Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSW 502 – Human Behavior in the Social Environment II – Spring 2016

Credits - 3

Description

HBSE is a two-semester, foundation course. Together with Policy I & II, HBSE I & II are constructed as “theory for practice” courses. Theories for Practice form a conceptual framework to develop understanding of the impact of social context on health (broadly defined) and well-being – and on social work. These theories attempt to explain how and why people live their lives as they do; how we construct ways to understand our lives how we develop actions to sustain ourselves and develop as a species, and as a community (both local and global). Theories for Practice permit us to articulate a value-driven, social justice vision within which we construct and operationalize our mission and our practice. For this reason, we begin our study with an examination of human rights with particular attention paid to health as a human right.

HBSE is designed to develop and refine our consciousness of the continuous, dynamic and historical relationship that persists between human beings in any social context. HBSE explores different theories about how human beings develop, understand, and participate in social relationships that include societal structures and distributions of power and resources necessary for healthy human development; how we formulate and act on basic assumptions about ourselves and others; and how the identity and experience of individuals is affected by class, gender, race or ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and other factors as these are reflected in different political-economic and cultural contexts. This examination is guided by the values found in our mission and in the profession’s code of ethics. Theories for Practice are the foundation for Theories of Practice: they form the basis for a professional practice informed by values, embedded in conceptual frameworks that are evidence-guided, and responsive to critical evaluation.

Professional ethics require social workers to examine our own values and their influence on the theories, concepts and beliefs we hold about human beings and our social and cultural context. This course sequence reflects the commitment of the U.N.E. School of Social Work, and the social work profession, to the core values of human dignity, social justice, individual and cultural diversity, and self-determination. We will consider how our own beliefs and ideas about these values have been shaped, how they have contributed to the formation of our identities, and how they contribute to our own developing knowledge and professional practice. A lens for reflection will be provided that is grounded in the belief that health is a human right.

Course content and readings reflect our concern about the scope, depth, and meaning of inequality and inequity and their health impact on individuals, groups, families, and communities. Theories of human behavior and interaction with the social environment are presented, with attention to the interaction of biological, psychological, social and economic, and spiritual dimensions of human experience. Theory is assessed from a critical perspective in order to evaluate its contributions and limitations, and how it addresses (or fails to address) social justice, the capacity of human beings for growth and change, and for its relative utility for practice with specific populations at risk relevant to social work in general and this region in particular.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

1. Demonstrates ethical and professional behavior.
2. Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
3. Engage in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice.
4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
5. Engage in policy practice.
6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Course Objectives

This course will help students to:

1. Develop an understanding of universal human rights and health as a human right, and identify social and economic justice as fundamental pre-conditions.
2. Develop an understanding of inequity [oppression] (structured patterns of inequality in the distribution of power, income, requisite resources for human health) as a social-historical relationship pattern, its foundation within a particular socio-economic struc­tural formation, and its universal and diverse impacts upon the health and identity of individuals, families, commu­nity, culture and other social relationships.
3. Develop an understanding of the internalized, sub­jective, and bio-psychosocial consequences of inequality/inequity and their influ­ence on indi­viduals, fami­lies and communities.
4. Develop a critical presentation of Relational Cultural Theory, its history and foundational assumptions, and its perspective on health as a human right. Links to social justice, human dignity, individual and cultural diversity, and self-determination will be developed. Specific focus will be directed to the conceptualization of the “self” in the construction of self-determination.
5. Develop an overview of various descriptive and prescriptive theories of human behavior and their respective assump­tions about human development, family life and roles, organizational context, and community. This will include an analysis of the relative strengths and limitations of each theory as it relates to social justice.
6. Examine each theoretical perspective in relation to values and ethics of the profession, to practice with diverse populations, and in relationship to specific populations at risk.
7. Explore an understanding of individuals as contextual or social beings, as members of societies, cultures, communities, fami­lies and other membership groups, and the impact of relational connection or alienation.
8. Identify those factors that enhance, reduce, or obstruct relational validation and connection, dignity, self-determination and social justice.
9. Review different value systems and the norms that reflect them, and how they influ­ence perception and judgment, with particular emphasis on critical self-reflection as a professional social worker.
10. Recognize the necessity of, and professional responsibility for, continuous learning, openness to new knowledge, and new ways of knowing.

Educational Outcomes

Through the completion of their assignments, students will demonstrate their ability to:

1. Describe their conception of health as a human right.
2. Identify and describe those structures and relationships that obstruct the development of human health by the oppression of individuals, families, and groups, with specific focus on more marginalized populations.
3. Demonstrate awareness of and discuss the internalization of oppression (structured patterns of inequality) and its impact on individual and cultural identity, and micro and macro social relationships.
4. Understand and critically appraise Relational Cultural Theory. This will include analysis of the theory’s position on social justice, human dignity, diversity, and self-determination. It also will focus on the RCT position on health as a human right.
5. Evaluate contributions of various theories, with attention to how each understands human dignity, indi­vidual and cultural diver­sity, self-determination and social justice in social work research and practice.
6. Conduct contextual assessments, identifying social structural and ideological factors that support or obstruct equitable human development, human dignity, social justice and human diversity in social rela­tionships and struc­tures, and practices.
7. Examine the impact of isolation and disconnection, versus validation and connection, on relationships and behavior in the context of strengths and resilience.
8. Demonstrate critical self-reflection, awareness of personally held values, and the ability to identify and acknowledge personal and professional bias and act to transform it.
9. Demonstrate openness to new ways of knowing, learning, and responding to emerging bases of knowledge.

Assignments

A variety of learning activities are designed to support the course objectives, facilitate different learning styles, and build a community of learners. Learning activities for each week include the following:

Readings and Multimedia:

Description: This course will use an array of readings, podcasts, voice-over PowerPoint presentations, and videos to present the important concepts in the various weekly units. The readings and multimedia provide the foundation and background for student discussion threads and written assignments.

Discussions:

Description: An important learning method in this course is student participation and interaction in the discussion threads within each week. Students are expected to participate actively and in a respectful manner. Please refer to Course Policies about participation for a full discussion of expectations.

Grading and Feedback Method: Grading and feedback methods are listed with each specific discussion assignment. Please refer to the Weekly Units and Discussion Boards for more information.

Weekly Participation

Postings to the discussion board must add substantively to the discussion by building upon classmates’ ideas or posing critical questions to further the discussion. For example, a posting of “I agree with what people are saying” is not sufficient. Your instructor will monitor your participation on a weekly basis. Keep in mind that weekly postings make up a significant percentage of the final grade. All postings must be respectful. If at any time you are concerned with a posting, please notify your instructor immediately. Some discussion threads will occur amongst the entire class, while others will occur in small groups. Your instructor will randomly assign you to a small group at the start of class. This will be the group you work in throughout the course where small group discussions occur. Please refer to the Participation Rubric to see how your weekly participation will be evaluated. 

In order to encourage quality discussion, your instructors will be looking to see how often you return, each week, to check that week’s discussion boards. Our expectation is that you do so three times each week. Unless otherwise noted, you should post quality responses of no more than two to three paragraphs in length of the indicated quantity in any preferred combination related to the questions. The recommended method is that you carefully read the existing posts and then think about how to build off the existing ideas by offering additional insights, alternative perspectives, or raising critical questions. As part of this process, be sure to refer back to the original discussion question in order to keep the thread focused on the required topic.

You will also be asked to clearly connect your posts to the assigned materials or other relevant resources. In instances where you are asked to submit two posts to a discussion question, one of your posts needs to be more substantive. For example, the more substantive post should provide a clear connection to the assigned materials and a more in-depth response to the question. Keep in mind, if the assignment has more specific criteria for completion, you should follow what is indicated. As a general rule, if you do not see a quantity of posts indicated to a given discussion, you should always post a response to the question itself and a response to at least one of your classmates (per discussion) AS A MINIMUM. You should always follow the criteria listed in this section (Participation section of the Syllabus) criteria listed in the Participation Rubric, as well as anything more specifically stated in the Weekly Units.

Please note, you will lose participation points even if you post the MINIMUM amount required if you do not engage in dialogue with your classmates. Weekly deadlines for initial posts and initial responses depend on the number of discussions that week. For the first (and in some cases, only) discussion each week, the initial posts to the discussion boards should be completed by Friday at 11:59 p. m. E.S.T. and initial responses should be completed by Sunday 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. (initial responses mean your first response to another student; so you’re not waiting until the end of the week to start responding). For weeks with two discussions, the second discussion’s initial post deadline is Saturday at 11:59 p. m. E.S.T. and the initial response deadline is Monday at 11:59 p. m. E.S.T. Any discussions that extend beyond the final day of the week (Tuesday) will not be considered a part of the grade and/or assignment, but rather optional reading. Even though you technically have until the last day of the week to post, your participation points will suffer if you do not post initially by Friday and then respond to at least one other student by Sunday as this negatively impacts your classmates’ ability to respond to your posts and your ability to respond to their posts. Posts that no longer relate to the identified topic should be moved to one of the ongoing discussion boards such as “Ask the Class,” “Hallway Discussions,” or “Resources.”

Writing Assignments, Projects, and Assessments:

Description: There are two written assignments within the course. The first paper is based on how the student understands and conceptualizes the concept of health as a human right. The second paper asks students to discuss how their understanding of class, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation evolved and influenced their developing identity and consciousness.

Due Dates: Due dates for all learning activities are provided in the “Course Schedule.

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Point Value	Percentage of Grade
Weekly Participation in all Discussions	240 points (30 points * 8 weeks)	24%
Theory Application Paper	400 points	40%
RCT Paper	360 points	36%
Total:	1,000 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00