Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 502 – Human Behavior in the Social Environment II – Spring B 2024

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 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. Students explore how these different contexts are embodied in people’s physical, mental, and relational lives.

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. Explain how the NASW and IFSW Code of Ethics inform social work practice. EPAS Competency 1
2. Differentiate 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, racial, economic and environmental justice in social work practice. EPAS Competency 2
3. Identify and assess factors that affect human development and behavior, human dignity, social justice, and quality of life. EPAS Competency 3
4. Describe and apply relational-cultural theory, articulating factors that influence relational validation, full participation, and human connection through an anti-racist lens. EPAS Competency 3 
5. Assess informal and formal sources of support utilizing social work practice tools. EPAS Competency 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:

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. 

A “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 prompts 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 a Masters of Social Work-wide 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 submission that follows 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. Resources for APA writing are linked in the “Welcome and Getting Started” module in Brightspace and in assignment instructions.

Week 3: ACEs Reflective Journal

In this 2–3 page paper, you will reflect on what Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are, their impact, and how they relate to social work and other practice. 

Week 5: Relational Cultural Theory Paper or Found Poetry Assignment

In this assignment, you will analyze and reflect on RCT’s core ideas and their relationship to the underlying values of Social Work. This analysis builds on discussion forums about the same topic in prior weeks. 

You will have two options for this assignment:

Option 1: Found Poetry

If you choose this option, you will review a Week 4 discussion forum about Relational Cultural Theory. By identifying major themes and concepts in that forum, you will create a 200-word poem using words found in the forum. Your poem could be centered around themes you noted in your review of the discussion board, or focus on a core idea such as how disconnections happen and why they happen. You will then write a brief reflection on RCT and the process of writing the poem. 

Option 2: Paper

If you choose this option, you will write a 4–5 page paper analyzing the core concepts of RCT. The full assignment instructions in Brightspace include 4 guiding questions to help direct your analysis. 

Week 7: Applying Selected Theories to Film 

In this final assignment, you will write a 5–7 page paper analyzing a film from two theoretical perspectives presented in the Hutchison and Charlesworth text. The full instructions in Brightspace provide five films to choose from. You will review and provide feedback on papers written by members of a small group who have analyzed the same film as you.

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
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement	1 point	1%
Discussions	26 points	26%
Week 3: ACEs Reflective Journal	20 points	20%
Week 5: Relational Cultural Theory Paper or Found Poetry Assignment	24 points	24%
Week 7: Applying Selected Theories to Film	29 points	29%
Total:	100 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