Social Work Methods With Individuals and Families

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Compare their personal values and ethics and those of the social work profession to identify possible areas of conflict and inform their management of ethical dilemmas.
• Use the NASW Code of Ethics and at least one model of ethical decision making to guide their professional practice.
• Use supervision to guide professional judgement and practice.
• Recognize that people are experts on their own lives and describe how diversity and differences shape the life experience of their clients.
• Use self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of their personal biases and values when working with diverse clients.
• Research appropriate intervention approaches for a particular case to guide their choice of interventions and provide a research-informed rationale for their choice.
• Apply knowledge of social policy to critically assess the impact of policy and policy change on individuals, families, and/or groups with which they may be working.
• Use the empowerment strengths-based and person-in-environment models to engage with individuals and families.
• Use effective interpersonal skills to engage with people of different backgrounds and cultures and recognize cultural strengths.
• Conduct a multidimensional assessment including level of functioning, needs, strengths, and safety and critically analyze the information to develop mutually agreed-upon goals in work with individuals and families.
• Select and implement an intervention approach with a client system to achieve agreed-upon goals, including use of advocacy and community resources, as appropriate.
• Design a plan to evaluate practice outcomes.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
In-Class Participation & Attendance	20%
Discussion Boards & Quizzes	15%
Podcast Recording + Transcript: Ethical and Reflective Social Work Practice	15%
Psychosocial Assessment/Social History	15%
Narrated Slide Deck: Engage, Assess, & Intervention Goals	15%
Mock Supervision Session: Intervention and Evaluation Plan	20%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
95% - 100%	A
90% - 94%	A-
87% - 89%	B+
83% - 86%	B
80% - 82%	B-
77% - 79%	C+
73% - 76%	C
70% - 72%	C-
67% - 69%	D+
63% - 66%	D
60% - 62%	D-
59% and below	F

Attendance/Participation:

Attending classes is always important, but for a skills practice class, it is essential. Social work is a practice-based profession where reliability and presence are essential. Regular attendance mirrors real-world expectations in clinical and agency settings. Excellent attendance means attending each class on time for its entirety. Given the once-a-week format, each class represents a substantial portion of the course. Attendance is weighted accordingly to reflect its impact on learning. This course is designed to be interactive and discussion based. Attendance ensures students benefit from the full learning experience, not just the readings.

Since this class meets only once a week it is imperative that you do not miss classes. Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes, having prepared themselves by reading the text and other assigned readings. UNCG Policy notes that students can miss up to two classes for religious reasons, if students give sufficient notice of being absent for this reason. Otherwise, Attendance is mandatory (i.e. no excused absences). It is also expected that students will contribute actively to the overall classroom learning experiences through significant class participation.

Please do not be absent more than two times - this will influence your final grade in the following way: 3 days absent = 5 points off, 4+ days absent = Decrease in letter grade. More than 5 days a student will be administratively withdrawn from the course.

For classes that meet one time a week, students should not miss three days or more of classes. Students missing three plus days may be administratively withdrawn from the course. Students need to be mindful and aware of how many classes they are missing and that the instructor reserves the right to administratively withdraw students who have missed three or more days.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Miley, K.K., O’Melia, M., & DuBois, B. (2022). Generalist social work practice: An empowering approach (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon (Pearson).