Introduction to Social Work

Catalog description

This course is designed to give the student an overall orientation to the field of social work. It is a basic survey course that examines the social work profession from its beginnings to the present day. The course addresses problems and injustices experienced by individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and societies and the social work profession's response to these challenges. The student will be introduced to the generalist model of social work practice and the theoretical perspectives that inform social work practice, particularly the systems perspective and the empowerment approach. Social work fields of practice and levels of social work involvement will also be examined. Throughout the course, social work values and ethics will be explored. This course has a service-learning (SL) designation and includes a 20-hour community-engaged learning component.