gain familiarity with the principles and practices of forensic social work. Class lectures and discussions will include the following: diverse methods for forensic risk assessment, relevant theories and models of offender behaviors, the role of the legal system as it pertains to forensic practices, treatment approaches with juvenile and adult offenders, intervening with incarcerated populations, including those with severe mental illness, and/or drug and alcohol addictions, and the fundamentals of expert witness testimony. Class discussions will be framed within the prism of broader contextual issues and will examine their impact on forensic populations. Lectures, class discussions, case examples, videos, and power point presentations will be utilized throughout the course.
SWRK 798: Play Therapy
Play is the method children use to master and understand their worlds. When working with children and adolescents social workers often utilize play as a primary treatment intervention. This course will provide students with a foundation in play therapy theories, techniques, and practice intervention models. Play therapy philosophies will be critically analyzed. Play therapy will be presented for application in a variety of practice settings as well as with individuals, families, and groups. Students will be taught how to apply play therapy to address issues such as trauma, loss, mood disturbance, relational stress, anxiety, and academic performance. Emphasis will be placed on approaching play therapy from perspectives of multicultural competence, empowerment, social justice, and inclusion.
SWRK 798: Effective Interventions with Latino Youth and Families
Clinical Practice Elective
This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of clinical and macro practices with the Latino population and subgroups across the life-span. The course seeks to deepen students’ awareness and understanding of the historical, political, economic, social, and cultural contexts of Latinos in the U.S. Students will gain practice-based knowledge by critically examining the variety of practice frameworks, socio-ecological concepts and theories (e.g., acculturation social stratification, racial and ethnic identity), and cultural constructs (e.g., familismo, respecto) that inform culturally enriching practices with different Latino groups. Students will also examine the research literature on socio-demographic correlates of Latino biopsychosocial problems and disparities; and outreach, prevention, and treatment interventions across Latino subgroups and service settings. This knowledge will then be applied to understanding and effectively intervening in the array of biopsychosocial issues (e.g., poverty, health and mental health disparities, violence, child welfare system involvement, discrimination) impacting the Latino population. Students will identify and critically evaluate evidence-based practices and approaches for working with the Latino population in a wide array of clinical and macro level practices and contexts. The value of research and community-based approaches for developing, testing and implementing culturally congruent, evidence-based practices will be discussed. This course assumes that students have already acquired a strong knowledge base in the basic concepts of diversity, human behaviors, social and economic justice, and basic research methods. Concepts, issues, and methodologies learned through previous course work and/or experience will now be applied to critically analyze empirically based practice with Latino youth and families.
SWRK 798: Facilitating Groups in Not-for-Profit Organizations: Boards, Staffs, Volunteers and Communities
While programs and services may be more oriented toward individuals as providers and clients, much of the “business” of the not-for-profit (NFP) organization is transacted or dependent upon effective relations between the organization and one of four key groups: the board, the staff, the volunteers and the community. This course will have three major objectives: to distinguish the characteristics, virtues and challenges of working with a group; to present and operationalize the principles of group facilitation; and, to apply facilitation principles to the context of each of the NFP’s key groups. In addition to in-class presentations and practice, students will have the opportunity to develop their facilitation skills with NFP organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region.
SWRK 798: Ethics in Public and Nonprofit Management
Policy analysis is often viewed as a technical task. However, it is also important to consider the goals toward which we apply public policy, and to ask whether policy goals and outcomes are good or bad. But good or bad according to which values, and perspectives? This course focuses on some of the many ways in which political and moral values affect public policy. It is based on the belief that an understanding of the complex relationship between morality and politics is an important part of the foundation of successful public policies. The course seeks to develop students’ abilities to think reflectively and argue persuasively about the moral and ethical dimensions of politics, public policies and careers in public administration (either public or non-profit sectors). This task is a challenging one, and we will rarely arrive at definitive answers to the difficult questions we raise. We will, however, learn how to ask these questions with greater clarity and insight, and we will become familiar with the answers that others have given to them.
SWRK 798: Postmodern Social Work Practice
The course is based on the view that social work as a discipline and a practice can comfortably locate itself more squarely within a postmodern frame of reference. Postmodernism articulates a world that is culturally one of multiplicity, diversity, contingency, fragmentation and rupture and accepts that we now live in a state of perpetual incompleteness and permanent unresolve. Postmodernism promotes the notion of radical pluralism, many ways of knowing, and many truths. From a postmodern perspective knowledge is articulated from local perspectives, with all its uncertainties, complexity and paradox. This viewpoint suggests that knowledge is relational and that all reality is woven and rewoven on shared linguistic looms.
The course will initially explore the cultural, social and intellectual transition from modernity to postmodernity and the implications for social work at the direct practice, community and social policy levels. The thought of some of the key philosophers who have and continue to shape the texture of the postmodern present will be considered: Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, Cixous, Kristeva, Butler. The course will introduce the idea that the arts and humanities and popular culture can be important sources of understanding for social work and specific examples will be discussed.
SWRK 798: Anxious Identities in Postmodern Context
This course will explore a range of theories
of marginalization related to race, class, gender, power, and
sexuality, sampling works from various intellectual projects such as cultural
studies, postcolonial studies, queer theory, and postmodern thought. An
overarching question that guides such course is, "how do changing
conceptions of social categories and competing particularities,
affect what is deemed "marginal" given shifting ideas of once deemed
stable categories of gender, sexuality, and race in the face of
postmodern thought?"
SWRK 798: Problem Solving Therapy: An Evidence-Based Model
This advanced course in problem solving therapy is intended to teach the application of theory integrated into clinical practice. Problem identification, problem definition, assessment, coping style, diagnosis, treatment planning, decision-making, solution implementation, and evaluation are structured processes of problem solving therapy practice that serve as an organizing framework for clinical application to a variety of problems (e.g. depression, anxiety, cancer, substance abuse, caregiving) and populations (children, adults, couples, older adults) The purpose of this course is for students to acquire direct practice skills of problem solving therapy and to begin to apply the components of the model through the stages of a treatment case. In addition, students will develop knowledge and skills in which to track change and evaluate the effectiveness of their clinical practice.
SWRK 798: Social Work Practice and Trauma
Clinical Practice Elective
This course integrates trauma theory and practice and expands practice knowledge to include the treatment and assessment of the survivors of trauma. Emphasis is placed on differentiating PTSD from Complex Trauma in order to identify appropriate, evidence-based intervention strategies. Topics covered in the this course include an historical overview of the development of our understanding of trauma and the exploration of various types of trauma including war trauma, domestic violence, childhood sexual and physical abuse, natural disasters, the experiences of political refugees and organizational trauma. Among the interventions covered in this course are CBT, EMDR, group and psychodynamic treatment. Students will consider issues that affect those treating the survivors of trauma, such as vicarious trauma, and will explore approaches to self-care. This is an advanced clinical course. Through assignments and class discussions students are encouraged to use their experiences in the field to deepen their understanding of the material covered in the course.
SWRK 798: The Latino/a & Puerto Rican Experience: Philadelphia and nationally
The Latino population in the United States was estimated at 35.5 million in the 2000 U.S. Census (about 14.2% of the total US population). The US Census update report of 2006 now estimates the Latino population at 42.7 million, making Hispanics the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. These estimates do not include the 4 million residents of Puerto Rico. The Latino community is increasing almost four times as fast as the rest of the U.S. population. Some of the reasons attributed to this growth are increased immigration and a relative young population. It is projected that the US Hispanic population will constitute 24% of the nation’s total population by July 1, 2050. Currently there are 19 States in which Hispanics are the largest race or ethnic minority group (US Census, 2006).
At the same time there were1.6 million Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002 (US Census, 2006). The median income of Hispanic households in 2005 was $35,967. That year 21.8% of Hispanics lived in poverty. 32.7% of Hispanics lacked health insurance in 2005. The percentage of Hispanics age 25 and older who had at least a high school education in 2004 was 58% and only 12% of the Hispanic population 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2004.
Philadelphia has the third largest Puerto Rican community in the United States (NYC, Chicago and Philadelphia). The 2000 U.S. Census affirms that there are 91,527 persons residing in the city that self-identified as Puerto Rican and the community is growing in Philadlephia. This community is part of an ever-increasing Latino presence in Philadelphia. Of the 400,000 Latinos in Pennsylvania, 128,928 of those Latinos live in Philadelphia. 58% of all Latinos in Pennsylvania are Puerto Rican; the 2nd largest in the US after Connecticut (60.7%).
This course will examine political, socio-economic and cultural aspects of the Puerto Rican Diaspora to Philadelphia and Latinos in the United States, making connections between the experiences of Puerto Ricans/Latinos in Philadelphia with that of Puerto Ricans/Latinos in other Cities across the United States and its impact in the delivery of social services and the policies that drive services to these communities.
SWRK 798: Causes and Prevention of Violence
Causes and Prevention of Violence is an extremely timely and important course for social workers in our increasingly global world. It approaches violence as a problem in public health and preventive medicine, and begins by addressing the biological, psychological, and social factors implicated in the causation of violence. Concepts of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention will then be developed, and their implications for social policy, institutional programming, and clinical practice will be explored. Biological factors include the influence of genetics and chemical substances on violence. Psychological factors include exposure and vulnerability to shame and humiliation, and the presence or absence of the capacity to experience feelings of guilt and remorse. Social factors include the influence of relative poverty, gender asymmetry, homophobia, and racial or age-based discrimination; and the impact of social and economic inequality on death rates (so-called "structural" violence). The course will explore the similarities and differences between homicide and suicide, and between individual/interpersonal violence and collective/political violence, such as 'hate crimes,' ethnic cleansing, terrorism and genocide. Overall this course its prevention to clinical practice and policy formulation. In effect the course addresses both individual and social change.
SWRK 798: Social Work Practice with Couples
Clinical Practice Elective
The goal of this course is to introduce the participants to the basic principles and practice of couple therapy. With its rich history as a distinct discipline integrating both individual and systemic theory, students will explore a broad range of theoretical and clinical approaches within this field. Issues such as intimacy, gender, power, class, race, orientation, family of origin, affairs, separation, divorce, domestic violence, sex, parent-child relationships, and money will be discussed.
SWRK 798: Philanthropy and Fundraising Tools for Managers of Nonprofit Organizations
Macro Practice Elective
This course will review the everyday tools that nonprofit managers and development officers need to raise funds from individuals and other sources of private philanthropy. Last year, Americans gave approximately $300 million and 83% of it was from individuals. The fundraising profession has created a body of knowledge in the past twenty years that can guide effective fundraising programs so that charitable organizations can support their mission. The sessions will review the theory and practical techniques that development professionals use everyday in large and small organizations including annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, cultivation of donors, making your case for support, the Seven Faces of Philanthropy, special events, and prospect research. There will also be discussions of philanthropic trends and current giving patterns. For those who are interested in nonprofit administration, these will be critical tools to understand.
SWRK 798: Measuring Sensitive Topics
Research Option (Prerequisite SW 715)
This course is designed to improve the measurement of sensitive topics in human behavior by increasing the skill of those who do the measuring. We will focus largely, albeit not exclusively, on the behavior of individuals. The course will focus on behaviors that typically are not and, for a variety of reasons, usually cannot be directly observed. Nonetheless, researchers are called upon to measure these behaviors that are key to understanding important social and health issues facing society. The course will review current best practices in data collection as well as the specific areas of attitudes, drug use, sexual activity, interpersonal violence, and standard demographic characteristics. Social context of the work as well as human subjects considerations will be addressed.
SWRK 798: Loss and Crisis Intervention
Clinical Practice Elective
This second-year practice elective is designed to support the student’s development of clinical practice skills in working with loss and grief. Students will explore the impact of loss & grief on individuals, families and communities. Students will develop the ability to assess and intervene with a wide array of grieving populations. Clinical social work interventions will be explored from the perspectives of immediate crisis intervention and long-term engagement. Specific topics for the class include: ambiguous loss, chronic sorrow, acute grief, treating grief, treating children and youth, complicated grief, traumatic loss, community grief support, and critical incident stress debriefing.
SWRK 798/898: Mental Health Policy
The focus of this course will be on policies and policy issues that define and influence the care and treatment of persons with mental illness from colonial times to the present. The course will examine the primary social, political, economic, legal, and philosophical forces that have influenced mental health delivery in the United States over different historical time periods and the resulting organizational, financial, administrative, and management structures of mental health service delivery systems. The interface with other major service delivery systems, including welfare, criminal justice, primary health care, and social security will be addressed. Topics to be included will be deinstitutionalization, managed care, psychiatric rehabilitation, cultural issues and disparities of care, children's treatment and services, professional certification and roles, and family and consumer advocacy. Major legal cases and legislation relevant to these topics will be covered. This will be an interdisciplinary course taught by faculty trained in social work, psychiatry, law, and health policy and management. It is open to masters and doctoral students.
SWRK 798: Critical Issues in Justice
Criminal justice and social work actors often find themselves working with overlapping client populations but sometimes with inconsistent goals and objectives. The focus of this course is on the connections between the systems in which social work and criminal justice system actors operate with an interest in bridging the gap between these areas of practice and study. The course will examine the role of police, courts and corrections to understand how varying policies, procedures and activities intersect with and affect social work practice. A public policy perspective will be employed that relies on the use of real-world examples. The objective of the course is to engage students to effectively evaluate information that they read in newspapers, journals, the internet and see on television. Students' understanding of the criminal justice system will be enhanced. It is open to masters and doctoral students.
SWRK 798: Policy and 'Difference' in Postmodernity
Social constructions of "difference" permeate the institutions, spaces, and assumptions of our society. These social constructions include but are not limited to the racialized, gendered, sexed, classed, and dis/abled constructions of the body. By leaning on postmodern thinkers such as Iris Marion Young, Pierre Bourdieu, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Ernesto Laclau, and Michel Foucault, this seminar course will begin by engaging the questions of what is "difference" and how is "difference" discursively constructed and reproduced in society. Using a postmodern lens, the remainder two-thirds of the course will engage various social science text that deal with the varieties of "difference" (i.e. race, gender, class, sexuality) and the explicit and/or implicit policy implications of these works. Thus, we will critically engage policies such as welfare, affirmative action, economic policies of taxation, and same-gender marriage among others. The underlying questions throughout the course will be to what extent does social policy enable the possibilities of freedom, justice, and democracy for the "Other", the deviant, the abject, the marginalized, those of assumed "difference"? And, to what extent does policy constrain those possibilities at the same time?
SWRK 798: Critical Race Theory
This course explores Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT refers to a body of work that emerged during the 1980s and 90s among legal educators to try and explain why there seemingly has been racial progress on the one hand through laws and court decisions that outlaw the most visible symbols of racial discrimination, but growing signs of racial inequality on the other in education, health, criminal justice, housing, politics, and other areas.
During the past ten years, fields such as women's studies, sociology, education, gender studies, history, criminology, and postcolonial studies have begun to look to the insights developed by critical race theorists. Without a doubt, CRT has spawned and/or influenced new areas of inquiry such as Latino/a critical studies, queer studies, critical race feminism, and critical white studies. Although social work researchers have begun to use CRT ideas such as intersectionality, the application of Critical Race Theory to the field remains largely unexplored.
SWRK 798: Violence in Relationships through the Lifespan
The primary objective of the course is for students to gain specific
knowledge and to develop critical thinking skills so as to better
understand violence in relationships, which is pervasive in most
societies. Using a life course perspective, SW799 will address abuse
from childhood through late life. We will examine how norms and gender
and generational differences in resource distribution shape the
occurrence, experience, and individual and societal/structural responses
to non-stranger violence.
Students will learn about the definitions, conceptual frameworks, myths, processes, consequences, and societal interventions regarding violence in relationships. In addition, the course is designed to motivate students to examine their perceptions about these issues so that they can be more effective in their careers as well as more effective as members of a society that, like almost all societies, seems to hold a deep ambivalence about violence in relationships.
SWRK 897: Applied Linear Modeling
(Prerequisite: Introductory Graduate Statistics)
This course deals with the underlying assumptions and applications of the general linear model with social science, education, and social welfare policy related questions/data. The first half of the course begins by covering simple linear regression and the assumptions of the general linear model, assumption diagnostics, consequences of violation, and how to correct for violated assumptions. This will also include methods of incomplete data analysis (i.e. missing data analysis). Then various aspects of regression analysis with multiple independent variables will be covered including categorical explanatory variables (e.g. to estimate group differences), interaction effects, mediating effects (e.g. to estimate the indirect effect of social processes), and non-linear effects. The course will then cover some of the applications of the general(ized) linear model including logistic regression, some elements of path modeling (structural equation modeling), and multilevel analysis (hierarchical linear modeling). The course will be taught using SAS, but students are welcome to use any statistical package of comfort.
SWRK: 899-301 Structural Equation Modeling
(Prerequisite: Graduate Course on Regression or Linear Modeling)
This course is an introduction to linear structural equation modeling and its application to social and policy research. This course will cover various data analytic techniques ranging from simple regression, path models, and factor analysis to multiple group analysis, incomplete case analysis, and advanced longitudinal models. Within each technique we will examine algebraic and graphic model specification, estimation procedures, identification, goodness-of-fit criteria, and alternative models comparison. The goals of this course are to develop an understanding of the conceptual, mathematical, and application bases of structural equation modeling, to learn how to specify and estimate models, and to evaluate them in relation to alternative models using statistical and practical criteria. Classes will include both theoretical and practical sections using M/plus/.
