The
MSW curriculum is divided into a Foundation and
Advanced level. The educational goal for the Foundation
Year is to provide all students with a broad understanding
of social work knowledge and skills. In the Advanced
Year, students are expected to develop in-depth
knowledge, skill and increased competency in a
major method and a field of practice.
The
curriculum is organized into five professional
curriculum areas: Social Welfare Policy and Services
Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Social
Work Practice Methods, Social Work Research, and
Field Education. MSW students are required to
take courses in each of the professional curriculum
areas. In addition, students may concentrate in
a Field of Practice.
| Professional
Curriculum Areas: |
I.
SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY AND SERVICES
This
two-course sequence explores the history, meaning,
intent and operations of the U.S. social welfare
system. The courses identify key ideological frameworks
that shape the current public debates over social
welfare policy, analyzes the structure of the
social welfare system, and explores issues of
poverty in the context of oppression, diversity
and social justice
II.
HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
The
three-course sequence and electives address the
person-in situation matrix with a specific focus
of attention on issues of diversity (culture,
class, ethnicity, race, age, sexual orientation,
spirituality, ability and gender). Stages of development
across the life span define one axis, while critical
contexts (individual, family, function, role-based
groups, communities, organizations, and society)
define the other axis of environmental forces
that may impinge on social functioning.
III.
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE METHODS
All
students are introduced to social work practice
methods through the Foundations of Social Work
Practice course, which provides an overview of
contemporary social work practice. In addition,
students are required to concentrate (major) in
one of four social work practice methods: Clinical Practice with Individuals and Families,
Group Work, Community Organizing and Planning,
and Social Work Administration. A major consists
of three required sequential courses and a fourth
practice method course or an advanced practice
course. Students are also required to take at
least one course in a second social work practice
method.
The
following descriptions provide information about
the focus of each social work practice method:
1) Clinical Practice with Individuals and Families -
This method introduces students to agency-based clinical practice in the urban environment. The curriculum reflects the core beliefs of clinical social work practice. Concepts of clinical assessment and intervention are taught from a biopsychosocial perspective within a framework of professional values and ethics. Students are exposed to a variety of theoretical modalities that are augmented by evidence-based practice perspectives. Issues of diversity are integrated into assessment and treatment planning as well as the professional relationship. Emphasis is made on differential assessment and intervention with populations at risk in the urban environment, the economically deprived, people of color, women, gay and lesbians and people with disabilities and their families.
The clinical practicum is offered in a wide range of settings, such as child and family agencies, schools, hospitals, employee assistance programs, mental health and substance abuse clinics, correctional facilities, older adult and child welfare settings, homeless shelters and multi-service community centers. These settings provide opportunities for in-depth teaching about specific populations in an urban setting and their changing service needs, as well as specific intervention models such as crisis intervention, and various brief and long-term treatment modalities.
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2)
Social Group Work - Students are prepared
to provide in-depth work with individuals in small
groups formed around commonality of need or problem
ranging from socialization to social action. The
curriculum emphasizes group formation within a
psycho-socio-political context and uses group-development
theory as primary paradigm for shaping practice
with diverse populations in widely varied clinical
and community settings. Concepts central to practice
are contextual assessment, planning, group stage
theory, group development, mutuality, mutual aid,
common ground, roles, dual focus, decentralized
authority, and problem solving.
Group
work placements include mental health clinics,
hospitals, settlement houses, schools, community
centers, senior centers, day treatment and substance
abuse programs. Social group work practice is
used with a variety of populations from children
to older adults, for meeting a range of needs
from normal development to managing acute crisis
situations and for dealing with all types of problems
ranging from interpersonal to social action.
3)
Community Organization, Planning and Development
- This method develops students’ competence
for community-based practice. It stresses the
skills, techniques and strategies needed to mobilize
both people and resources to solve basic social
problems at either the neighborhood or city-wide
level. The social planning and social reform aspects
of social work practice are underscored in seeking
change to alleviate individual and family problems.
Education and training are developed in collective
action, advocacy, program evaluation, proposal
writing, community outreach, legislative advocacy
and other vital organizing roles.
Field
placements occur in a number of settings at the
neighborhood level, in city and state planning
agencies and in community departments of human
service organizations. Students in these placements
work on local economic development programs, food
and hunger projects, tenant advocacy and women’s
rights issues.
4)
Administration - Students who elect to major
in Administration in Social Welfare are prepared
to assume such varied positions in social agencies
as program planner and analyst, staff trainer,
program director, budget analyst, and the traditional
supervisory, middle management and executive positions.
During the course of study, they are also required
to develop competence in one of the other social
work methods. Field placements are available in
a wide range of public and private social agencies.
Field assignments include: program development
and planning, employee relations, staff development
and training, information processing and evaluation,
supervision, fiscal planning and budgeting, and
program management.
IV.
SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH
A
two-course sequence that bases the study of research
methods on the skills of problem formulation,
design, sampling, measurement, and data collection
on actual practice experience.
V.
FIELD EDUCATION
This
two-to-four semester sequence of supervised on-site
social work practice in social service agencies
is an integral component of social work education
in each of the MSW program pathways. All major
methods classes must be taken concurrently with
the field placement. Field education training
is provided by a field instructor and is monitored
by the Field Education Department and the student’s
faculty advisor. Each matriculated student is
assigned an advisor who provides academic and
field advising.
| Fields
of Practice Specialization (optional) |
Students
have the opportunity to concentrate in a field
of practice specialization in their second or
advanced year. Fields of practice are organized
around a social problem, population or institutional
setting. A field of practice specialization consists
of enrollment in two courses, a research or professional
seminar paper or project, and a field placement
in the selected field of practice. Students who
specialize in a field of practice must discuss
this option with their faculty advisor in the
year prior to specialization. Students who complete
the requirements for a specialization in a field
of practice will have this acknowledged in their
final end of year evaluation summary. Participation
in a field of practice specialization is optional.
The
School recognizes six broad areas of specialization:
Adults,
Older Adults and Families
Children,
Youth and Families
Health
and Mental Health
Work,
Employment and Rehabilitation
Community
Development, Prevention and Social Justice
New
Populations and Emerging Issues in Social Work
Practice
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