Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 502 – Human Behavior in the Social Environment II—Spring 2021

Credits - 3

Description

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. HSBE II 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 are affected by class, gender, race or ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and other factors as these are reflected in different political-economic and cultural contexts. Students explore how these different contexts are embodied in people’s physical, mental, and relational lives.

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 wellbeing–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.

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 UNE 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. 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 lifespan and roles, organizational context, community, and environment, with attention to concepts of social inclusion, human rights, and cultural responsiveness. EPAS Competencies 2, 3, and 4 (Program Objective #3)
2. Identify and assess factors that affect human development and behavior, human dignity, social justice, and quality of life. EPAS Competencies 3 and 7 (Program Objective #3)
3. Describe and apply relational-cultural theory articulating factors that influence relational validation, full participation, and human connection amongst individuals, families, communities, and populations. EPAS Competencies 2, 3 & 5 (Program Objective #1)
4. Engage as critical consumers of social science and human behavior research with particular attention to elements of social inclusion, cultural competence, and person-in-environment perspectives. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6 (Program Objectives #1, 6 & 7)

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:

Course Materials for Reading and Viewing

Description: This course will use an array of textbook chapters and articles, as well as other types of reading materials, and videos to present the important concepts in the various weekly modules. These will provide the foundation and background for student discussion forums and written assignments.

Discussions

You are expected to actively participate in whole class and/or small group discussion forums each week. To actively participate in the forums means to provide an initial response to the discussion questions and a minimum of two (2) responses to different classmates per week, unless otherwise indicated. Your initial post does not count towards responses to others. Initial posts should answer each question and be between 250-500 words. In your responses to peers, provide feedback on their perceptions. Responses should be between 250-500 words.

The “Discussion Board” is an opportunity for you to examine new ideas and learn how to articulate some of the essential concepts, theories, and language that frame your profession. Think of it as your “sandbox” to explore, challenge, and reflect on practice. Your professional success going forward will depend upon what you know but it will also depend upon how well you can express what you know and use knowledge effectively.

Responses to others 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. What is considered sufficient is initiating further discussion; promoting further thought; providing critical or integrative dialogue; providing affective support or encouragement; challenging by showing supporting literature or other documentation, and/or self-reflecting regarding the topic. Responses should reflect your ability to apply critical thinking in the discussion and topical analysis. What is critical thinking? Very simply, critical thinking means that you provide an objective, logical analysis of a topic by asking questions.

Your initial post to the weekly discussion prompt should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, or as early as possible in the week, since doing so facilitates student-to-student interaction and maximizes the learning experience for everyone.

Response posts are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Late responses may result in a reduction in grade. 

Discussion forums are graded using the College-wide Discussion Rubric. 

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.

Ecomap/Genogram (Due Week 2)

Assessment of families and client systems is complicated requiring social workers to look at a variety of influences and relationships that make up family strengths and challenges. Tools such as ecomaps and genograms help to organize generational data. They can additionally be used as a relationship building tool, one that provides structure to questions centered on families, systems, and the relationships between them. Based upon the readings and videos assigned, complete both a genogram and an ecomap of your own family, or a family that you know intimately enough to complete the assignment (being sure to obey HIPAA laws), or a family system provided in a case study by your instructor as the basis for the assignment.

Group RCT paper/project (Due: Week 4)

5 pages, double-spaced, APA format, no abstract needed

You and your partner(s) will submit a paper or project about Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT). Briefly identify RCTs fundamental assumptions in a 5-page paper (or, if a project, an equivalent amount of work to a 5-page paper) using APA style. This is to include:

• What are the fundamental assumptions of RCT?
• What is your critical assessment of RCT?
• What connections do you see between the underlying ideas of RCT and 1) the core underlying values of social work and 2) health as a human right?
• How might RCT inform or guide our social work practice?

Please keep in mind that this paper requires you to cite appropriate references, using APA format, to support your claims.  Please use at least three of the articles from the RCT readings.

Theory Application Paper (Due Week 7)

6-8 pages (not to exceed 8), double-spaced including references to both external (not course assigned) and assigned readings. No abstract needed.

For this assignment, you are to select one of the listed films and discuss and analyze the film from two theoretical perspectives presented in the Hutchinson text (e.g., psychodynamic perspective, transpersonal theory, feminist theory). For example, you could select Girl, Interrupted and analyze the principal characters from both empowerment and psychodynamic theories. Do not summarize the film in a descriptive or non-critical manner. Instead, you must critically apply the content from the Hutchison text and other sources to your selected film. This may entail an analysis of one or more characters, their relationships, and an understanding of the interaction between the person and the social environment. You must reflect upon how the theories you have selected raise similar and/or different considerations in your analysis. Be sure to include why these similarities and differences emerge, and what this raises in terms of the value and importance of critically understanding theories of human behavior. The paper will demonstrate your understanding of the selected theories.

All written work should be double-spaced. The papers and projects should include an APA formatted reference page as appropriate. Students who are not clear about proper APA format are encouraged to consult the UNE Student Academic Success Center or various library, online, and other resources to get this information. Any material obtained from the Internet should be referenced and limited to recognized scholarly, academic, or client/consumer-oriented sources (such as online journals and information from advocacy-oriented organizations). Gender-neutral language should be used throughout all written assignments. All work that is handed in for credit in this course is expected to be original and for the purpose of this course alone. It is unacceptable to use assignments from other courses for assignments in this course.

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
Discussions	200 points	20%
Ecomap/Genogram	100 points	10%
RCT Paper	300 points	30%
Theory Application Paper	400 points	40%
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