Teaching

("The goal of education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind". - Malcolm Forbes )

Social Work III : Community Practice to Strengthen Families SOWK 783
This course is the first of two concentration practice courses and emphasizes social work practice in larger contexts. Grounded in the Community Based Family Practice (CBFP) concentration, community and organizational practice focus on creating an environment which supports and strengthens families. Community organization, leadership, resource acquisition, and advocacy are pivotal areas of knowledge and skill development. The approach to practice builds from the ecological/systems, empowerment, and social construction theories and frames practice from a contextual perspective. Social work values, social and economic justice, and the needs of vulnerable and diverse populations are embedded in the learning process. Practice application in small towns and rural communities is highlighted.

Practice models will be assessed through a critical multicultural lens. A strong emphasis on evaluating the processes that perpetuate oppression and unequal access, including an unequal access to power within political, social, and economic institutions and organizations. Institutional racism, sexism, homophobia/heterosexism, poverty, alienation, and other oppressive conditions play a role in shaping the lives of clients.

Social Work Concentration Practicum and Seminar SOWK 791
The concentration practicum and supporting seminar provide a forum in which the knowledge, skills, and values of professional social work practice, along with the concepts and theories which support community-based family practice (CBFP) are applied. The ecological, systems, empowerment, and social construction theories provide the frame for critical analysis, assessment, and practice evaluation. The skills and knowledge taught in SOWK 783 and 784 are applied through multiple environments and across the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Service delivery issues, agency/organizational dynamics, and practice skills are emphasized. The knowledge and skills for direct and macro practice with diverse populations are developed and applied, emphasizing the dismantling of oppression and applying methods which work toward social and economic justice for populations at risk. The seminar supports the exploration of ethical decision making grounded in social work values as a base for professional development. This is a practicum experience (24 hours each week) in which an electronic and/or face-to-face seminar is embedded.

Child Welfare SOWK 421
This is an upper level social work course with the purpose of introducing students to a comprehensive overview of services offered to families and children in contemporary America. Students explore child welfare services through an examination of the history of service provision, as well as the policy framework through which social work services are delivered. This course is recommended for students interested in working with families and children. Major content areas include history of child welfare, the changing family, poverty, violence, addiction, homelessness, daycare and school-based services, counseling and other treatment services, child abuse and neglect, family preservation, foster care, adoption, teen pregnancy, court services. Examination of this content aids the student in developing a clearer understanding of the many possible roles of social workers, as well as the roles of other helping professionals.  Further, the student will develop the ability to navigate the social services systems and work collaboratively with social, economic, and governmental structures

Generalist Issues and Practice SOWK 317
Introduces undergraduate students to the distinctive attributes of professional social work. It affords students a comprehensive “ working” definition of social work generalist practice. This course provides an overview of social work values, ethics and skills and their application to human issues and concerns.

Social Work Interventive Methods II: Working with Individuals and Families SOWK 422
Integrates the student’s knowledge base in human behavior in the social environment with specific skills needed to work with individuals, couples and families. Student gain both theoretical and experiential knowledge

Human Behavior and the Social Environment SOWK 301
Provides an overview of social and behavior science concepts influencing understanding of behavior. Special emphasis on groups, families, and communities. This is one of a two-course HBSE sequence in the BSW program, building upon competencies for Social Work generalist practice. Concepts are drawn from the social and behavioral sciences to further our understanding of the human condition. It focuses on the question of how we become who we are within various contexts (families, small groups, communities, social institutions and structures, formal organizations), with a special emphasis on culture, spirituality, and social movements.

Through this course, students will be exposed to the concepts of diversity, populations-at-risk, and social and economic justice. Issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation are explored.

Human Behavior and the Social Environmental SOWK 300
This course is one of two HBSE courses which build upon the concepts of human behavior from the social and behavioral sciences that include biology, sociology, philosophy, and psychology.  Within a social work framework, we will begin to answer the question:  How do we become who we are?  Theories will include several schools of thought and these theories will be critiqued within a social work framework.  We will also explore theories of discrimination, oppression, ethnicity, race, gender and sexual orientation. The goal of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to organize social science theories into a body of knowledge that can be used to understand the human condition.  The student will understand how that knowledge is used in the assessment and practice of social work.

Integrative Seminar SOWK 490
Focuses on the major elements of social work practice: assessment, intervention, policy implications, ethical imperatives and evaluation. Taken concurrently with the internship and through a series of assignments , the students test the content of social work practice with experiences in field agencies.

Social Work with Individuals and Families SOWK 4970 ( Kean University)
Students will be engaged in the conceptual and experiential study of selected major social
work intervention models and strategies designed to deal with individual and familial
problems. The distinct and common features of the emphasis placed on the application of
these theoretical orientations to problem solving

Social Welfare Policy and Services SOWK 5301 (Kean University)
This is a two part sequence social welfare policy course that follows a historical approach to develop foundation knowledge in understanding the political, economic and social influences that have shaped the present day social welfare system, the evolution of social work as a profession and its practice.  Applying social science knowledge, this course provides conceptual skills needed to understand and analyze the relationship between social welfare policy, delivery of services and the impact on individuals, groups, communities and specific population groups. The focus will be on current social issues and the social welfare policies necessary to address the complex social needs and rights of individuals and groups in a democratic society and the services provided as an outgrowth of these policies

Social Work Methods III: Macro Practice SOWK 3954 (Kean University)
This course focuses on social work intervention at the community, organizational and institutional levels. It provides a beginning knowledge of the social work methods of social planning, community organization, administration and research. Looking at social problems, the student is exposed to the processes of problem identification, definition, needs assessment, program development, consensus building, implementation, and evaluation.