Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 673 – Social Work and the Law

Credits - 3

Description

This course, “Social Work Practice and the Law” is designed to introduce students to the various components of law and how the exchanges between legal professionals and a social worker coincides when an individual, family, or group is faced with legal issues. It provides an introductory examination of historical frameworks of both law/social work and how the two systems interact with one another within all of the legal and social work domains. This course showcases the systems perspective as well as practice techniques in communicating and collaborating across professional fields. The goal of this course is to understand the context of law, social work, and their continuing relevance to understanding and meeting a client’s legal needs.

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

1. Analyze the various components of law and how the exchanges between legal professionals and social workers coincide when an individual, family, or group is faced with legal issues and institutions. Program Outcomes 1 & 2 (As measured by Week 3, 4, 6 and 7 Discussions, Week 2 and 4 Assignments).
2. Synthesize the various pathways between social work practice and advocacy and the law and legal systems and the derivative influence of equity, equality, and effective delivery and allocation of resources Program Outcomes 4 & 6 (As measured by Week 1 and 2 Discussions). 
3. Justify the application of interdisciplinary research and evaluating social work and law and preventative and discriminatory and oppressive policies. Program Outcomes 3 & 6 (as measured by Week 6 Assignment).
4. Assess the impact of social work practice and the law on service utilization and outcomes for vulnerable groups. Program Outcomes 3 & 5 (As measured by Week 5 and 8 Discussions).

Assignments

Quiz

Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement

This quiz must be completed by Sunday of Week 1 and is required in order to unlock all Week 1 content.

Discussion Forums 

Discussion Forums: You will have whole class discussions in all 8 weeks. 

Due Dates:  All discussion questions require an initial response by Saturday, 11:59 PM ET and responses must be completed by Tuesday, 11:59 PM ET unless otherwise stated; however, feel free to post your work earlier in the learning week if you choose. 

What are initial response posts?

Initial responses are a direct response to the discussion forum question(s) and must include at least 500 words for each question and references to the text or readings. You must follow APA for the discussion boards which means that for any source that is used you must include a reference at the end of the post which conforms to APA. 

What are response posts?

Responses are posts that demonstrate that you are responding to at least two students. You are expected to actively participate in the forums each week an assignment is due. Response posts must include at least 250 words.

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 effective support or encouragement; challenging by showing supporting literature or other documentation, and/or self-reflecting regarding the topic.

In the discussion boards, what you write is subject to the NASW Code of Ethics 2.01(a-c) (2017) as students are as bound by the Code as any licensed social workers. You are expected to be respectful to each other when agreeing or disagreeing about a policy or legal point and to respond with research, literature, evidence, or data not personal invective or any use of profanity. If you use personal experience please de-identify any other person or organization to protect your privacy and that of any third person or entity. You are also expected to maintain the confidentiality of any postings and not share any of that information outside the course. 

Your instructor will grade each discussion forum using the criteria listed in the “Social Work Discussion Rubric”.

Major Assignments

Writing Assignments (Week 2, 4, 6)

These are a 4-5 page papers (not counting cover sheet and APA reference page). The paper will be double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font. These are not essay papers, nor short answer papers. Please do not underestimate the value of the assigned readings as sources for these papers. You may reference outside sources but you should make sure that you answer each section and apply the readings or other assigned material. These papers require a critical analysis of the connections between the assigned topics.  

Testimony Presentation (Week 7)

Choose one of your papers and create a policy presentation in the form of a testimony. Your presentation should include five PowerPoint slides and you will record a five-minute video of yourself giving the presentation. Your presentation should be created as if you are arguing for a policy change in the law before Congress.

Journal Reflections (Week 1, 3, 5, 8)

Four weeks in the course feature a brief reflective journal activity. Each journal requires you to comment on how a key concept from the week applies to your social work practice.

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	% of Grade
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement Quiz	1	1
Discussion Boards (8 @ 4.25 points each)	34	34
Journal Reflections (4 @ 5 points each)	20	20
Week 2 Assignment	10	10
Week 4 Assignment	10	10
Week 6 Assignment	15	15
Testimony Presentation	10	10
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