Social Work Courses (SW)

 

213     The Social Welfare Institution (3)

Cross-listed as SOC 213. Presents a substantive introduction and overview to the institution of social welfare by examining its conceptual underpinnings, historical antecedents, contemporary directions and future trends. Students are required to spend 2 hours per week in service learning for a total of at least 25 hours. Prerequisite: SOC 201 or permission of instructor. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

21        Introduction to Social Work (3)

Fulfills core competency: Contextual Competency. Writing Intensive. Introduces students to the field of social work by examining its philosophy, the profession’s unique history and value system, the prerequisites for effective social work practice, various methods of social work practice with diverse groups. Students are required to spend 2 hours per week in service learning for a total of at least 25 hours. Prerequisite: SW 213. Offered each year (Fall).

 

217     Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Other Addictions (3)

Examines the broad range of important facts and information about AOD use and abuse. The major legal and illegal drugs, patterns and trends in drug usage, the history of drug usage in our culture, public policy and treatment issues will be the focus of the course. Students will also explore the concept of addictions as the framework for analysis of AOD use and abuse. Prerequisite: SOC 201 or 209 or permission of instructor. Offered Alternate Years.

 

226     Adolescence: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Understanding and Treatment of Adolescents (3)

A course designed to provide students with both theoretical understanding and practical skills for dealing with adolescent behavior. Primary emphasis will be on working more effectively with adolescents. Offered Alternate Years.

 

232     The Aging Process: Introduction to Gerontology (3)

Examines a profile of aged Americans; major biological, psychological and sociocultural paradigms of aging; societal and individual response to the aged and the aging process. Offered Alternate Years.

 

243     Child Welfare Policy and Services (3)

Cross-listed as SOC 243. Presents concepts, policy and practices in the field of child welfare. The needs of children and their families as well as programs designed to meet these needs are examined. Content also includes the child welfare service system, historical and current developments, child abuse and neglect, and the legal system relative to child welfare services. Prerequisite: SOC 201, or PSY 302, or permission of instructor. Offered Each Semester and Summer.

 

31        Methods of Social Work Research I (3)

Introduces students to major research techniques used to observe and interpret the social world. Engages students in exploration and analysis of such research concepts as research methods, measurements, sampling and surveying, single subject designs; culturally sensitive professional skill development in scientific inquiry, problem formation, planning and implementation of research designs, analysis of data, and assessment of research. Prerequisite: SW 214. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

312     Methods of Social Work Research II (3)

Building on SW 311, students examine and apply theory and research techniques for evaluating change, needs assessment, and assessment of social systems utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics to social work problems and issues. Students acquire experience in computer statistical programs and apply quantitative research methods in a final research project. Prerequisite: SW 311. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

325     Foundations of Generalist Practice I (3)

This is the first of a four-course practice sequence. The generalist model of professional practice utilizing the sequential problem solving approach is presented. Content focuses on value based, culturally sensitive techniques for effective worker-client communication; establishing, maintaining, and terminating effective working relationships; and engaging in data collection, assessment, intervention and evaluation processes with client systems of various sizes. Students are required to spend two hours per week in service learning. Prerequisites: SW 214 and upper division status in Social Work program. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

326     Foundations of Generalist Practice II (3)

Continues building on a value based, culturally sensitive generalist model of social work practice from a strengths perspective. Interactional skills necessary for intervention with systems of all sizes with a focus on individuals and families are explored. Emphasis is placed on personal and ethical issues as students examine and refine learned skills from their personal frame of reference. Students are required to spend 2 hours per week in service learning. Prerequisites: SW 325 and upper division status in Social Work program. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

327     Death, Dying and Bereavement (3)

Students are guided through an examination of death as a universal human experience. The psychological and sociocultural impact of dying will be explored as well as a brief history of thanatology, the process of grief, mourning and bereavement, ethical issues concerning death, legal aspects of death, euthanasia and funeral and last rites. Prerequisites: SOC 201, PSY 103. Offered Alternate Years.

 

333-334         Human Behavior and the Social Environment I & II (3)

This course engages students in analysis of the behavior of individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities in their bio-psycho-socio-cultural milieu. The theoretical paradigms that impact the development of individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities are examined with special emphasis on evaluating the impact of social class, gender, sexual orientation, and racial/ethnic group membership. Students are required to spend two hours per week in service learning. Prerequisites: SW 214, SOC 224, BIO 103 and upper division status in Social Work program, or permission of instructor. Offered Each Year (Fall and Spring).

 

351     Intervention in Marriage and Family Problems (3)

The course introduces students to the area of marital and family dynamics with particular focus on the major areas of dysfunction. Through both analysis of the essential elements of these relationships as well as introspective looks at their own families, students learn to identify the primary reasons for marital and family discord. Prerequisite: Junior status. Offered Alternate Years.

 

409     Social Work with Groups (3)

This course examines the various types of groups used in contemporary social work practice for the purpose of acquainting students with the process of assessing for therapeutic need for a group. In addition, students will acquire a basic understanding of all the stages required for proposing, developing, and leading a group. Prerequisites: SW 214, SW 325 and upper division status in Social Work. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

411     Contemporary Issues in Mental Health: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (3)

This course is structured with a glance to the past and a view of the future of mental health and the mental health system. Themes that will be explored are the history of mental health, the mental health system, governmental roles in the mental health system, mental health services, the mental health exam, assessment of lethality and crisis intervention, children and the mental health system, dual diagnosis, the elderly and the mental health system, religion, race, ethnicity and gender and mental health, consumer rights and the mental health system and mental health services in the managed care environment. Prerequisite: PSY 103 or permission of instructor. Offered Alternate Years.

 

424     Foundations of Generalist Practice III (3)

Guides students in the value based, culturally sensitive conceptually framed professional skill development utilizing the interactional (mediation) model of intervention with diverse populations and systems of all sizes. Target systems include individuals and groups. Offered concurrently with the first semester of field placement. Prerequisites: SW 326, 334, senior status in Social Work program and concurrent enrollment in SW 451. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

432     Contemporary Social Welfare Policy and Services (3)

Cross-listed as SOC 432. A functional analysis of contemporary social policies and how they are developed in social welfare delivery systems, the linkages between social problems, policies, programs and services and the advocacy and lobbying processes; political and economic implications of major social welfare legislation. Prerequisites: SW 311 and senior status in Social Work program. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

447     Selected Topics (3)

Courses devoted to special topics, e.g., contemporary issues in mental health. Offered As Needed.

 

451-452         Field Experience in Social Work I & II

Senior assignment, which requires students to complete a 420-hour, supervised field placement experience (210 hours per semester). Students are given the opportunity to work in agencies with diverse systems of all sizes. This experience affords students the opportunity to achieve a maximum integration of social work knowledge, values and skills and engage in professional relationships with the social work practice community. A weekly field experience seminar is held concurrently with the field experience and attendance is required. This seminar provides the opportunity for the integration of the theoretical and practice components of the bachelor’s level field placement experience. Prerequisite: Senior status in Social Work program. Offered Each Semester.

 

454     Foundations of Generalist Practice IV (3)

This course continues the interactional (mediation) model of intervention and engages students in value/ethically based, culturally sensitive professional skill development needed for establishing, and maintaining effective working relationships with organizations and communities as client systems. Students are required to spend two hours per week in community service learning. Prerequisite: SW 424, and concurrent enrollment in SW 452. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

457     Research Seminar in Social Work (3)

Individually guided research in social work. Prerequisite: Senior status in Social Work program. Offered As Needed.

 

Sociology Courses (SOC)

 

110     The Individual, College, and Society: An Introduction to the Sociological

            Imagination (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. The purpose of this course is to introduce beginning Daemen students to some of the core concepts drawn from sociology while at the same time giving them an opportunity to see the relationship between themselves, colleges and universities, and the social world. In addition, a significant amount of attention will be devoted to orienting students to a competency-based core curriculum, in general, and critical thinking, in particular. Further, students will be introduced to the current literature on what it means to be educated, the purposes of colleges and universities, the meaning of an undergraduate degree, the purposes of liberal education, and what society needs from higher education. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

201     Introductory Sociology (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. The systematic study of social behavior and human groups. Examination of the influence of social relationships upon people’s attitudes and behavior and on how societies are established and changed. Offered Each Semester.

 

202     Individual and Society (3)

Focus on social interaction, the emergence of mind and the development of the self. Examines the symbolic aspect of the individual and the constructed nature of his or her mental world environment. Offered As Needed.

 

209     Social Problems (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Major social problems — e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, militarism, crime, substance abuse, poverty and their effect on the individual and society will be examined. Theories will be evaluated relative to the role that existing social arrangements play in perpetuating social problems. Offered As Needed.

 

213     The Social Welfare Institution (3)

Cross-listed as SW 213. Presents a substantive introduction and overview to the institution of social welfare by examining its conceptual underpinnings, historical antecedents, contemporary directions and future trends. Students are required to spend two hours per week in service learning. Prerequisite: SOC 201 or permission of instructor. Offered Each Year.

 

224     Ethnicity, Race and Cultural Diversity (3)

Fulfills core competency: Affective Judgment. Writing Intensive. Explores the dynamics of human diversity and social differentiation. Differentiation based upon race, ethnic identification, sex, and sexual orientation, majority and minority groups, lifestyle and life chances; social class and caste will be examined. Students are required to spend two hours per week in service learning. Offered Each Semester.

 

243     Child Welfare Policy and Services (3)

Cross-listed as SW 243. Offered Each Semester and Summer.

 

247     Selected Topics (3)

Courses devoted to a special topic, e.g., Sociology of Women. Offered As Needed.

 

303     Sociology of the Family (3)

Fulfills core competency: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Writing Intensive. A study of the family as a distinctive social world; emphasis on the structuring and dynamics of the family; cross-cultural comparisons; analysis of contemporary family systems. Offered Each Year (Spring).

 

304     Social Class and Inequality (3)

Examination of the existence of different types of inequality and the various explanations for them. Historical and structural interconnections with various forms of inequality will also be explored. Prerequisite: SOC 201. Offered As Needed.

 

305     Sociology of Sport (3)

This course provides an in-depth sociological examination of sport in American society in an effort to create a better understanding of sport as both a positive and negative social force on people’s lives. Offered As Needed.

 

432     Contemporary Social Policy and Service

Cross-listed as SW 432. Offered Each Year (Fall).

 

Anthropology Course (ANT)

 

210     Contemporary Native America (3)

The course introduces students to the current conditions of American Indians/First Nations/ indigenous peoples of North America. A foundation will be laid in ethnography, which will cover the anthropological culture area concept and culture areas. Emphasis will be placed on the Southwest, Prairie/Plains, Northwest Coast, Arctic, and Northeast (including the Great Lakes) areas. Aspects of culture change, assimilation, and acculturation will be discussed as models for viewing historical culture contact. With this the effects of important legislative influences will be introduced. The post-World war II environment of termination and urbanization will introduce a discussion of sustainability of traditional cultures, which characterize the struggles of native communities as evidenced in movements such as A.I.M. and others. Offered As Needed.