Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 657 – Social Work Practice with Military Members, Veterans, and Families (Spring A)

Credits - 3

Description

This course examines how social, political, and contextual factors influence mental health, psychosocial, and behavioral outcomes and treatment-seeking behaviors among military personnel, veterans, and their families. Students will examine the military from a variety of perspectives, including its background and organization, social systems, core values, artifacts, language and socially acceptable practices as these practices impact soldiers. This course addresses the needs of active duty, deployed service members, veterans, and their families at different developmental phases of the military life course. A range of physical, mental, and psychosocial issues including deployment stressors and post-deployment mental health (i.e., physical challenges, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety and depressive symptoms, substance use/abuse, suicidal ideation, and interpersonal conflicts) will be addressed in this 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 Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Develop professional capacity to assess military culture dynamics and their impact on military/veteran families
2. Resolve ethical dilemmas arising in military social work practice
3. Assess the resiliencies, strengths, and needs of military/veteran families and practice competently with diverse military/veteran populations including women, people of color, veterans compounded by homelessness, physical mental health issues, and substance abuse
4. Apply best-evidence interventions for the assessment, prevention, and treatment of mental health and family relationship challenges identified with military/veteran individuals and their families
5. Synthesize the complexities highlighting the military social worker role particularly as it pertains to intra-familial stress, post-war trauma and bereavement, reintegration into society and transition to civilian life, the effective use of interdisciplinary collaboration, and advocacy

Assignments

Whole Class Discussions

You will be asked to post one initial response to a Discussion Question each week, and then make a minimum of 2 peer response comments per week. Postings must meet the criteria for substantiveness to earn the maximum points available.

Differentiation between PTSD and War-Induced PTSD Paper

Explore the literature as it relates to the differences between PTSD and war-induced PTSD. Your paper should be no longer than 4 pages and should include at least 8 peer-reviewed sources from the literature.

Special Populations Literature Review Paper

You will select a topic from week 3, veterans in college, 4, working with families or 5 social workers in the military and combat settings. You will craft a 4 page paper that explores the peer reviewed literature on one of these topics. Your paper should include at least 8 references from peer-reviewed journals and be presented in APA format.

Transition Back to Civilian Life Paper

Review the Pew Research Centers Predictors of transition back to civilian life. Select one of the predictors and discuss how, as a social worker, you would work with a veteran who is transitioning. Your paper should be at least 4 pages and include references from the course texts and other sources.

Final Reflection Paper

For your final paper, reflect on our course materials and what you have learned about working with veterans, their families, and systems. Your paper should be no more than 6 pages and include at least 8 peer-reviewed references.

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