Topics include family life, life-styles, strengths, and common problems of troubled families, as well as assessment and treatment methods. The course is designed to equip social work majors with a basic understanding of research procedures and analysis so that they will become more sophisticated consumers of professional research and mass media reporting. The focus is on understanding research procedures related to the social worker's own practice and agency programs. Ethical issues in social work research are addressed. An examination of the impact of oppression on human functioning, focusing on teaching the student specific practice approaches for empowerment practice with oppressed groups.
Students examine the social worker's ethical role as an advocate for social justice.
Specific approaches for helping clients gain access to opportunities for growth are taught from micro and macro level perspectives. The course helps students continue to develop culturally sensitive social work practice skills and an appreciation of the impact of power on the client-worker relationship. This course is designed to give students an understanding of the nature of the difficulties that women bring to social workers.