Social Work, Social Justice, and the Law

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the field of law as it relates to social policy and social work practice, from case advocacy to cause advocacy in the pursuit of social justice. During the first half of the semester, students will learn the major sources of laws and the various legal systems, and how to use the law on behalf of individual clients in such substantive areas as child welfare and family law, welfare benefits and health/mental health law. During the second half of the semester students will learn the role of law, and the courts, in addressing social problems and securing social justice on behalf of disenfranchised groups. Students will learn such basic constitutional law principles as due process, equal protection, and the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures and their applicability to welfare benefits, education, child and family welfare, and police/citizen interactions.