SWK 330 Spring 2015

ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY / INSTRUCTOR: / Mark Olson, PhD
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK / OFFICE: / Rachel Cooper Bldg., Rm. 310
Semester: / Spring 2015 / OFFICE HOURS: / W: 1-3PM; R: 12:30-2:30PM, or by appointment.
Course: / SWK 330 / OFFICE PHONE: / (309) 438-2671
Section: / 001 / EMAIL: /
Day/Time: Tuesday, 5:30-8:20 PM / Class Bldg/Rm: / FH - 206

TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL WORK & SOCIAL WELFARE: PRACTICE WITH MILITARY VETERANS AND FAMILIES

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

Analysis of current social welfare topics and the role of the profession of social work.

Three (3) semester hours.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

SWK 330 (Topics in Contemporary Social Work & Social Welfare) will examine social work practice with military veterans, their families, and within military systems. The course will explore social work within the military culture and ethical considerations for practice within this culture. Current advances in assessment and intervention with issues that are especially relevant to this population will be emphasized, with a focus on critical thinking and evidence-based practice. The course presents the ecological model, the strength-based, problem-solving process, and cultural competence as an approach underlying all social work practice. Models of assessment and intervention will be analyzed in terms of social work values, knowledge, and skills, and application within micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice.

STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the ways that social work values and ethics apply to practice with military veterans and their families.

2. Identify considerations for culturally competent practice with diverse populations within

military systems.

3. Apply social work values and ethics with emphasis on the profession’s responsibility to promote social and economic justice.

4.Identify how the strengths-based perspective is applied in practice with veterans and military family members.

5.Employ critical analysis to identify how research evidence is used in intervention and practice with military veterans, families, and communities at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

Rubin, A., Weiss, E.L., & Coll, J. E. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of military social work. Hoboken,

NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Barlow, D.H. (Ed.). (2014). Clinical handbook of psychological disorders: a step-by-step

treatment manual (5th ed.). New York : The Guilford Press. (E-Book)

EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS

Attendance and Participation:You are expected to attend every class and to arrive on time. In the rare event you are unable to attend or will be late, you are expected to inform the instructor in advance whenever possible.

A student should not be enrolled in a course if other obligations will interfere with getting to class regularly and punctually. Students are expected to demonstrate mature and respectful behavior in class at all times. Class rules will be developed on the first day of class.

More than two absencesover the course of the semester will result in a lowered grade for the class. Additionally, repeated tardiness or leaving class early will result in a lowered grade.

Classroom Behavior:You are expected to have prepared thoroughly for each class. Preparation includes reading the assigned readings prior to class, summarizing the content and being prepared to discuss it; listing questions or reactions to the material; and making connections between concepts in current reading and earlier readings.

Students are expected to contribute to class discussion and are encouraged to voice their opinions. Informed disagreement is both anticipated and welcomed. Alternative points of view should be offered and received with respect and courtesy. As social workers, we must be able to accept diversity of ideas and differences of opinion. You are expected to be respectful of the opinions of others and to show courtesy in interactions with fellow students and the instructor.

Student/Instructor Communication: The instructor is available to meet with students during the office hours listed on this syllabus and by appointment. The instructor can be contacted by phone or email with the contacts listed at the top of this syllabus.

E-Mail Communication: No assignments will be accepted by e-mail or fax. Students wishing instructor feedback on their work are encouraged to meet with the instructor in person, rather than e-mail the work to the instructor.

The instructor makes every attempt to respond to student e-mails in a timely manner, usually within 24 hours;however, e-mails will not be opened or responded to during evening hours or weekends.

Assignments: Promptness in completing class assignments and course readings is a requirement. When an extenuating circumstance occurs, appropriate arrangements must be made in advance with the professor.

All assignments are due on the date assigned, when they are collected by the instructor in class unless otherwise specified. Late assignments may be accepted at the discretion of the instructor, but usually will be given a reduced grade. One letter grade (10% of the earned grade) may be deducted for each day the assignment is late unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor. No assignments will be accepted after the last day of class.

Missed or Late Work:If you miss a class, you will be responsible for any missed class content. Missed in-class work generally cannot be made up. Make-up tests, pop quizzes, and examinations, as a rule, will not be permitted. Only in extraordinary circumstances will such work be accepted.

Written Work: Your written work should show thoroughness, accuracy, clarity and professionalism. Such writing generally requires first writing, then review, then editing and rewriting.

  • All work should be carefully proofread and corrected. Papers should be free of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • All papers written from sources must include citations following the style requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (2010). This reference text also provides excellent information on the organization and writing of papers. An excellent resource for questions about APA format and other paper writing skills is the Purdue University on-line writing laboratory at www.owl.english.purdue.edu
  • All work must be typed, double-spaced, with numbered pages unless the professor in-struts otherwise. Each assignment should be titled, dated, annotated with your name, and stapled or placed in a binder.
  • Papers should use standard margins. The Microsoft Word default setting for margins is 1” top, 1” bottom, and 1.25” each left and right. The header and footer default setting is 0.5” from the edge.
  • Papers should use standard fonts. The department standard is New Times Roman 12 point.
  • Students should retain copies of all work turned in to the instructor.

Nondiscriminatory Language: Oral presentations and written work should use non-sexist, non-racist, and non-stigmatizing language. Faculty may return papers for revisions in language prior to grading. Be sensitive to your use of language.

  • Watch for hidden bias. For example: “Five people were killed in the drive-by shooting yesterday, including two girls.”
  • If a quotation is discriminatory you can paraphrase, replace sexist, racist or stigmatizing words with bracketed substitutes, use [sic] to call attention to the biased word, use only part of the quotation, or omit the quotation. For example: “All men (people) are created equal.”
  • Identify women by their own names, not only their connections to husband, child, or father. For example: “The foster parent, Doris Jones [not Mrs. Jones], told the caseworker about the bruises on Robert’s back.”
  • Replace vague, gender-linked descriptors with thoughtful words that describe a person instead of a member of a set. If one states, “I found her feminine charm appealing,” what precisely was appealing? Was she polite, warm, welcoming, quiet, and gracious?
  • Avoid feminine suffixes such as “–ess”, “-ette”, and “–trix”. If the person’s gender is critical to your material, use the adjectives, “male” and “female”, or the nouns, “woman” and “man”.
  • Letter salutations such as “Dear Sir” should be altered to be inclusive of women. For example: “Dear Madame or Sir”, “Greetings”, “To whom it may concern”, “Dear Friend”, “Dear Editor Jones”.
  • Use “fellow”, “king”, “lord and master” only when the narrowest, male-defined term applies. For example: “landlord”, “master’s degree”. • Words used for name-calling (e.g., “bitch”, “bastard”) are generally sex-linked or race/ethnic linked in some way, and should, therefore, be avoided.
  • Avoid using the generic “he”. Rewrite the sentence in the plural or second person, use the passive voice, omit the pronoun, or replace the masculine pronoun with an article or noun. For example, “He turned in his paper with uncorrected discriminatory language” may be changed to, “The student turned in the paper with uncorrected discriminatory language”.

The Julia N. Visor Academic Center, a division of University College, provides free one-on-one writing assistance for any course. Students can receive help with brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, citations (APA/MLA/AP/Chicago), and grammar.
Vrooman, Room 012 (between Manchester and Hewett dorms)309-438-7100.

Mon-Thurs, 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m., Fri, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sun, 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

www.ucollege.IllinoisState.edu/tutoring/writing

Academic Misconduct:Plagiarism, cheating, and all other forms of academic misconduct are not only considered a violation of university regulations, but are also a serious breach of the ethical code of conduct for the social work profession. Students are expected to abide by the ethical standards of the profession. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics is available on the Internet:

Special Needs: Students with special needs should notify the instructor immediately so that available accommodations can be made. Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TTY) or http://www.disabilityconcerns.ilstu.edu/.

Use of phones, laptops, and texting:

  • Students should turn off phones, laptops,and refrain from texting during class sessions.Repeated problems in this regard will be considered disruptive behavior.
  • Side conversations are disruptive to the class and should not occur.
  • Use of electronics in class will result in a lowered grade.

ASSIGNMENTS

The following assignments are designed to measure progress on the learning objectives for this course. All assignments are due on the date assigned, to be typed, grammatically correct and checked for spelling. One letter grade will be deducted from your assignment for each day the paper is late. Students are required to retain copies of all work turned in to the instructor.

Assignment #1: Annotated Summary (50 points)

Due: At the time of Class Discussion.

Students will submit an annotated summary of contemporary work on social work practice with military veterans and/or their families. The summary should be based on an article from the professional literature. Publications must be from 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 journals and professional, educational (.edu) or government (.gov) online sites.

Summaries will include the following:

1.Summary review of the article or topic

2.Critical analysis of the reading

3.Role of social worker in addressing issue or concern

4.Questions and areas for future exploration based on your reading

Write a brief summary (at least 3pages, not including title page and references) of the selected work for class discussion and critique. Use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) as a model for source citations. Grading will be based on quality of the summary, critical thinking and relevance to social work practice.

Assignment #2: Class Discussion (20 points)

Due: To Be Scheduled.

Each student will present to the class on their annotated summary (assignment #1), and lead a class discussion.

Assignment #3: Research Paper (100 Points)

Due: April 28, 2015.

This assignment should provide you with an understanding of current assessment and intervention methods with military systems. You will choose a topic related to practice with veterans, and conduct a review of the literature to identify the most up-to-date evidence for successful intervention with the issue. Paper should be at least 7-8 pages (not including title page and references

Assignment #5: Short Quizzes (25 points)

Two short quizzes (multiple choice and short answer) will be given covering readings and lectures.

Exam Dates – March 3rd and April 14th.

Additional Assignments: Additional readings and assignments may be assigned during the semester to provide students with additional information and assess students’ comprehension of the course content.

GRADING

Grades will be assigned in accord with the following scale. Students must achieve the full value of the lower end of each subscale to be awarded the corresponding letter grade.

A = 90 and above

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

F = 59 and below

Modification of Syllabus: The instructor reserves the right to make announced changes in course requirements, schedule and assignments. Changes will be discussed with students in class or via the course site in ReggieNet. Students are responsible for monitoring the course site for information regarding the class.