SOWK 704: Integrative Seminar: Social Welfare Policy and Services

Course Syllabus

I. Purpose/Rationale of the Course

 This course is for advanced standing students in the College of Social Work—students who have completed the Bachelor of Social Work degree from an accredited social work program.  Advanced standing students are admitted for a summer orientation, content integration, and review, program during the summer before they enter into advanced year studies for the Master’s of Social Work degree.  This is one of several courses designed to update the educational experiences of the advanced standing student. In this case, the emphasis is on social welfare policy and services.  The purpose is to help the student become aware of the College of Social Work’s approach to that required content area through a course that integrates the foundation year content offered by the College to foundation year students.  The advanced standing student will have already covered portions of this content, perhaps with different emphases, so this is a course designed to help students apply their knowledge to their studies in the MSW program at the University of South Carolina.

II. Content of the Course

 The course provides an overview of the historical development, pertinent concepts, skills,  and definitions associated with social welfare problems and policies. The six components of social welfare policy and services are reviewed in the course—social welfare and social work history,  social problems, understanding external influences on public policy making and influencing policy development, the description of the organized social welfare system, the analysis of social welfare policies, and professional work in the development and implementation of social welfare policy, sometimes called policy practice.  Emphasis is given to the social welfare policy issues of social and economic justice, diversity, populations at risk, and social welfare ethics and values, as part of all the content areas of the course.  Students are able to relate their learnings from this content area in their undergraduate programs to the content as it is taught in the College of Social Work.

III. Course Objectives

 A student who successfully completes this course will be able to:

1.      Describe the history, nature, structure, and characteristics of the social welfare system in the U.S., giving particular attention to their effects on historically oppressed populations at risk (e.g., women, people of color, lesbian/gay/bisexual people).

2.      Critically evaluate the development and impact of, and proposed solutions to, a current social problem.

3.      Identify the political, economic, cultural, and social processes that influence the development of social policies.

4.      Apply a formal policy analysis model in depth to a major social policy.

5.      Discuss the ethical and value commitments of the social work profession, particularly the commitments to respect for diversity and the advancement of social and economic justice, which shape its involvement in the development and implementation of social welfare policy.

6.      Evaluate and select appropriate Internet materials for use in studying current social problems and policies.

7.      Describe and evaluate recent developments in the social welfare policies of South Carolina and the region, particularly their impact on rural areas.

IV. Linkages to Other Courses

This course is provided for advanced standing students who will be entering the advanced year during the fall semester which follows.  It builds on knowledge of economic, political, and other social processes developed as a part of the liberal arts foundation. The knowledge developed in this course builds upon learning from courses in Human Behavior in the Social Environment which students completed as part of their undergraduate program in social work, as social policies both affect and are affected by human behavior at various system levels. It provides a foundation for the Social Work Research course taught in the advanced year (793), where students learn about the evaluation of social programs that arise from social policies. It assures that students possess the necessary framework for thinking about social problems and social policy responses to those problems, and thus are prepared for the advanced practice curriculum. An understanding of the impact of social problems and policies on their clients’ individual lives, as well as of some of the resources available to them, is particularly important for students in the concentration on Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups. An understanding of the process of policy development and evaluation is central to the knowledge base of students in the concentration on Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities. Additionally, students are exposed to the effects of social policies in their field placements; students in the Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities concentration may be exposed to various aspects of policy practice.

V.  Methods of Instruction

 This course includes lectures and discussions, readings, (discussed below) guest speakers, videotapes and other audio-visual materials,  and some opportunities for experiential learning.  Any student who because of a disability may need special arrangements or accommodations to meet the requirements of this course should consult with the instructor as soon as possible.  The office of Disability Services provides an array of services to meet the needs of students with disabilities, according to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. See information and guidelines provided in The Carolina Community: Student Handbook and Policy Guide.

1. Nature and scope of the issue--definition of the issue; number of people or institutions affected; economic and social consequences of the issue.

2. Involvement of social workers in dealing with the issue:  How is social work, as a profession, directly or indirectly involved?  What social agencies deal with the issue or those affected by it?

3. Brief history of the issue/problem and previous attempts to address the problem.

4. Provide an in-depth analysis of an existing or proposed social policy which is intended to address the issue,        using any one of the policy analysis models presented in the readings or in class.

 Examples of some of the issues that might be chosen as topics for the paper are provided.  In addition, students may propose other topics.

HIV/AIDS                                  Domestic violence

Child abuse                               Transportation services

Child neglect                             Community care for the mentally ill

Adolescent pregnancy             Developmental disabilities

End-of-life care                         Access for the handicapped

Homelessness                          Long term care for the aging

School dropout                         Housing for low-income people

Unemployment                          Corrections

Substance abuse                      The "Underclass"

Rural poverty                             Health care reform                   

        Youth suicide                             Managed care

        Early childhood care                   The working poor

        Family planning                           Workplace discrimination

Student topics must be submitted in writing on the date indicated in the course calendar. Unless prior permission is given by the instructor, papers must be submitted on the date indicated in the course calendar.