SOC 160 - Introduction to Social Work

Credit(s) 3.00
Lecture Hours: 3.00
This course introduces the American social welfare system and social work profession, focusing on social workers’ roles in addressing societal needs. Students will explore social work objectives aimed at supporting individuals and communities’ well-being, and examine the structure and function of the social welfare system, which includes policies to promote the welfare of all members of society.

SLOs:
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of social science methods used in analyzing social phenomena and the diversity of human perspectives.
Demonstrate a basic understanding of the role of social welfare and the reasons why formalized social welfare provisions are present in all post-agricultural societies.
Identify the two major ways of conceptualizing social welfare, as either charity for those who are in some way defined as incompetent, or as social insurance for everyone.
Describe the historical development of social welfare and social work as society became increasingly industrialized and as large formal organizations took over many functions of the family.
Identify several models of social work practice that show how practice models tend to reflect the prevalent conceptualization of social welfare.
Demonstrate an understanding of how the structure of service programs and the kinds of services that are offered are affected by the concept of social welfare under which the programs are designed.
List several fields of social work practice as examples of social work in action.