SWK Pract. w/Addictions III

Catalog description

This elective course introduces the student to the field of substance abuse and includes an overview of the policy issues, etiology, manifestations, practice settings, and treatment approaches to addiction/dependency. For purposes of this course, substance abuse refers to the misuse of both illegal and legal drugs abused in society. This course draws upon and interrelates with content covered in Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Social Welfare Organization, Foundation Practice, and Research I. It is predicated on a liberal arts foundation. All social workers, at some point in their careers are likely to come into contact with the issues or consequences of substance abuse, whether in direct practice, group work, or community organizing and planning. This is because substance abuse is intertwined with many other social problems and psychosocial conditions, such as family dysfunction, foster care, permanency planning, HIV/AIDS, and psychopathology. The course emphasizes the multiple causation of the misuse of addictive substance, the biological, social, and psychological consequences of substance abuse, and the impact of substance abuse on the family, community, and larger society. Particular attention is paid to the policy and programmatic responses to the social problem. Ph.D students will be given extra course work to satisfy the more intense curriculum of Social Welfare.