Social Work

This course will introduce students to various helping professions. The student will explore the expectations of the generalist social worker by comparing and contrasting other helping profession disciplines. A focus will be placed on professionalism, communication, documentation, and ethics.

This course will explore past and present social injustice through the lens of music. An understanding of how music impacts change will be explored. The focus will be on DEFINING inequality of social justice for disenfranchised populations. 

This course covers the concept of generalist social work practice as a profession. Students explore providing social work services to diverse populations of various ages, ethnicities, economic situations, sexual orientations, gender identities, etc. Important emphasis is placed on social work values, goals, skills and professional roles.

This course examines the values and policies that shape the well being of our society. The course provides students with in-depth perspectives on major, current issues such as healthcare, housing, taxation, as well as social and economic justice. Problems and solutions are examined from conservative and liberal perspectives.

This course presents the life cycle of human development from conception to early adulthood. Students will explore social, emotional, and physiological impacts on these stages of life. This course is designed to familiarize the prospective professional with knowledge of how to conduct an appropriate Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Assessment.

This course provides students with an introduction to the study of human sexual behaviors. Diverse topics such as birth-control, sex and love, sexual functioning, sexual orientation, sexually transmitted infections, infertility, divorce, human trafficking, paraphillias, and more are discussed in this course.

This course focuses on social work practice with older adults. It covers the knowledge, skills, and values needed for effective social work practice with older adults and their families. The course concentrates on the bio-psycho-social-spiritual changes and challenges associated with the aging process.

This course presents the life cycle of human development from middle to late adulthood. Students will explore social, emotional, and physiological impacts on these stages of life. This course is designed to familiarize the prospective professional with knowledge of how to conduct an appropriate Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Assessment.

This course explores the importance of understanding the impact diversity has upon social work practice. Various examples of diversity as they relate to culture, gender, age, socioeconomics, ethnicity, etc. are explored. The impact of "isms" such as racism, sexism, ageism, abelism, heterosexism, classism, and others are examined.

This course explores the social, character, and societal causes of interpersonal violence. Special consideration is given to partner abuse as well as child abuse. Prevention, treatment methods, and social policy questions are the core of the course.

The first course in the Child Welfare Services Certification examines the maltreatment of children. Students are exposed to methods used to assess various forms of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Students learn about implementing interventions needed to address cases of child maltreatment.

The second course in our Child Welfare Certification Program. It examines the importance of collaboration between child welfare workers, families, advocates (eg. guardian ad litem), the legal system, and various agencies to address out-of-home care and the goal of permanency planning for the safety and well being of children.

This course will cover the NASW Code of Ethics. Emphasis is on the six standards within the NASW Code of Ethics. Focus is on social work values and ethics as they relate to the knowledge base, goals, and the roles of the generalist social worker in society.

The focus of this intervention course is the nature of the helping relationship. Beginning skills in building rapport, interviewing, and problem-solving are studied. Various theoretical perspectives and evidence-based interventions for addressing client needs are provided.

The focus of this intervention course is on group dynamics and group work. Various types of groups and the effect these have on group development, cohesion, and functioning are examined. Theoretical perspectives are demonstrated through lectures, roleplay, and participation in real-life group settings.

This third intervention course examines generalist social work practice with large systems. Students explore specific change models while working with organizations and communities. This course teaches students about macro skills used to assess, implement, and evaluate the change in organizations and communities.

This course examines the importance of research from a Social Work perspective. Students are taught how data is collected, analyzed, interpreted, and presented. Terminology and methodology are emphasized in order to give students a greater understanding of the research process and how it informs social work practice.

Students must work as a social work intern 25-30 hours per week (for a minimum of 400 total clock hours) at a social service agency under the supervision of a social worker who meets CSWE qualifications. Lab Fee.

Note: The Field Manual is available online and contains all the information needed to prepare and apply for field.  Applications should be completed at least 3 months prior to the field start date. The BSW program's deadline for submitting the Field Application is 30 days prior to the field start date (however, this date may be too late for many field agencies to be able to accept students, therefore we encourage students to have the application submitted 3 months prior to the start date). Any student who is unable to submit a completed application (including an Agency Affiliation Agreement that has been signed by all 3 involved parties) prior to the deadline will have to wait until the next cycle of fieldwork.

For complete information about the field application process: http://limestonecollege.formstack.com/forms/fac

This intervention course serves as an introduction to the social work profession with special attention paid to interventions.  It examines generalist social work practice with individuals in groups and large systems.  Students use critical thinking skills to assess, implement and evaluate change.  Focus of this intervention course is the generalist intervention model of social work practice with individuals & families.  By using systems theory and a strengths-based perspective, the student will develop interviewing, communication, & recording skills. Students will define and establish professional relationships and apply different problem-solving interventions.  The student learns assessment and intervention skills by completing a Mental Status Exam (MSE) and Case Write-Up with a Treatment Plan. 

With a focus on the generalist perspective, this advanced human behavior, and the social environment (Master) course will present an overview from a systems/ecological approach of the life cycle of human development from conception through death.  This course is designed to familiarize the generalist MSW program student with knowledge of normative patterns of human behavior and to provide the tools to assess for appropriate individual developmental functioning of clients and their families.  This course examines the individual in social systems that include family groups, community organizations, culture, and society.  The part that socioeconomics, gender, and cultural diversity play in the normative processes of socialization of children within family contexts will also be discussed. The course will concentrate on the cognitive, social, emotional, and physiological theories of human behavior.  Focus will be on detailing the various developmental stages of conception through death and system problems such as overload within health care systems, juvenile and adult criminal systems, public school systems, etc. 

This Social Work Field Education Course (SW 589 A) is the first of a two-semester, sequenced course designed to provide students with a supervised foundation practice experience in a social service agency/organization. The field education practicum includes experiential learning in social work skills for multi-level and multi-sector practice in a generalist practice setting. The seminar introduces the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the World Health Organization’s Definition of Health and the International Federation of Social Workers’ Policy Statement on Health into discussions of how resource equity, social justice and universal health and healthcare across the lifespan effects work with client systems. Students complete 200 hours in the agency/ organization setting.  Students will receive a minimum of 1 hour of weekly, individual field education instruction from an MSW level social worker. Students are expected to abide by The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers in their practice with clients and agencies/organizations. The seminar provides students with an opportunity to discuss and react on professional social work issues from their field education experience regarding assessment, specific interventions with client systems and the application of practice theories. Students use the seminar to monitor their own learning experience and their progress in attaining their professional goals with respect to people’s membership in groups and communities distinguished by class, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, and culture while honoring each person’s individuality

This Social Work Field Education Course (SW 589 B) is the second of two-Traditional MSW Field Courses designed to provide students with a supervised foundation practice experience in a social service agency/organization. Students will participate in a one- and one-half hour Field Education Seminar.  Field Education includes experiential learning in social work skills for multi-level and multi-sector practice in a generalist practice setting. Students complete 200 hours in the agency/ organization setting.  Students will receive a minimum of 1 hour of weekly, individual field education instruction from an MSW level social worker. Students are expected to abide by The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers in their practice with individuals, families and agencies, organizations, and groups. The seminar provides students with an opportunity to discuss and react on professional social work issues from their field education experience regarding assessment, specific interventions with client systems and the application of practice theories. Students use the seminar to monitor their own learning experience and their progress in attaining their professional goals with respect to people’s membership in groups and communities distinguished by class, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, and culture while honoring each person’s individuality.

This course, like the profession of social work, celebrates the diversity that characterizes and shapes the human experience and the formation of both individual and group identity. The course approaches diversity from the perspective of intersectionality, a perspective in which the dimensions of diversity are understood as the simultaneous interplay of multiple factors including but not limited to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, nationality, color, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, disability and ability, relationship status, political ideology, religion/spirituality, and tribal sovereign status. Regardless of cultural background and life experiences, every person has fundamental human rights. These rights include freedom, safety, honor, and recognition of worth, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education.

This course provides the context for health and mental health practice, focusing on the theories of practice, and human and organizational behavior, as applied to this advanced area of practice.  This course presents the fundamentals of social and behavioral science as a framework for using evidence-based approaches in addressing issues relevant to health and mental health.  Students will learn the determinants of challenges and problems in health and mental health, and theoretical approaches to guide the design and evaluation of interventions in health and mental health.  The impact of differences in ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression) marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation will be examined, as these relate to various health and mental health practices, policies and services.

This course attends to the range of mental health diagnoses including mild to severe and those possible treatments that may be used to address this continuum.  Despite growing neuroscience, many etiologies (history/origin) remain elusive for many mental illnesses; however, the DSM-5 is briefly introduced to orient students to treatments presented and based on symptoms that clients may present. The course introduces two underlying philosophies that drive mental health care (Medical Model and the Recovery Movement), exploring the types of services provided based on levels of care and then explores more intimately the evidence-based treatments and interventions employed by current mental health practitioners across settings and philosophies. Many different understandings related to mental health and mental illness are included and the required readings draw from various theoretical approaches to treatment, ranging from psychodynamic to brief solution-focused and are introduced to students. Students will be encouraged to think critically about both the current philosophies, the current research on treatments, and the various approaches to treatment.  The approach to teaching the course is person-centered in that the emphasis is on understanding the individual with behavioral health challenges, strengths, relationships, larger contexts, and the processes associated with acquiring care whether that be in the community or through an integrated care setting.

The course provides students with information on advanced techniques of practice and program assessment.  Both qualitative and quantitative research designs are taught evaluation research design, instrument selection and development and techniques of data analysis. Students examine the research process as it applies to the specialized interests and needs of social work.  The course is designed to enable students to be critical consumers of research, to understand the principles and process of research and the evaluation of practice, to become familiar with ethical considerations when designing and implementing a project, and to be capable of participation in practice-related research.

Students will learn to develop diagnostic skills utilizing standard diagnostic nomenclature and treatment strategies, becoming more familiar with differential diagnosing, and therapeutic models. The social work imperative of considering person-in-environment is infused throughout. Multicultural and ethical components are also integrated.  The course will provide students with knowledge of the major categories of diagnoses for adults as formulated in DSM-5 and of theoretical perspectives in those categories.  Attention is given to the dynamics of development and culture, and to the interrelationship among biological, psychological, and social/cultural systems that impact diagnosis.  The focus will be on utilizing these elements in order to provide a comprehensive bio-psycho-social assessment.  Treatments specifically related to these diagnoses will be noted.

Generalist Practice with Communities and Organizations exposes students to the theory and practice of planned change in communities & organizations and helps them incorporate a generalist model into practice at these levels of intervention.  Students develop foundational skills in engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation with programs, organizations, and communities.  Additionally, we consider policy construction, implementation, and critical analysis of services and systems.

The course is also designed to prepare students to systematically analyze social problems and to gain an understanding of the social welfare system in the U.S.  Content includes the scope of social welfare development and systems of service, the funding authority and patterns of service delivery, and how political and social ideologies influence policy development. This review includes investigation of local, state, federal and international levels and the understanding that policy is a function of social, political, and economic context and transitions. The evolution, and current status, of the profession of social work, is described as it interfaces with social welfare development, policies, and practices.  The role of discrimination, oppression, and inequality in the establishment and implementation of social welfare policies and services is also explored.  Social problems of ongoing concern including poverty, health care, and rural issues are highlighted and gaps in policies and programs especially as they link to social and economic justice, diversity, populations at risk, and social work ethics and values are assessed.

Using case-based material, this course provides an understanding of legal and ethical issues confronted by social workers in clinical practice.  The course includes an overview of basic legal concepts and principles as well as an examination of the NASW Code of Ethics.  Students are expected to develop a systematic reasoning process through which values conflicts within a clinical practice are addressed constructively and productively.  Topics include informed consent and refusal; confidentiality and privacy; capacity and competence, guardianship and conservatorship; duty to warn/protect; assisted suicide and euthanasia; malpractice and risk management issues and mandated reporting for a child, elder, and disabled abuse and neglect.

The first unit of field practicum is the first course of the advanced practice field placement for students in an advanced level of MSW education specializing in Children, Youth and their Families, Health and Mental Health, or Community, Social and Economic Development.  Content will be directed at the attainment of advanced-level competencies and practice behaviors. Particular attention will be focused on dealing with complex case situations, appropriate selection of interventions depending on client context (individual, group, family, organization, community), and skilled use of self and other resources as it pertains to each student’s chosen specialization within the advanced practice concentration. Day to day instruction during this course is provided by an organization-based field instructor with coordination through the field education practicum model led by the Director of Field Education.  Therefore, the specific learning experiences and meeting dates (typically Mondays and Tuesdays) scheduled for students will be tailored somewhat to the resources of the organization as well as the needs of the student.

The second unit of field practicum is the second course of the advanced practice field placement for students in an advanced level of MSW education specializing in Children, Youth and their Families, Health and Mental Health, or Community, Social and Economic Development.  Content will be directed at the attainment of advanced-level competencies and practice behaviors. Students will remain in the same field placement site as in SW 520, and continue to build competency in advanced level practice behaviors defined in Appendix A. Particular attention will be focused on dealing with complex case situations, appropriate selection of interventions depending on client context (individual, group, family, organization, community), and skilled use of self and other resources as it pertains to each student’s chosen specialization within the advanced practice concentration. Day to day instruction during this course is provided by an organization-based field instructor with coordination through the field education practicum model led by the Director of Field Education.  Therefore, the specific learning experiences and meeting dates (typically Mondays and Tuesdays) scheduled for students will be tailored somewhat to the resources of the organization as well as the needs of the student.

The third unit of field practicum is the third course of the advanced practice field placement for students in an advanced level of MSW education specializing in Children, Youth and their Families, Health and Mental Health, or Community, Social and Economic Development.  Content will be directed at the attainment of advanced-level competencies and practice behaviors. Particular attention will be focused on dealing with complex case situations, appropriate selection of interventions depending on client context (individual, group, family, organization, community), and skilled use of self and other resources as it pertains to each student’s chosen specialization within the advanced practice concentration. Day to day instruction during this course is provided by an organization-based field instructor with coordination through the field education practicum model led by the Director of Field Education. Therefore, the specific learning experiences and meeting dates (typically Mondays and Tuesdays) scheduled for students will be tailored somewhat to the resources of the organization as well as the needs of the student.

The fourth unit of field practicum is the fourth three-hour course of the advanced practice field placement for students in an advanced level of MSW education specializing in Children, Youth and their Families, Health and Mental Health, or Community, Social and Economic Development.  Students will remain in the same field placement site as in SW 522, and continue to build competency in advanced level practice behaviors defined in Appendix A. Particular attention will be focused on dealing with complex case situations, appropriate selection of interventions depending on client context (individual, group, family, organization, community), and skilled use of self and other resources as it pertains to each student chosen specialization within the advanced practice concentration. Day to day instruction during this course is provided by an organization-based field instructor with coordination through the field education model led by the Director of Field Education.  Therefore, the specific learning experiences and meeting dates (typically Mondays and Tuesdays) scheduled for students will be tailored somewhat to the resources of the organization as well as the needs of the student.