Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSW 502 – Human Behavior in the Social Environment II – Fall 2017

Credits - 3

Description

Human Behavior in the Social Environment I & II (HBSE I & II; SSW 501/502) are two-semester, sequenced foundation courses that are designed to develop and refine our understanding of the way that history, power, and context shape human relationships. HBSE II explores different theories about how human beings develop, understand, and participate in social relationships. Theories of human behavior and its interaction with the social environment are presented with attention to the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, and spiritual dimensions of human experience.  These theories are assessed from a critical perspective in order to evaluate their contributions and limitations, and how they address (or fail to address) social justice, the capacity of human beings for growth and change, and for their relative utility for practice with specific populations.

(*the poetry assignment mentioned in the video has been removed in this version of the course)

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. Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
2. Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
3. Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
4. Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
5. Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
6. Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
7. Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Discriminate between theories of human behavior and their respective assump­tions about human development, family life and roles, organizational context, community, and environment. This includes an analysis of the relative strengths and limitations of each theory as it relates to human rights, human dignity, indi­vidual and cultural diver­sity, self-determination, social justice, social inclusion, and population and environmental health. (As measured by Theory Application Paper, RCT Paper Paper, Discussion, and Discussion Facilitation)  (Program Objective #3)
2. 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. (As measured by Discussion, Case Study Reflection and Analysis) (Program Objective #4)
3. Assess the impact of the biological, psychological, and social environment on human behavior. (As measured by Theory Analysis Paper, RCT Paper, Case Study Reflection and Analysis, Discussion) (Program Objective #3)
4. Describe the factors that affect relational validation and connection, dignity, self-determination and social justice and their universal impact upon the health and identity of individuals, families, commu­nity, culture, and other social relationships. (As measured by Discussion, Relational Cultural Theory Paper) (Program Objective #1)

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 on 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 are expected to be engaged on at least 3 different days throughout the course week. You should always follow the criteria listed in this section (Participation section of the Syllabus) and criteria listed in the Participation Rubric, as well as anything more specifically stated in the course.

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 Saturday at 11:59 p. m. ET and initial responses should be completed by Sunday 11:59 p.m. ET (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. ET and the initial response deadline is Sunday at 11:59 p. m. ET. 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 Saturday 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:

There are a number of written assignments in this course, each with its own requirements. It is important to read both the instructions and the rubrics when working on them. For each assignment, please make sure to turn in a paper that follows strict APA guidelines (formatting, citation, etc.) unless otherwise informed by your facilitator. Some portion of your grade will be based on your ability to apply APA guidelines in these papers.

Theories Application Paper (due in Week 4)

The paper will demonstrate your ability to discriminate between theories of human behavior and their respective assumptions and to analyze the relative strengths and limitations of the theories as they relate to social work practice. 

You will select one of the listed films and discuss and analyze the film from two theories presented in the Robbins text (e.g., symbolic interaction, transpersonal theory, feminist theory, etc.).

The paper should be 8-10 pages (not to exceed 10), double-spaced including references to external (not course assigned) and assigned readings (include 5-10 references.)

Relational Cultural Theory Paper (Due in Week 6)

The purpose of this assignment is to examine and evaluate RCT’s value to social work practice. Briefly identify RCT’s fundamental assumptions, critically assess its strengths and limitations, make connections between the underlying ideas of RCT and the core underlying values of social work and the implications of RCT for social work practice in a 6-8 page paper using APA style.

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	385 points (55 points * 7 weeks)	38.5%
Theories Quiz	15 points	1.5%
Theory Application Paper	300 points	30%
RCT Paper	300 points	30%
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