Social Welfare Policy and Programs

Catalog description

This course helps students develop a framework for understanding social problems and social welfare policies so they may function as informed and competent practitioners in providing social services, and as committed participants in efforts to achieve change in social policies and programs. The course examines the current structure of social welfare programs in the United States, their historical evolution, and the role ideological, political, economic, and social forces have played in the development of the social welfare system and its present character. In particular, the course examines the ways in which discrimination and oppression have affected the structure of social welfare policies and the impact of those policies on the poor, minorities, women, the disabled, and other populations-at-risk. To facilitate understanding of the social welfare system, students will learn approaches to social policy analysis. The course explores the political process in the United States and how involvement in this process can advance the goals of the profession of social work. The historical development of the profession of social work and its role within the social welfare system is another focus of study. Students will examine the values and ethics of the profession, such as self-determination and respect for individuals and human diversity, in the context of the development and implementation of social policy. The course looks at how social policy and the institutions that implement that policy can be made more responsive to the needs of people.