Public & Social Service Pract

Catalog description

“This course will provide an introduction to the fields and settings in which public and social service are currently practiced. The historical and current practice and policy issues that confront public and social service providers in these settings will be presented. The fields/settings of practice that will be presented will include but not be limited to child welfare, disability, health care, mental health, family violence, and gerontology. Each of these settings will be viewed through an ecological lens, integrating the impact of policy, values, agency, economics, race, gender, culture, and oppression. Populations that are served by public and social service workers within each of these settings will be discussed. There will be opportunities for students to apply human service practice principles to a range of clients and policies in a variety of settings. Students will not only learn about the different settings but will also have an opportunity to evaluate them for the challenges and strengths they each present as sites for public and social service practice and policy. Class participation through discussion, videos, and experiential exercises will play a large role in augmenting reading assignments and lecture material. The service-learning component of this course will include interactions with practitioners from the local community both in the classroom and through agency visits. Prerequisites: None. Offered: spring and summer.