Social Work Courses
Courses
Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: [TCCN SOCW 2361] Introduction to the human service delivery system in the United States, with an emphasis on the social work profession: its mission, philosophy, ethics, values, diverse fields, and ethnocultural perspectives. Observations of social service agencies and guest speakers provide a career orientation to the social work profession.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Social Welfare Policy and Services I: [TCCN SOCW 2362] Examination of the historical evolution of social welfare and the social work profession, with focus on the social policies which comprise the foundation of the welfare state in the United States. Present patterns of social welfare services will also be examined. Emphasis on the historical evolution of contemporary social problems in the borderlands region. Oppression, discrimination, justice, immigration issues and policies, and their impact on diverse populations at risk will be explored.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2310 w/C or better)
Human Behavior and Social Environment I (3-0) Designed to introduce beginning social work students to some mainstream theoretical explanations by which to view individuals, groups, and families. Students will be given an opportunity to compare traditional mainstream models with newer alternative paradigms that focus on human growth and development from a strengths perspective. Special emphasis is placed on issues of culture, race, ethnic diversity, racism, sexism, ageism, and disabling mental or physical conditions. Prerequisites: SOWK 2310 with a grade of "C" or better.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2310 w/C or better)
Students will engage in independent work for 1 credit through one of two pathways: state of the art study or participate in research.
Department: Social Work
1 Credit Hour
1 Total Contact Hour
0 Lab Hours
0 Lecture Hours
1 Other Hour
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
An analysis of current major issues and problems formulation of social welfare policies on the local, state, and federal levels in the United States. Social security, health, education, public welfare and income maintenance, immigration, and international agreements will be highlighted. The impact of various welfare policies upon Hispanics and other at risk populations in the borderlands region. Application of strategies of change will be emphasized. Prerequisites: SOWK 2320 with a grade of "C" or better.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2320 w/C or better)
Culturally Grounded Social Work (3-0) This course covers emerging trends in cultural competence and adaptation, and the culturally grounded perspective from a standpoint of intersectionality. Students will examine the impact of discrimination, oppression, and economic deprivation on disenfranchised populations and theoretical and historical perspectives on racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, ageism, ableism, and other forms of discrimination and powerlessness with an emphasis on social work in the U.S.-Mexico Border region. Students will develop awareness of their own culture and attitudes, beliefs, and responses to diversity within the context of professional social work values and culturally responsive practice. Prerequisite: SOWK 2310 with a grade of C or higher.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2310 w/C or better)
Corequisite(s):
Human Behavior and Social Environment II (3-0) Designed to introduce beginning social work students to various theoretical models by which to view how groups, communities, and organizations interface and interact with the social environment. Students will also examine various theoretical models of poverty, particularly as these influence social welfare policies and/or affect the delivery of social services to impoverished populations. Prerequisites: SOWK 2331 with a grade of "C" or better.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2331 w/C or better)
Social Work with LGBTQI: This course focuses on providing information and skills to allow social workers to provide culturally competent service to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in the Border region. This course will provide students with advanced social work knowledge, skills, and values needed for practice with sexual minority populations at the individual, family, group, organization, and community levels. Students learn about the history and contemporary mechanisms of oppression constraining people of marginalized gender identities and sexual identities in order to create social change and promote social justice in practice settings and policy work.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Social Work with Military Families Students will gain familiarity with the issues and resources available to address issues of individuals and families affiliated with the US military. Formal and informal military structures, including benefits structures, military culture, active duty, reserve and retired military structures will be explored. The history of social work within the military will be examined. Issues related to discrimination and oppression within the military will be discussed. Ethical concerns that emerge from social work practice with military families will be addressed.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Social Work and Aging: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (3-0) An examination of the needs and concerns of the aging person in society from a social/cultural/physiological/emotional perspective and of methods used to address those needs and concerns. Emphasis will be on advocacy, case management, networking, and direct care methods, and their application to Hispanics and other diverse populations in the borderlands region.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Social Work with Native American Population This course utilizes lecture, film, guest presentations, readings and assignments, and active discussion to achieve learning objectives. Students are expected to read all assignments, and should be prepared to discuss them actively during class sessions. Grades are based primarily on quality of participation, weekly readings and journal entries, periodic news summaries, and an independent research project. Participation in classroom discussion is essential. This course will explore historical events and culture relative to Native Americans and how this impacts the practice of social work with this border population.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Health and Environment: Planning for Sustainability: The course aims to create an interdisciplinary approach to examine the links between the environment (physical, natural, and social) and the physical and mental health of individuals and the communities they live in. Touching on the fields of public health, social work, and urban planning planning, the fundamental idea of the course is to explore the relationship between these three fields and to illustrate that how and what we build has tremendous influence in how we live and how we maintain our physical and mental well-being. Students in various disciplines will understand these links and formulate responses and solutions based on their understanding of their respective fields. The course will examine national perspectives with emphasize on issues affecting the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez border region.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Diagnostic Systems for Generalist Social Work (3-0). Survey of the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association with an emphasis on preparation of BSW students for licensure examinations. Ethical issues associated with use of classification systems will be presented within the context of alternative interpretation of human behaviors from diverse cultural perspectives. Prerequisite: SOWK 3355.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 3355 w/C or better)
Assessment & Intervention (In Spanish) The development of skills and a theoretical basis for advanced social work practice with Spanish dominant clients using Spanish language and conducting assessments and interventions that are culturally and linguistically competent.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
This is the first of three generalist practice courses designed to provide entry level theory, knowledge, research, values and skills for social work practice with individuals. Self-awareness, problem solving, interviewing, professional relationships, intervention planning and skills, and ethics are included. An ethnocultural perspective with particular focus on the borderlands region is emphasized. Pre-internship volunteer experience required. Prerequisite: SOWK 2310 AND SOWK 2331 with a grade of "C" or better; SOWK 2331 may be taken concurrently.
Generalist Social Work Practice II (3-0) This is the second of three generalist practice courses designed to provide entry level theory, knowledge, research, values, and skills for social work practice with groups and families. This course continues to build on the problem solving model, intervention methods, and planning introduced in Social Work 3355. An ethnocultural perspective with particular focus on the borderlands region is emphasized. Prerequisites: SOWK 3355 with a grade of "C" or better.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 3355 w/C or better)
Special Issues in Social Work (3-0) Professional concerns and issues of social work will be selected by the instructor dependent on student needs. Students may repeat this course if the focus of the course differs.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Students will engage in independent work through one of two pathways: state of the art study or participate in research. Prerequisites: departmental approval.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
0 Lecture Hours
3 Other Hours
Research Methods in Social Work (4-0). This class will provide students with an understanding of various processes for building knowledge for practice and for evaluation of service delivery. The concept and processes of evidence-based practice as utilized in social work will be learned and applied. Ethical standards, use of critical thinking, and writing skills will be emphasized. Theoretical constructs for conducting culturally sensitive, quantitative/qualitative research in the borderlands region will be examined. Prerequisite: SOWK 2310 with a grade of "C" or better AND (PSYC 1301 or SOCI 2312 or STAT 1380 or MATH 1342 with a grade of "C" or better).
Department: Social Work
4 Credit Hours
4 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
4 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2310 w/C or better ) AND (PSYC 1301 w/C or better ) OR (SOCI 2312 w/C or better ) OR (STAT 1380 w/C or better ) OR (MATH 1342 w/C or better)
Corequisite(s):
A capstone seminar that enables students to integrate the theory, knowledge, values, skills, ethics, and ethnocultural competence of generalist social work practice. Corequisite: SOWK 4380. Prerequisites: Admission to Field Education; SOWK 3320 and SOWK 3341 and SOWK 3358 with a grade of "C" or better.
A capstone seminar that enables students to integrate the theory, knowledge, values, skills, ethics and ethnocultural competence of generalist social work practice. Emphasis will include an evaluation of one's own practice. Corequisite: SOWK 4390. Prerequisites: SOWK 4281 AND SOWK 4380 with a grade of "C" or better.
Students will enroll in Honors Field Education Seminar I that is an accelerated seminar covering content in both SOWK 4281 and 4282. It is an alternative to SOWK 4281. Prerequisites: SOWK 2320 AND SOWK 2331 AND SOWK 3320 AND SOWK 3325 AND SOWK 3341 AND SOWK 3355 AND SOWK 3358 AND SOWK 3430, each w/grade of B or better.
Department: Social Work
2 Credit Hours
2 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
2 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 2320 w/B or better AND SOWK 2331 w/B or better AND SOWK 3320 w/B or better AND SOWK 3325 w/B or better AND SOWK 3341 w/B or better AND SOWK 3355 w/B or better AND SOWK 3358 w/B or better AND SOWK 3430 w/B or better)
Students will enroll in Honors Field Education Seminar II that is an advanced, skills-based field seminar. It is an alternative to SOWK 4282. Prerequisite: SOWK 4283 w/grade of B or better.
Department: Social Work
2 Credit Hours
2 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
2 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 4283 w/B or better)
Social Work in Health Care Health is a central issue in all people's live. It cuts across all the domains of social work practice with individuals, families and communities. Issues of health will often surface, regardless of practice setting. This course will serve as an introduction to social work practice in health. We will examine the health care system, managed care, health care financing, complementary and alternative medicine, ethics, social epidemiology and different health issues in relation to social work practice. Consistent with the mission of our School, we will emphasize border health issues.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
This is the third of the three generalist practice courses designed to provide entry-level theory, knowledge, research, values, and skills for social work solving model, intervention methods, and planning introduced with SOWK 3355 and SOWK 3358 with an emphasis on community development skills and strategies of change. An ethnocultural perspective with particular focus on the borderlands region is emphasized. Prerequisites: SOWK 3320 and SOWK 3341 and SOWK 3358 with a grade of "C" or better.
Generalist Field Instruction I (0-0-3) is the first of two field-based practicum experiences. Students complete 240 practicum hours of supervised learning experience in selected social welfare agencies. A weekly seminar (SOWK 4381) accompanies this course, facilitating students' integration and application of social work theory and practice skills in a field setting. A multi-cultural perspective is emphasized. Prerequisites: Admission to Field Education.
Generalist Field Seminar I: SOWK 4381 is a capstone seminar that enables students to integrate the theory, knowledge, values, skills, ethics, and ethno cultural competence with emphasis on borderland of generalist social work practice.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
1 Lab Hour
2 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 3320 w/C or better AND SOWK 3355 w/C or better AND SOWK 3358 w/C or better AND SOWK 3430 w/C or better)
Corequisite(s): SOWK 4380
Generalist Field Seminar II: SOWK 4381 is a capstone seminar that enables students to integrate the theory, knowledge, values, skills, ethics, and ethno cultural competence with emphasis on borderland of generalist social work practice.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
1 Lab Hour
2 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 4380 w/S or better AND SOWK 4381 w/C or better)
Corequisite(s): SOWK 4390
Honors Field Seminar I: SOWK 4383 is an advanced capstone seminar for students enrolled in the BSW Honors Program. It enables students to integrate the theory, knowledge, values, skills, ethics, and ethno cultural competence with emphasis on borderland of generalist social work practice.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 3320 w/C or better AND SOWK 3341 w/C or better AND SOWK 3355 w/C or better AND SOWK 3358 w/C or better)
Corequisite(s): SOWK 4380
Honors Field Seminar II: The development of advanced skills and a theoretical basis for advanced social work practice is consistent with honors-level clinical performance in a BSW Program. It more effectively prepares BSW students to enter at a more advanced level of MSW coursework. Students will learn and apply more advanced communication skills, practice models, assessments, and interventions, and to develop more in-depth worker-client relationships that are necessary to more advanced therapeutic interventions. These practice skills will be addressed at the individual and family level of clinical practice.
Department: Social Work
3 Credit Hours
3 Total Contact Hours
0 Lab Hours
3 Lecture Hours
0 Other Hours
Major Restrictions:
Restricted to majors of BSWK, SOWK
Classification Restrictions:
Restricted to class of JR,SR
Prerequisite(s): (SOWK 4380 w/S or better AND SOWK 4383 w/B or better)
Corequisite(s): SOWK 4390
Generalist Field Instruction II (0-0-3) is the second of two field-based practicum experiences. Students complete 240 practicum hours of supervised learning experience in selected social welfare agencies. A weekly seminar (SOWK 4382) accompanies this course, facilitating students' integration and application of social work theory and practice skills in a field setting. A multi-cultural practice perspective is emphasized.