Social Work Program

This is the first of the two required social work courses for the foundation year, which examines the history and development of Social Work and U.S social welfare programs and policies as they pertain to marginalized individuals. In addition, it provides the conceptual framework of generalist social work practice. This first course in the methods sequence introduces the concept that practice methods to be used in a given situation depend on the needs and preferences of the client, as well as on the skills of the social worker. It teaches the basic macro and micro intervention skills, techniques, and processes required for sound social work practice at the beginning of the professional level. The course focuses on professional and personal values and knowledge of self.

This course content addresses specific core areas. The core content areas include the history and evolution of values and ethics in social work; ethics theories (e.g. Abramson, Gilligan, Levy, Keith-Lucas, Loewenberg, Reamer, etc.), social justice, and the professional standards of social work practice, as described in the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. The course expands the knowledge of students in terms of race, ethnic identity, and various disenfranchised populations.

This course examines the policies, programs, issues, and problems that social workers confront. Students are encouraged to develop critical and analytical skills in examining our present policies and in considering possible alternatives. Present day policies are analyzed through the lens of history and contemporary economic, social, political, value, and spiritual milieus. Using professional ethics and values, and cross-cultural knowledge as foundations, as well as the rich contribution and strengths of a diverse range of individuals and groups, particularly women and people of color, are brought to bear in evidence-based analyses of historical and contemporary policies.

This course examines the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural forces impacting the growth and development of individuals within the context of their families, communities, and society. It provides the student with the opportunity to integrate knowledge from courses in Biology, Psychology and Sociology. Using a life span approach, the course covers the prenatal period through the aging years and death.

This course focuses on the development of applied social work skills, knowledge, values, and cognitive and affective processes for generalist practice in a diverse population setting. As such, it provides students with an experiential learning experience consistent with an advanced field course. This course consists of 200 field placement hours of practicum experience. Students are expected to attend all hours of practicum and training, demonstrating appropriate social work skills and use of self. The course emphasis is on the development of beginning social work skills and the application of these skills to the practice setting. Skills include the application of all the generalist curriculum content combined with the concurrent first semester social work generalist course content. This content encompasses an understanding of human behavior and social theories along with a commitment to the profession and an adherence to social work values and ethics. It also includes specific practice skills such as effective communication and professional use of self within the rural practice milieu, as well as an understanding of and respect for persons who may not be from the same background, and respect for human diversity.  

This course requires the use of Tevera/ELC- an online platform that will be used to manage documentation required for your field experience.  The cost of this program is included in your tuition.

This course builds on the first course- Social Work and practice (SWK 501) content. Students gain generalist practice skills. This course is an integration of theory and practice in working with clients as direct practitioners. Students gain knowledge of generalist practice at the micro level. This is one of the foundation courses of social work for MSW students. It is recommended to be taken concurrently with Fieldwork in the foundation year.

This is the third of the foundation practice course. It prepares students to assess larger systems such as groups, and families. The course covers interactional models of practice in the context of social work with groups, the group as a mutual aid system, and principles of group formation with the beginning phase of group work. The course covers these topics within the context of families and special attention is paid to social work practice with diverse groups, those oppressed and at-risk, and to institutional patterns of discrimination. This course is taken concurrently with SWK 510 Field work and seminar –II. The course integrates practice experience and course learning, and continues the development of the general skills required to intervene on a generalist practitioner level.

This course provides the student with an understanding and appreciation of macro social work practice with organizations and communities. Students will learn the social worker’s role and responsibility in assisting consumers to solve problems and promote change in the communities and organizations. A broad range of topics will be covered, including community organization, advocacy, policy analysis, supervision/administration and grant proposal writing.

This course examines the role and the systematic process of research in the social work profession; it includes a review of relevant research in the field and instructs students in the evaluation of their own practice of social work. Students will be oriented to statistics and utility in the social work profession. This is one of the foundational courses for the MSW student. It is generally taken in the second semester or in the summer of the first year.

This course is a continuation of SWK 505 and continues to build on the knowledge, and skills gained in the foundation fieldwork education placement. Students will continue to experience working with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations within the political, social, and cultural context of the field setting. The course explores issues of social and economic justice within organizational and community context and how they are addressed through policy or program development and evaluation. Students must complete 200 field placement hours per semester for a total of 400 hours. 

This course requires the use of Tevera/ELC- an online platform that will be used to manage documentation required for your field experience. The cost of this program is included in your tuition. 

This course focuses on social work macro practice skills including the history of social welfare as well as social welfare policy as it impacts communities and service delivery organizations. It teaches policy and practice skills that enable students to use evidence based practices to frame interventions for social issues that affect the lives of marginalized groups of people and populations-at-risk. Using professional values and ethics and the employment of critical thinking skills as a base, students will demonstrate their ability to evaluate the effectiveness of culturally competent policy practice interventions. Pre-requisite is Social Welfare policy.

Social Workers in any setting need to demonstrate facility with client diagnosis. This course helps student assess individuals in the context of mental disorders using the person-in- environment approach. The evolution and assumptions of the DSM- V systems are examined in terms of strengths and limitations. Students will be oriented to the various disorders at the advanced generalist level. It will help students develop competence and critical thinking in the diagnostic process, while also considering diagnosis in a way that is consistent with social work values and principles.

This course is an advanced generalist practice course at the macro level. The first part of this course will focus on social work practice from an administrative perspective and the second part will focus on supervision in social work practice, including theories and principles of culturally competent management and organizational issues in administration within the context of professional social work. It will include consideration of social and economic justice and ethical imperatives and influences of funding patterns, legislation, organizational culture, and structure on program planning, and implementation. The second part of the course provides the requisite knowledge and skills for assuming basic responsibilities of being a supervisor. The part of the course examines the purpose, principles, and methods of supervision applicable to many social work settings and the demands upon the supervisor and supervisee. The emphasis is on the supportive, educational, and administrative elements of supervision. Issues specific to women and other minority groups are also addressed. This course is taken concurrently with Fieldwork and Seminar -III.

This is the first half of a year-long course that serves as a capstone to the full MSW learning experience. Students will design and conduct human rights-based research projects that integrate the key concepts of the MSW program’s curricular themes and course work, and develop an integrative project proposal for a study that contributes to the knowledge, skills, and values of justice-based social work practice. Prerequisites: completion of foundation year courses. Offered winter break.

Extended course description Students apply scientific methods of knowledge development for social work clinical practice; ethical standards for scientific inquiry; quantitative and qualitative research methods; and research designs to critical evaluation of research in the clinical concentration and to development of a plan for research project implementation. Students will engage in an advanced research practice experience that enables them to demonstrate the capacity to plan, conduct, and evaluate a research project in an agency or other approved venue. The research proposal is implemented during the spring semester while enrolled in SWK 609 Integrated Seminar-II and usually concurrently enrolled in Advanced Field Internship.

This course build on the knowledge, and skills gained in the foundation field work education placement. Students gain additional experience working with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations within the political, social, and cultural context of the setting. Issues of social and economic justice within organizational and community context and how they are addressed through policy or program development and evaluation are also studied. Students must complete 225 field placement hours per semester. Taken concurrently with the practice course in the concentration. This course requires the use of Tevera/ELC- an online platform that will be used to manage documentation required for your field experience. 

Prerequisites: Completion of all required 500 level MSW courses or admission to the Advanced Standing MSW program.  The cost of this program is included in your tuition. 

This course provides students with advanced generalist theories, knowledge, values, and skills for evidence-based direct practice with couples, families, and treatment groups. Students develop, analyze, integrate and apply advanced knowledge and skills in the comprehensive assessment and the differential application of treatment approaches and intervention strategies in social work practice at the micro level with couples and families and at the mezzo level with treatment groups. This course presents a framework for comparing, contrasting, and differentially applying these models to direct practice with diverse populations and in a variety of field settings, with emphasis on practice in a multicultural community context.

This is the second half of the year-long integrative project course. Students complete the human rights action project begun in the fall. Projects focus on advancing human rights and social and economic justice for children, families and communities, through education, social action, and policy. Projects integrate the concepts learned in previous courses and reflect the curricular themes and justice-based focus of the program. Prerequisites: completion of foundation year courses and SWK 604.

SWK 605/610 Field Work and Seminar III and IV (4 Cr per semester) these courses build on the knowledge, and skills gained in the foundation fieldwork education placement. Students gain additional experience working with individuals, families, small groups, communities, and organizations within the political, social, and cultural context of the setting. Students will also examine issues of social and economic justice within organizational and community context and how they are addressed through policy or program development and evaluation. Students must complete 250 clock hours per semester. Taken concurrently with the practice course in the advanced generalist year. This course requires the use of Tevera- an online platform that will be used to manage documentation required for your field experience. There is a one-time fee per student to purchase Tevera which provides life-time access to the product. Tevera can be purchased in the Assumption University Bookstore or directly through Tevera. (* there are processing fees that are applied by both Tevera and Bookstore).