Columbia University School of Social Work
T6970 Contemporary Social Issues: Issues, Policies, Research and Programs
|
Overview and Rationale
T6970—Contemporary Social Issues: Issues, Policies, Programs, Research is the Field of Practice course taken by all students in Contemporary Social Issues. Contemporary Social Issues (CSI) is a unique field of practice, which has been designed to ensure that the curriculum is responsive to changing conditions in the field. Each year, the Field of Practice and Clinical Practice courses in Contemporary Social Issues focus on several social issues that are relatively new and emerging, or in which significant change is occurring. The field is not conceptualized, however, as an examination of the particular issues targeted so much as an integrated approach for understanding contemporary social issues in context. As a result, students who select Contemporary Social Issues will be well positioned to move into new and emerging fields as they arise, and be aware of the classes of information needed to do so effectively.
At the present time, CSI focuses on homelessness, violence, substance use, HIV/AIDS, and the interconnections and linkages among them as well as the populations experiencing these issues. Particular emphasis is placed on service system arrangements, coordination, and the lack of such coordination that commonly is found in work with emerging issues. The field also examines the ways in which the criminal justice system crosscuts and influences these issues and sociocultural responses to them. The field is designed, however, to be fluid; some of the issues covered may at some point become separate fields of practice, and new issues may emerge that require more extensive attention. It is our expectation that there will always be two or three somewhat separate but interrelated issues that are the focus of this field at any one time.
Given the current mix of issues covered, CSI relates to many agency and organizational service systems including homeless shelters, soup kitchens, battered women�s shelters, court dispute resolution centers, correctional settings, therapeutic communities, and a wide range of other substance abuse treatment settings. Students choosing CSI as a field of practice must also have a field placement in an agency that deals with one or more of the focal issues covered, like those listed. All clinical practice students are required to take T7113 Clinical Practice: Contemporary Social Issues concurrently with this course. |
Learning Outcomes
In this course, students will learn to . . .
- Describe the scope/epidemiology of each contemporary social issue area examined in the course (incidence, prevalence, risk and protective factors).
- Summarize current biopsychosocial understandings of the etiology of each issue area.
- Identify cultural-level and socioeconomic-level conditions and events having an impact on the epidemiology and etiology of each issue area.
- Describe the differential epidemiology and impact of each issue on populations-at-risk including people of color, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered individuals, women, and the poor.
- Analyze the social value conflicts involved in each issue.
- Summarize the history of the recognition and identification of each contemporary social issue as significant, and how our understanding of the issue has evolved over time.
- Delineate the interconnections among issue areas.
- Describe the extent to which each issue is explicitly targeted by existing service systems. Describe service system coverage (or lack thereof) of the populations in need.
- Compare alternative program models and delivery systems.
- Compare interventive models and their differential effectiveness.
- Describe and critique current social policies (formal and informal) that have an impact on each issue, and the contemporary policy debates related to each. This includes economic aspects of policy, and the way social policy drives funding.
- Identify the connections among the issues on which the course focuses, and describe how interlocking issues and policies may complicate effective responses to each.
- Approach a new or emerging field of practice, and a framework for exploring areas of substantive knowledge required for effective practice in that area.
|
Council on Social Work Education Core Competencies
This course contributes toward mastery of the following core areas of social work competency identified by the Council on Social Work Education.
Social workers . . .
- Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.
- Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments.
- Engage diversity and difference in practice.
- Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
- Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research.
- Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.
- Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being, and to deliver effective social work services.
- Respond to contexts that shape practice.
- Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
|
Core Content Themes
- The importance of staying current with knowledge about the social issues with which one's practice is concerned, including their epidemiology and etiology.
- The value of familiarity with the history of previous understandings of the issue and approaches for addressing it.
- Understanding the framework for provision of services, including laws, regulations, funding streams, policy-making authorities, eligibility and coverage, and other structural factors as relevant.
- Knowledge of alternative program structures and delivery systems.
- Familiarity with alternative practice models and approaches, and what is known about their relative effectiveness and efficiency.
- Familiarity with current issues, trends and debates regarding contemporary social issues.
- Where and how to obtain information needed to move into a new field of practice.
|