SWO-403 Social Policy, Communities, and Organizations

This course focuses on the context of macro social work, defined as policy practice, community practice, and organizational administration and management. This course will familiarize students with each of these practice environments by grounding them in the relevant historical and contemporary background of social work and social welfare policy; and then focusing on the theoretical frameworks and evidence-informed practice models for organizational and community engagement, assessment, and intervention.

This course will underscore the responsibility that social workers have to understand and address the systemic factors that create circumstances of social, economic, and environmental injustice, with specific attention to the complexity of practice contexts and the influence of power and privilege on human rights. Students will learn strategies for social work at the macro level (i.e., policy, communities, and organizations) to influence, formulate, and advocate for social change related to social injustices based upon, but not exclusive to, race, ethnicity, language, class, religion, gender identity, sexuality, ability, citizenship status, age, and nationality. Throughout the course, examples will be drawn from local, national, and international contexts.