Social Work Response to Mass Violence and Disasters

Catalog description

This elective course is designed to provide students with advanced learning opportunities intended to increase students’ knowledge of how to apply different theories and intervention strategies to the social work assessment and response to mass violence and disaster. Crisis theory, used to guide crisis intervention and response to traumatic events, in addition to prevention and preparedness among diverse groups and communities, will be studied. Multiple conceptualizations of exposure to natural disasters will be discussed, ranging from acute to chronic, complex and long-term trauma reactions. The course will explore evidence-based interventions, controversies and emerging areas of practice with various populations who experience trauma across multiple settings. Larger social, cultural and political forces will be considered with regard to how they influence exposure, response and recovery from traumatic events.