May 18, 2024  
2018-2019 SGPP Catalog and Handbook 
    
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2018-2019 SGPP Catalog and Handbook [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

Social Work (Graduate)
  

  • MSW652 Clinical Methods II with Families, Groups, and Large Systems (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): MSW650  
    Clinical Methods II equips social work clinicians to execute the essential clinical tasks of engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation competently and effectively in practice with families and client groups. Clinical methods from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and postmodern approaches are examined through a multicultural lens to identify implicit biases or inherent theoretical assumptions that might impact their responsiveness and effectiveness across a broad cultural spectrum. Through the use of self-reflection, a strengths-based perspective, and social work professional values, clinicians learn to select and apply clinical approaches that best match the client populations’ needs and context.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Compare and contrast the strengths and limitations of various practice methods in terms of their responsiveness to cultural needs and values. (C2b)
    2. Locate shared outcomes and values as points for joining in a therapeutic alliance with the client group or family. (G6c)
    3. Locate corporate strengths and shared values of the client group or family. (G6e)
    4. Identify individual strengths of group members and the roles each play within the family or group system.  (G6e)
    5. Select assessment methodology within a framework responsive to the client group’s needs by maintaining a strengths-based, culturally-responsive, systems perspective. (G7b)
    6. Analyze how diagnostic and clinical formulations of individual pathology are most effectively utilized in understanding individuals within a group or family. (C7a)
    7. Select treatment interventions that position each member of the group or family as a co-owner of the client system’s strengths, values, and goals. (G8a)
    8. Engage all members of the client system in the evaluation process of the interventions used, allowing individuals to assess the clinical work through a lens comprised of personal and corporate values, cultural considerations, and mutually agreed-upon outcomes. (G9b)
  

  • MSW655 Ethical Social Work Practice (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW645  or Advanced Standing
    This course provides an in-depth examination of the history and current guiding statements on values and ethics in the social work profession.  Students grapple with ethical issues commonly encountered in indirect and direct social work practice, using an intersectional approach and the Code of Ethics - NASW as the common frame of reference. Intersections to be explored include personal and professional value systems; value conflicts and ethical dilemmas; ethical standards, workplace or program policies, and the law; frameworks for ethical decision making; the ethical imperative of self-care; and the roles of supervision and communities of practice as resources for development, support, and guidance in the development of practice wisdom.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Articulate a personal ethical worldview and evaluate its consonance with the ethical standards of the profession and other ethical decision-making references, such as the law and social welfare program policies. (C1a, C1b, C1c, C1d, C1e, C1f)
    2. Generate informed consent protocols that appropriately address the dual purposes of participation in social work intervention, practice research, and program evaluation. (C4a, C4d, C4e)
    3. Demonstrate an ethic of engaged pluralism to unite constituencies who identify a common need but who seek solutions oriented to diverse religious or ethical worldviews. (C5a)
    4. Identify opportunities to involve client systems in interpreting the ethical dimensions of their situations, and to balance safety and self-determination in resolving ethical dilemmas. (C6c; C7c, C7d; C8a)
    5. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to discuss how a recent court decision, or a proposed law or policy change, either poses or resolves a challenge to ethical social work practice. (C9a)
    6. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of provider self-regulation and self-care in  attuned and ethically sound clinical social work practice (C1b)
  

  • MSW660 Social Work with Children and Adolescents (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
    This elective course explores normative developmental concerns, mental health, and emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents. Emphasis is placed on the impact of multisystemic issues such as trauma, poverty, and bias on children’s wellbeing and functioning.   Students are also introduced to several models for intervention with children and adolescents, including play therapy, child-centered family therapy, and group work.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Learn implications of the diversity of children’s developmental experiences on micro, mezzo, and macro levels, and apply a developmental lens to case formulation. (G2b; C2a)
    2. Build self-awareness of and critically reflect on internalized and culturally reinforced assumptions and values regarding parenting, family structure, and the meaning of child behavior. (G2f; C2c)
    3. Gain proficiency in assessment of child and adolescent-specific mental health symptoms and diagnoses, and awareness of contextual factors such as bias and systemic disparities which influence the impact of mental health diagnosis within these populations. (C7a; C7f)
    4. Acquire knowledge of engagement and intervention strategies with children, adolescents, and their families which are culturally-responsive, empowering of families, and appropriate for a range of developmental differences and client preferences. (C6b; C7d; C7e; C8a)
    5. Reflect on the particular skills and competencies necessary for social work with children and adolescents by integrating theory, recent research, and best practice standards. (C8b; C8c; C9c)
    6. Analyze legislative, administrative, or organizational initiatives or policy changes that may affect children’s access to timely, affordable, high-quality interventions. (G3c; G5b; C5b)
  

  • MSW661 Clinical Practice with Addictions (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
    This course explores the impact of substance use disorders and addictive behaviors on the behavioral and mental health of individuals, families, and groups. Students gain a historical perspective on trends, attitudes, criminalization, and treatment of individuals struggling with addiction. Special emphasis is given to the impact of systemic poverty, racism, and oppression in understanding the prevalence and maintenance of addiction within specific marginalized communities. At an individual level, students gain insight into the correlation between the experience of trauma and the development of addiction.  Recovery models – both harm-reduction and abstinence-based – include a broad range of interventions, such as psychological, behavioral, pharmacological, spiritual, and self-help programs.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Identify the presence of unjust biases related to discrimination and oppression in existing clinical models and interventions and work toward eliminating such injustices on all levels of social work practice. (G2f)
    2. Demonstrate an understanding of the roles oppression, discrimination, trauma, and injustice play in the development of addictive behaviors and utilize these insights in selecting appropriate interventions and treatment targets. (C3a)
    3. Demonstrate an understanding of the strengths and limitations of evidence-based practices relative to cultural responsiveness and oppression. (G4e) (G4b)
    4. Exhibit social work values of human dignity and respect by advocating for clients who experience injustice or discrimination in participating in societal structures, the judicial system, and accessing appropriate mental and physical health services. (C5a; C5d)
    5. Identify potential impact of policy on clients facing addiction and advocate for those who lack the opportunity to advocate for themselves. (C5c)
    6. Exhibit an awareness of the impact of positional power on the therapeutic alliance when working with involuntary clients by maximizing opportunities for client self-determination. (G6e)
    7. Articulate an understanding of the neuroscience of addiction, including the ways that negative early childhood experiences and developmental traumas contribute to an individual’s susceptibility to addictive behavior. (C7a; C7f; C8c)
    8. Identify the neuropathways impacted by addictive substances and behaviors along with effective coping strategies proven to interrupt addictive patterns within these pathways. (C7e; C8c)
    9. Demonstrate the necessity of collaboration between professionals and shareholders involved in a client’s continuum of care in order to provide effective treatment. (C8d; G1e)
  

  • MSW662 Clinical Practice with Trauma (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
    This advanced elective course explores the impact of trauma on individuals, families, and groups. Students develop an understanding of the impact of trauma on an individual’s development of self. Students differentiate between the needs of an individual experiencing acute trauma from those experiencing distress rooted in a trauma history and select appropriate interventions based on these needs. Special attention is given to the impact early childhood trauma has on healthy attachment and the ramifications of attachment on selecting appropriate interventions.  By utilizing a rudimentary understanding of neuroscience, students gain insight into the function of memory, dissociation, somatization of trauma, and the treatment modalities best suited for clinical work with clients based on their individual presentation and personal strengths. This course also explores how trauma victims are impacted by the cultural and societal values of their environments.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Recognize the presence of transference/counter-transference dynamics that frequently arise in clinical work with trauma and practice critical examination of the use of self within clinical interventions. (G2e) 
    2. Respond effectively to the systemic and historical trauma of oppression, discrimination, injustice, and poverty, choosing interventions tailored to a client’s comprehensive experience of trauma. (C3b)
    3. Utilize assessment skills that identify the broad range of symptoms and psychological sequelae related to traumatic experiences. (C7a)
    4. Select intervention strategies that privilege matching a client’s current capacity to manage safety and tolerate distress. (C8a)
    5. Through use of self-awareness and clinical consultation, identify trauma-related issues existing outside the clinician’s scope of practice and make appropriate referrals as necessary. (C8b)
    6. Articulate the differences among acute trauma, developmental trauma, single event trauma, and complex trauma in clinical assessment and intervention. (C3a; C7a; C7e; C7f; C8a)
  

  • MSW663 U.S. Poverty: Perspectives and Interventions (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
    This advanced elective course exposes social work students to the social, cultural, political, and spiritual implications of poverty, with special emphasis on families, neighborhoods, and communities characterized by persistent and resistant poverty. Students examine the major philosophical, conceptual, and theoretical frameworks used to define, measure, and interpret poverty in the context of increasing income inequality. Students explore historic trends in and the current scope of poverty across various demographic groups, and how social institutions such as the child welfare system, criminal justice and legal systems, the family, faith communities, health and mental health systems, schools, and workplaces can be resources for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of poverty and its adverse effects on individual, family, and community well-being.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Propose constructive responses to ethical issues and professional dilemmas commonly faced in social work practice with or on behalf of low-income constituents. (G1a)
    2. Engage constituents in the use of formal and informal data to develop multidimensional (economic, political, and social systems) models of the causes of poverty at the community level. (C2c; G8a)
    3. Compare and contrast the relative merits of policies and programs directed at poverty reduction. (G3a)
    4. Articulate the significance of poverty as a social work practice issue. (C3a)
    5. Demonstrate empathic appreciation of the stigma, discrimination, insecurity, and social exclusion often associated with identifying as, or being labeled as, poor. (C3a)
    6. Analyze organization or community climate for inclusion to identify opportunities to reduce explicit and implicit marginalization and to increase implicit and explicit inclusion of community members living in poverty. (C3a)
    7. Differentiate between poverty as a socioeconomic situation and the research-indicated adverse effects on biological, cognitive, emotional, psychological, and social functioning commonly associated with poverty. (C5a, C5b)
    8. Facilitate client and constituent self-directed engagement in community action related to social welfare policies, programs, and services aimed at poverty reduction. (G5b, G5c, G5d)
    9. Engage with funding mechanisms and processes related to federal and state income support and health care programs to identify and challenge embedded stereotypes about and the material vulnerability of individuals, families, and communities characterized as poor. (G5b, G5c, G5d)
    10. Compare and contrast competing and complementary frameworks used to name, measure, and interpret the significance of poverty in relation to definitions of wellness, intra- and interpersonal functioning, and therapeutic outcomes. (G6e)
  

  • MSW670 Supervision and Management (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW605  or Advanced Standing
    Social work practice is enhanced and deepened by rigorous clinical supervision. In this course, students learn how to use the supervisory relationship to assist clinical social workers in fully engaging their practice, reflecting on their clinical choices, and challenging their personal biases. Quality supervision occurs when supervisors also consider their role as manager and their role in promoting the client’s and agencies’ needs. Clinical supervision occurs within the context of this environment, taking the influence of the agency and influences from outside of the agency in their supervisory work.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Identify and analyze ethical dilemmas from the perspective of a supervisor and assist supervisees in responding to those dilemmas. (C1c)
    2. Analyze supervisees’ use of self, including power differentials and personal biases (C1a, C1d, C1e; C2b)
    3. Apply the process of supervision to the supervisory relationship  
    4. Create relationship and shared meaning. (C6a)
    5. Assess supervisees’ practice. (C1b)
    6. Provide critical feedback. (C1b)
    7. Challenge supervisees’ thinking and approach to clients. (C7e)
    8. Evaluate and provide feedback on work. (C8b, C9a, C9c)
    9. Apply basics management skills - budgets, program creation, and implementation to social service settings (C5b, C5c, C5e)
    10. Analyze organizations, their structure, and culture and the influence on supervisory and management relationships.
  

  • MSW680 Clinical Field Experience I (300 hours) (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW650 
    The purpose of this course is to address and process issues and experiences from the students’ field placement experiences. Students develop critical reflections of their placement sites and also of their developing skills and identities as social workers. The course integrates past and current program curriculum content, including theoretical perspectives and relevant policy concerns. Students engage in case consultation addressing both clinical and systems issues encountered during placement.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks, including the NASW Code of Ethics, to both case-based and systemic issues in their field placement setting. (C1d)
    2. Use facilitated peer consultation and instruction to apply reflection and analysis to field placement experiences to build self awareness of biases, values, strengths, and areas of growth. (C1a, C1f; C2c)
    3. Integrate observations and experiences with theories and social policy coursework content to conduct thoughtful assessments of field placement sites’ social work practices regarding advancing the human rights and advocating for equity and justice for the populations they serve. (C3a, C3c; C5a)
    4. Integrate case material and facilitated peer consultation with theoretical frameworks and reflection on use of self to identify impactful and culturally responsive client engagement and intervention strategies. (C6b, C6c; C7a; C8a, C8c)
    5. Integrate curriculum content regarding program evaluation with field placement experiences to create critical analysis of site program processes and outcomes. (C9a, C9c)
  

  • MSW681 Clinical Field Experience II (300 hours) (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): MSW680 
    The purpose of this course is to address and process issues and experiences from the students’ field placement experiences. Students develop critical reflections of their placement sites and also of their developing skills and identities as social workers. The course integrates past and current program curriculum content, including theoretical perspectives and relevant policy concerns. Students engage in case consultation addressing both clinical and systems issues encountered during placement.

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Apply ethical decision-making frameworks, including the NASW Code of Ethics, to both case-based and systemic issues in their field placement setting. (C1d)
    2. Use facilitated peer consultation and instruction to apply reflection and analysis to field placement experiences to build self awareness of biases, values, strengths, and areas of growth. (C1a, C1f; C2c)
    3. Integrate observations and experiences with theories and social policy coursework content to conduct thoughtful assessments of field placement sites’ social work practices regarding advancing the human rights and advocating for equity and justice for the populations they serve. (C3a, C3c; C5a)
    4. Integrate case material and facilitated peer consultation with theoretical frameworks and reflection on use of self to identify impactful and culturally responsive client engagement and intervention strategies. (C6b, C6c; C7a; C8a, C8c)
    5. Integrate curriculum content regarding program evaluation with field placement experiences to create critical analysis of site program processes and outcomes. (C9a, C9c)
  

  • MSW690 Capstone (3 cr.)

    Prerequisite(s): or Co-requisite: MSW681 
    This course provides a foundation for self-directed, integrative professional development in social work. Students use the Capstone Project Implementation Protocol to develop a self-assessment portfolio; identify short-term professional development goals supported by the scholarly practice literature; identify one specific advanced direct or indirect practice development goal to be attained through a cycle of systematic action and assessment activities; and present the results of the professional development cycle to the supervising mentor or other appropriate audience within the professional learning community. The individualized practice development goal is grounded in previous course work and practice experience. Systematic learning cycle activities may include interviews with subject matter experts, participation in conferences or workshops, and production of annotated bibliographies, for example.[1]

    Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

    1. Demonstrate the capacity to establish and pursue a realistic and meaningful plan of professional development. (G1b)
    2. Develop and execute an approved learning experience cycle that deepens or extends the student’s mastery of knowledge, skill, or attitude essential to advanced social work practice. (G4a, G4b; C4a; C8b)
    3. Incorporate research skills and the professional community to develop a bibliography of appropriate resources from published and expert practitioner sources. (G4d; C4a; C9b)
    4. Situate one’s mastery of practice knowledge, skills, or attitudes as contributions to the social work profession. (G4d; C4a; C9b)
 

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