Syllabus SWK 4480 Social and Eco

Syllabus SWK 4480 Social and Economic Justice Spring 2009 (Friday's Section)

Professors: Stephen M. Marson, Ph.D., ACSW
Office: Lowery 322; Phone: 521-6475; Inclement weather: (910) 521-6888
Office Hours: Monday by appointment; Tuesday 1PM & 4PM; Wednesday by appointment; Thursday 11AM & 4PM at RCC; Friday 8AM
Course Prerequisites: All SWK core courses except 4900-4910 Field Work.
Course Description: The central focus of this course is placed on the relationship between social forces (primarily socioeconomic status) and populations at risk.

**Table of Contents**
Assignment	Course Content	Portfolio Requirement (Due April 17)
Attendance	Course Objectives	Required Reading
Blackboard Usage	Disabilities	Plagiarism
Bibliography	Final Exam	Turnitin (password: swk448; Class ID: 1735376)
Cell Phone Policy	How I grade papers	Waiver Students (Child Welfare)
Computer	Giving and Taking Help

Program Objectives

Apply critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice. (EP3.0.1)
Practice within the values and ethics of the social work profession and with an understanding of and respect for the positive value of diversity. (EP3.0.2)
Demonstrate the professional use of self. (EP3.0.3)
Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and the strategies of change that advance social and economic justice. (EP3.0.4)
Understand the history of the social work profession and its current structures and issues. (EP3.0.5)
Apply the knowledge and skills of generalist social work to practice with systems of all sizes. (EP3.0.B6)
Apply knowledge of bio-psycho-social variables that affect individual development and, behavior, and use theoretical frameworks to understand the interactions among individuals and between individuals and social systems (i.e., families, groups, organizations, and communities). (EP3.0.7)
Analyze the impact of social policies on client systems, workers, and agencies. (EP3.0.8)
Evaluate research studies and apply findings to practice, and, under supervision, to evaluate their own practice interventions and those of other relevant systems. (EP3.0.9)
Use communication skills differentially with a variety of client populations, colleagues, and members of the community. (EP3.0.10)
Use supervision appropriate to generalist practice. (EP3.0.11)
Function within the structure of organizations and service delivery systems, and under supervision, seek necessary organizational change. (EP3.0.12)
Use social work skills, values and knowledge within the context of our rural environment. (EP3.2)

Course Objectives

Analyze the conflicting relationship between social work values and values entrenched within the social class structure in the US. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 6, 7, ]
Understand the basis of social inequality by understanding the structure of social class in American. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 4, 6,
Understand the linkage between social position, prestige and the social conditions using traditional social science research methods. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 9]
Understand the relationship between producing social change and one's (i.e. client) social class and/or occupation. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 4, 6]
Based on social science research, understand the relationship between wealth and social advantages [Program Objectives 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Understand the relationship a variety of lifestyles (i.e., sexual orientation) and the acquisition of social advantages. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 4, 6, 7]
Understand the social structural components that enable some and inhibit others to improve this social standing in society (including women, cultural [i.e. rural] influences etc.). [Program Objectives 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13]
Understand the relationship of a person's social background (i.e., sex, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, race) and social change. [Program Objectives 2, 4, 6]
Analyze the characteristics of those who are considered to be the social elite and those with political power. [Program Objectives 2, 4, 5, 6]
Understand the concept of class consciousness as a frame of reference to understand the capacity to facilitate personal/social for a client system. [Program Objectives 1, 4, 6, 7, 8]
Understand class conflict. [Program Objectives 4, 6, 7]
Analyze the characteristics of those who are considered to be the underclass and those without political power. [Program Objectives 2,4, 6, 8, 13]
Examine future trends of the American social class structure. [Program Objectives 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 13]

Course Content and Outline of Presentation

Date	Topic	Course Objectives	Activities & Readings	Outcome Measures
Week 1	An Introduction to the concept of social class, social stratification, and injustice in the realm of economics and the social environment. Why are the values inherent within these concepts important for social work practice and the field work experience (SWK 4900 and 4910)? Homework assignments will be addresses on the first day of class. Explanation of the two assignment, In addition, we will have two guest lectures: Michael Alewine will meet with our class in the Library. Introduce students to cutting edge library search technology. Lecture will focus on searching for material that address term paper topics. Be prepared to ask questions regarding your selected topic. Emphasis will be placed on generating relevant scholarly material dealing with policy application, implementation, and service delivery in the rural environment. For the final paper, all students are required to use CQ Researcher, Congressional Universe, Criminal Justice Abstracts, NCLive (which includes EbscoHost, ERIC, First Search, Lexis-Nexis Universe, Proquest, PsycInfo and Social Science Abstracts) MEDLINE, Social Work Abstracts, Statistical Universe, and UnCover. Key sources include: Rural Routes and Human Services in the Rural Environment and the special bibliography with this syllabus. All of this material [and much more] is housed in the UNC-P library! During this same time period, someone from the computer center will discuss Turnitin.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	Guest Lecture Important URL's APA Writing APA citation style (ppt) The OWL at Purdue APA Style at Chapel Hill KEY Search tools Journal Finder Inter Library Loan	Term paper option
Week 2	A guess speaker will discuss grant writing for your agency. She will emphasis a) researching sources of funding; b) conceptualizing, planning and packaging the grant; and c) cultivating grant sources. Take good notes, this material will be of great practical benefit during your career. Review of granting writing, public/private partnerships, accountability, "new federalism"? Organization & delivery of services in rural environment. She has asked students to review the list of grants sources prior to his talk. An important source can be found at the Rural Social Work Web Page.	2, 5, 13	Guest Lecture	Grant option
Week 3	A guest speaker (from the Technology Center) will review Turnitin. Paper options will be reviewed. At this point students will be required to select the grant or term paper option		Guest Lecture	Oral assessment of the past two weeks
Week 4	Film on populations at risk and economic status	1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13	Film and Discussion	Class Participation
Week 5	We will examine social class by examining the historical development of the concept examining the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber. They take divergent views of social class. Part of our introduction is to examine the nine variables that are the key to understanding social class. This information will lay the foundation for developing a deeper understanding of the social environment of social work clients.	1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10	READ: Chapter 1 Action paper for Chapter 1 due	Paper
Week 6 & 7	Oral Assignments and written reports are due on these dates. Your oral report must include an explanation of what library data bases were used. In our lecture, we will revisit the concepts of social position and social prestige which were first introduced in your sociology course. The central focus of our discussion will be on occupation and we'll examine several occupational measures of occupational prestige. Students will be given a homework assignment to measure occupational prestige.	1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12	Oral reports begin in alphabetical order READ: Chapter 2 Action paper for Chapter 2 due	Oral & written report written reports when the student give the oral report
Week 8	Mid term grades will be based on 15% of the assignments which includes class reaction papers and participation (5%) and the oral/written assignment (10%). Although UNCP does not officially meet during week 8, most SWK majors have demanded we have class anyway. Students will vote to determine if they wish to have class during their break.	NA	NA	NA
Week 9	Social Change: We will look at the social meaning and implications for social class. This will be used as a spring board for understanding how and why some people get want they want out of life, while others are denied opportunities. Wealth and Income: Where do people fit in the American class structure. See page 85 to understand how people fit and the skewed distribution of wealth. What is the difference between worrying about not having enough money and not having to give money a second thought? Socialization, Association, Lifestyles and Values: Based on social class, what can a person do, what can a person get out of life. Is domestic violence related to social class?	1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12	Read Chapters 3, 4, 5 Reaction papers for chapters 3, 4, and 5 due	Lecture material will be used in oral reports Class participation
Week 10, 11 & 12	For the oral report representation, complete the top part of the Oral Report Form and submit it prior to making your presentation. What is social mobility? Social mobility is movement from one social class to another. Can people move out of their social class? How difficult is mobility within our class structure? How difficult is social mobility for social work clients?	1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12	Oral reports begin in backwards alphabetical order READ: Chapter 6 Reaction papers for chapter 6 due	Oral & written report written reports when the student give the oral report
Week 13 & 14	Family, Education and Career: Who gets to go to college? Why do some go to college and others don't? What percentage of social work clients have an opportunity to attend college? Elites, Class and Political Power: What is social power? The basic ideas are presented. How do people get to be leaders in our country (i.e., President of the United States)? What in the social class structure affords some people power? Class Consciousness and Conflict: Marx coined the term "class conflict." Do we have class conflict in the United States? The answer to this question lies in our ability to understand the concept of "class consciousness." Do people in general and social work clients specifically have "class consciousness"? Understanding class consciousness is the key to understand social inequality.	1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12	Read Chapters 7, 8, & 9 Reaction papers for chapters 7 8 and 9 due Final paper due Final draft of paper due. April 17 Two hard copies are required. Late papers will be dropped a letter grade. The final draft of the research paper will be included in the student's senior portfolio.	Class participation Final Term paper
Week 15	Social Policy and the "Underclass": What social policy issues prevent social work clients from achieving their economic goals? What are the definitions of poverty, relative poverty, welfare, and poor. What poverty future trends to we see. What is the difference between rural poor and urban poor? American Class -- Growing Inequality: What is the future implications for the study of social and economic justice? How does this effect social work practice?	5, 7, 12, 13	READ: Chapter 10 & 11 Chapter 10 & 11 due	Class participation
	No Final Exam. Term papers returned. All students are required to be present. Failure to appear constitutes an F for the paper.	1-13	Assessment of papers	Term papers or Grant

Final Exam: April 28, 6:30 We will meet with the other section

Texts:
    Required: Gilbert, D. The American Class Structure
    Optional: American Psychological Association. Publication Manual
    Optional: National Association of Social Workers. Social Work Speaks
    Optional: Ross. T. One Land, Three Peoples

About Computer Usage: Social work majors are required to have an email account to submit and receive assignments. Students may apply for an account on Snappy (name of our computer) at no cost. Merely complete the "New User Account" form found at http://www.uncp.edu/ucis/accounts/. To use and check email, go to http://webmail.uncp.edu/.

Assignments:
I. Each students must demonstrate that he/she is reading the text by completing a reaction paper for each chapter. These reaction papers must be handwritten (NOT typed) and will be collected in class on the due date as indicated in the course outline. If the reaction paper does not clearly reflect that the student read the material, zero credit will be given. Half credit will be given for late reaction papers. Any students who fails to complete all assignments will not receive a letter of recommendation from me.

II. Collect a sample of five people who are currently employed between the age of 40 and 65 and are members of a population at risk and interview them. Issues in the interview to address:

Estimate their socioeconomic class by the scale provided (thus you cannot interview someone who is not presented on the scale)..
Ask if he/she has been subjected to discrimination. If the person says no, tactfully prod.
If yes, ask him/her to describe the situation.
Ask him/her to imagine if being a wealthy person faced with the same situation

Your final report must include:

The results (3) of the scale, the name of the population at risk of the interviewee.

A discussion of patterns or lack of patterns of your findings..
Must be typed and submitted on hard copy and disk copy. Maximum of two pages.

III. Students will present an oral report on the process of their research paper. Included in this report will be:

a rough outline of the research paper
a bibliography of relevant citations -- MUST be in APA style
an report on the library data bases used and an problems using them

IV. Write a 10 to 15 page term paper on the relationship between wealth and populations at risk. Must use at least 15 scholarly citations. Your paper is to be typed, double spaced, conform to APA style [your professor will note exceptions in class]. Each student must word process his/her own paper! No newspaper paper articles, news magazine articles, Bible, etc. will be counted as part of the citations. All written work is to reflect appropriate college level work and demonstrate attention to grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and neatness. Students MAY NOT use this paper for any other class nor use a paper from another class for this assignment. Doing so, constitutes cheating!

Student presentations on the final term paper (students will be called in alphabetical order starting with Z) Student will submit typed tentative bibliography, and detailed outline of paper. Students must complete the top section of the Oral Report Form to receive a grade. Students who fail to complete this form will be dropped 5 points.

You are required to submit in a duplicate hard copy and the original. The original will be returned to you on the day scheduled for finals. Your paper must include a cover/title sheet [no page number], an outline page or table of contents [no page number], an abstract [no page number], and a reference page at the end of the paper. Read How I Grade Papers.

I have grown tired of hearing the statement: "There is not enough scholarly material to write a paper." Such statements indicate that students do not know how to use the library. This is an unforgivable offense for any senior. In addition, student need to consider technology problems. Helpful hints: 1) While working on your paper save it and alway create a backup. 2) Give yourself at least two days to print your paper before you are required to submit it -- particularly if you are depending on a campus printer. Students will be dropped a letter grade, even if they face a technology problem. Thus plan to have a technology problem.

With their term papers, students must print and submit their "Turnitin" analysis.

Cell Phone Policy: Students are not permitted to conduct phone conversations during class time. Students are not permitted to have cell ring during class time. Students who use conduct a phone conversation or allow their phones to ring during class time will be drop 10 points on the next quiz or 5 points for their final exam.

Attendance Policy

Attendance and class participation are critical to the learning and integration of materials. Therefore, the Social Work Department has implemented the following policy. There are no excused absences. A student will fail the class upon the seventh absence for day classes and the fourth absence for evening class (for three hours courses). Students are therefore encouraged to be mindful of absences and make every effort to be in attendance. Students are expected to have read assigned material prior to the class. Students are also expected to participate in class discussion, exercises, “minute” papers, and any Blackboard discussions that may be announced. Students are considered in attendance only if present for the entire class. Arriving late or leaving early is disruptive will be dealt with by the instructor. Attendance will be used as a criterion in determining the final grade. (Present 1 point; Tardy 1/2 point; Not present 0 points) For more details see “Class Attendance” in The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Grading: attendance and reaction papers -- 5%; first oral report and paper -- 10%; second oral report -- 15%; final term paper 70%

Grades are not negotiated. A grade will not be changed after the grade is given to the student. On the other hand, if the professor makes a calculation error, students are expected to immediately report the error to the professor. The grading scale is outlined below and is in the Student Social Work Handbook:

A 92-100	B 82-86	C 72-76	D 62-66
A- 90-91	B- 80-81	C- 70-71	D- 60-61
B+ 87-89	C+ 77-79	D+ 67-69	F 0-59

Giving and Taking Help

The practice of social work includes two important concepts: “process” and “outcome”. Outcome is the degree of success in achieving a goal. Process includes the hard work and elf-discipline a social worker employs in achieving a goal. The social work faculty feel that the “process” is as significant as the “outcome”. When one student assists another by sharing projects, term papers, book reports, reaction papers and other assignments, the benefit of the “process” are usurped. The student who recycles the assignments is denied the opportunity to enhance his/her self-discipline and work habits. Simply stated, Don’t share your work with other students. The social work faculty considers such behavior as cheating a violation of the NASW Code of Ethics and a violation of the Student Honor Code. Students have the responsibility to know and observe the UNCP Academic Honor Code..

Plagiarism

The Social Work Program does not permit plagiarism All students enrolled in SWK courses are required to use the APA citation style, anyone caught plagiarizing automatically receive an F. You will loose points on assignments if you do not use APA citation style. APA manuals can be purchased in the bookstore. There is a copy on closed reserve in the library. Also refer to the Library resource for APA . You may also get help from University Writing Center hours during the spring semester are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday. For an appointment, stop by the Writing Center, Dial 131, call 910.521.6168, or email writing@uncp.edu.

Students With Disabilities

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first week) as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please contact Disability Support Services, DF Lowry Building, 910-521-6695.

Child Welfare Waiver Students: Child Welfare Waiver Students must submit a term paper or grant that addresses a child welfare issue.

Portfolio Assignment: The portfolio is an effective tool for measuring a student’s growth and celebrating accomplishments on the continuum of beginning the social work major to the point of entry-level social work employment. The portfolio assignment for this class is term paper or grant. You must keep this assignment and include it in your portfolio which will be graded during SWK 4900/4910. Graded assignments should be revised prior to inclusion in the portfolio. The list of all portfolio assignments can be found in the student handbook.

Bibliography: Click Here

Blackboard Usage: Although SWK 4480 is not designated as a “Blackboard” course, Blackboard is used under two circumstances. First, if the course is cancelled or the professor is unable to attend class and cannot find a replacement, lectures and assignments will be posted on Blackboard. Second, depending on the nature of the course, some quizzes will be posted on Blackboard. Under most circumstances, students will be given a three day window of opportunity to compete the quiz. If a student is kicked off Blackboard during a quiz, he/she is required to immediately email (steve.marson@uncp.edu or smarson@nc.rr.com) or call the instructor (521-6475).