SOWK 450 Social Work Practice with Diverse Populations

This course provides the student with the opportunity to develop an understanding of theories, knowledge, values, and skills in relation to generalist practice with diverse populations. This course also provides the forum for students to gain an understanding of cultural values of individuals and the impact of those values on human relationships. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of respecting and valuing diversity.

Social workers interact with diverse populations in the areas of engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation when working populations on a daily basis. This course aids the students in developing competency with diverse populations. It prepares students with foundational knowledge necessary for effective generalist social work practice.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

The Course Requirement Checklist assesses Competency 1 (Ethical/Prof. Behavior).

Discussion

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion.

Racial Minority Experience Reflection Assignment

Social workers need empathy and understanding for clients to develop an understanding of the perspectives of others. Significant learning can evolve when one intentionally places oneself into an unfamiliar place and step out of one’s comfort zone by interacting with others that are different. To help the student on this journey, the student will each engage in a racial minority experience which will expand his/her boundaries and increase his/her cultural competency. This assignment must be exactly 4 pages in length.

The Racial Minority Experience Reflection assesses Competency 1 (Ethical/Prof. Behavior), Competency 2 (Diversity), Competency 4 (Research), and Competency 6 (Engage). 

Cultural Theory Presentation Assignment

The Cultural Theory Presentation challenges the student to gain knowledge of diverse groups to increase cultural competency within the scope of generalist social work practice. The student will examine diversity through the lens of naturalistic research as part of grounded theory within the scope of eight cross-cultural curative factors as found in the main text. The PowerPoint will include a minimum of 7 slides (including title and reference). Each of the 5 content slides should cite a minimum of 2 scholarly sources (may include Harper-Dorton) per slide. The student will use a minimum of 3 scholarly sources throughout the presentation.

The Cultural Theory Presentation assesses Competency 1 (Ethical/Prof. Behavior), Competency 2 (Diversity), Competency 4 (Research), Competency 6 (Engage), Competency 7 (Assess), and Competency 8 (Intervene).

Case Study Paper Assignment

Understanding the issues faced by diverse groups, including LGBTQIA+ clients, is vital to generalist social work practice. Theory and research are components to increase understanding and social work integration, especially related to the NASW Code of Ethics. Furthermore, increasing cultural competency is essential to the continued development of professional social workers who serve diverse groups facing current and future challenges. A competent and informed case study will prepare social workers to facilitate intervention plans based on diverse clients’ needs in multiple practice contexts. The paper must be a maximum of 5 content pages (excluding title and reference page).

The Case Study assesses Competency 1 (Ethical/Prof. Behavior), Competency 2 (Diversity), Competency 4 (Research), Competency 6 Engage), Competency 7 (Assess), and Competency 8 (Intervene).

Quizzes (8)

The student will take quizzes over the assigned reading and course presentations. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 5-4 multiple-choice and true/false/matching questions, and have no time limit. There will be 8 quizzes in the course.

Quizzes assess Competency 1 (Ethical/Prof. Behavior), Competency 2 (Diversity), Competency 4 (Research), Competency 6–(Engage), Competency 7 (Assess), and Competency 8 (Intervene)