The Bachelor of Social Work program at Delta State University seeks to prepare students for beginning professional social work practice as generalists, who are able to function in a variety of settings with systems at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.
Emphasis is on resolving problems related to the transactions between people and their environments.
While preparing students for entry-level professional practice in any geographic setting, the Social Work Department seeks to meet the particular needs of the Delta region, a largely rural, impoverished area where the populations at risk are predominantly African American, children, women, and the elderly. The assumption is that the rural, holistic focus of the department equips students to choose to meet the particular social work staffing needs in the Delta and other rural areas, with competence that is built on a foundation or ability to practice social work outside rural areas as well. To provide students with content about social contexts of social work practice, the changing nature of those contexts, the behavior found in organizations, and the dynamics of change. Practice within the values of the social work profession and with an understanding of and respect for the positive value of diversity. Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and the strategies of change that advance social and economic justice.