Infusing Content on Oppression into the Social Work Curriculum

Abstract

The 2003 Council on Social Work Education standards of accreditation mandated the inclusion of course content to educate students about the systemic factors that contribute to populations being at risk of oppression, as well as strategies to redress them. In response to that mandate, this article discusses oppression in its biopsychosocial complexity and suggests ways that confronting oppression can be integrated into the core curriculum of social work.     

Infusing Content on Older People with Developmental Disabilities into the Curriculum

Although older people with developmental disabilities (OPDD) are living longer than before and appearing more often as clients of social workers, this population has not been included in the growing effort to prepare social work students for practice with older clients. This article explores the issues unique to OPDD and their families. Using a model based on an ecological perspective, it indicates appropriate content on OPDD for infusion into social work curricula at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem levels. It also suggests relevant content for four foundation sequences.     

Critical Variables for Infusing Community Content into a Clinical Program

ABSTRACT

This empirical study seeks to identify effective methods for infusing community material into a clinical social work program. It draws from Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 1995b) and the Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska, DiClemente, &;Norcross, 1992) to guide implementation. Based on qualitative and quantitative data from a variety of sources, the results identify variables critical in the change process and some preliminary outcomes of that change. Findings suggest that teaching community content can be enhanced through developing a pool of outside community guest speakers and field trips, addressing the varying faculty development needs of professors teaching macro and micro social work courses, and defining and redefining the concept of community during implementation and change processes.     

Incorporating Content on Offenders and Corrections into Social Work Curricula

This article presents suggestions for incorporating content on adult offenders and corrections across diverse curriculum areas, including human behavior in the social environment, practice, research, and social welfare policy. Social work educators are provided with guiding principles for work with offenders and with many concrete strategies for integrating material on this often forgotten population into already existing courses.     

Infusing Career Development to Strengthen Middle School English Language Arts Curricula

An approach is presented for strengthening middle school standards‐based English language arts (ELA) classroom instruction by infusing theory‐ and research‐supported career development constructs and practices. Over an 8‐week period, 90 urban 7th graders participated in an integrated ELA–career development curriculum. Career agency emerged as an important construct for students. It was related to key markers of ELA achievement (i.e., standardized test scores, grades, and positive change in 6th‐ to 7th‐grade test scores) and elaborated on in nuanced ways by students in their written narratives. Four themes related to career agency were identified in student writings: time perspective, challenges of self‐direction, career development, and social and emotional development. Advantages for students and schools related to synergy, scale, and sustainability are discussed.     

Infusing Integrated Behavioral Health in an MSW Program: Curricula,Field, and Interprofessional Educational Activities

ABSTRACT

An essential aspect of integrated care is the coordination of medical and behavioral health needs concurrently. This has sparked renewed emphasis on interprofessional (IP) education and practice. The impetus for IP efforts was crystalized in large part because of health care reforms, and federal funding to expand the behavioral health work force. Using an ecological systems perspective, this article describes how one school is preparing a new generation of MSW students to work in integrated behavioral health care using a three-pronged approach involving curricula, field education, and IP activities. Social work education must ensure that new and experienced professionals can (a) understand the profession’s role in IP health care settings, and (b) navigate an evolving and complex health care environment.     

Infusing Financial Capability and Asset Building Content Into a Community Organizing Class

As social work’s fight for social and economic justice returns to its historical attention to finances, faculty are called to infuse financial capability and asset building (FCAB) content into their classes. Given few published models, this study contributes a redesign that infuses FCAB in a community organization course, with additional attention to Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning experiences. Results of a pre- and posttest survey suggest an overall pattern of students’ increased interest in further learning about FCAB, understanding its importance to social work, confidence about helping clients with FCAB, likelihood of offering to help a client to manage her or his household finances, and changes to students’ own financial practices.     

Social Work and the Natural Environment: Embedding Content Across Curricula

Social work is a profession focused on people within their environments. This is reflected in codes of ethics, where our shared mandate is to work towards individual wellbeing and social change. Recently, social work literature has promoted green and eco-social work, drawing on climate change science, notions of expanded and future justice, knowledge of the link between health and the environment, and principles of deep ecology. However, if social workers are to take up their place in a rapidly changing, globalised world, rife with environmental concerns, their education must prepare them to do this. One way of doing this is to embed curriculum on social work in relation to the natural environment in already existing units. This paper describes two examples of how this could be done based on the authors’ experiences from their respective universities.

IMPLICATIONS

• It is incumbent on social work to respond to the mounting evidence related to the environmental crisis.

• Social work is well placed in terms of theory, values, and skills to lead the way in developing an eco-social paradigm of potential relevance across disciplines.

• Social work educators need to educate students about emerging issues, such as environmental degradation. Embedding material in already existing courses, as per examples provided in this paper, provides one way of doing this.

     

Infusing Web-Based Content Centers into an M.S.W. Curriculum: A Faculty and Student Development Project

ABSTRACT

Web-based content centers are collections of scholarly digital resources that can be used to support learning in a variety of contexts. Through a recent pilot project, faculty created web-based content centers to support key curriculum areas of an M.S.W. program. Additionally the project aimed at developing technology skills of faculty designers and student users of course support materials. Positive student learning outcomes and increased faculty use of technology resulted. Project outcomes also included the building of virtual learning communities.     

Toussaint L’Ouver-Who? An Anthropological Approach to Infusing the African Diaspora into Caribbean History

Abstract

World history curriculum continues to be plagued by Eurocentric narratives and perspectives eliminating local and community agency in Caribbean history. Textbooks and curriculum standards exclude much of Caribbean history and marginalize the influence and contributions of the African Diaspora. Oftentimes, Caribbean achievements are attributed to European influence and not the local community as seen with the Haitian Revolution and diffusion of the European Enlightenment. African culture and syncretic Haitian religion however, heavily contributed to the inspiration of revolution by African slaves in Haiti. This article explores ways educators can infuse the African Diaspora into Caribbean history through anthropology. Using an ethnographic lens to examine the Haitian Revolution, Haitian Voudou, and Toussaint L’Ouverture presents a new way educators can teach about this pivotal event and society in World History.     

The Selection of Knowledge from the Behavioral Sciences and its Integration into Social Work Curricula

Evidence of discrimination is seen in the disparity with which ethnic minorities, particularly Blacks and Chicanos, experience “equal opportunities” in administrative positions. This study explores the significance of these phenomena for Black and Chicano administrators and the implications for social work education. The findings show that they perceive themselves as being required to have greater job entrance capabilities than their Anglo peers, receiving less organizational support than their Anglo peers, having less intrinsic authority than their Anglo peers, having limited channels for communication, and having limited opportunities for upward movement in comparison with their Anglo peers.     

Integrating Narrative Approaches into Clinical Curricula: Addressing Diversity through Understanding

Abstract

Academic programs in clinical social work often focus on either psychodynamic or systemic approaches. Narrative approaches grounded in postmodern theory also merit attention, as they are well suited for the diverse populations served by social workers. In narrative approaches, practitioners help clients to deconstruct and reconstruct their own life stories, and thereby to empower themselves. This paper compares narrative approaches with psychodynamic and systemic approaches, and suggests ways to integrate their coverage into curricula built around the dominant traditional approaches.     

Strengthening the Systemic Ties that Bind: Integrating Common Factors into Marriage and Family Therapy Curricula

Specific models guide the training of marriage and family therapists (MFTs) as they offer both structure and organization for both therapists and clients. Learning models may also benefit therapists‐in‐training by instilling confidence and preventing atheoretical eclecticism. The moderate common factors perspective argues that models are essential, but should not be taught as “the absolute truth,” given there is no evidence for relative efficacy of one empirically validated model versus another, and no single model works in all instances. The following article provides a blueprint for infusing a common factors perspective into MFT programmes by reviewing innovations in course design, outlining specific teaching strategies, and highlighting potential implementation challenges.     

Anti-Semitism and Identification of Jewish Group Membership from Photographs

Early literature found that holding more anti-Semitic attitudes positively predicted ability to discern whether a photograph was of a Jewish or non-Jewish person. This contradicts the well established finding that interpersonal sensitivity is generally associated with healthy psychological characteristics. In five new, previously unpublished studies we found that this relation was negative, such that more prejudiced individuals were now less accurate than less prejudiced individuals at a similar task, consistent with the general finding. A meta-analysis of all the studies showed that time was a significant moderator of the relation. Possible reasons for the temporal change are discussed.

Organized Anti-Semitism in Contemporary Ukraine: Structure,Influence and Ideology

In the wake of the Orange Revolution, Ukraine has witnessed a substantial growth in organized anti-Semitism. Central to this development is an organization, known as the Interregional Academy of Human Resources, better known by its Ukrainian acronym MAUP. It operates a well-connected political network that reaches the very top of the Ukrainian society. MAUP is the largest private university in Ukraine, with 57,000 students at 24 regional campuses. MAUP is connected to the KKK; David Duke is teaching courses in history and international relations at the university. Funded by Saudi Arabia, Libya and Iran, MAUP’s printing house publishes about 85% of the anti-Semitic literature in Ukraine. Until very recently, Ukrainian President Yushchenko and Foreign Minister Tarasiuk served on its board; former President Kravchuk still does. This paper is a study of anti-Semitism in Ukraine, of its intellectual roots, influence and strength. It traces the Soviet, Christian, German and racist political traditions and outlines the political ambitions of organized anti-Semitism in post-Orange Revolution Ukraine.     

Infusing Life and Vitality Into Career Counseling Classes

Familiarizing prospective counselors with basic career information resources is one of the primary goals of most career counseling classes. This article illustrates a series of novel activities that can be used to introduce students to standard career resources.     

The political process and the Jews in Britain

Muslim migration to Australia took place over three distinct periods – the Colonial, the ‘White Australia’ and the Multicultural periods. This article discusses the settlement issues of Muslims during the ‘White Australia’ period (1901–73). It particularly focuses on five distinct ethnic groups – Indians, Afghans, Malays, Javanese and Albanians – in Queensland and Western Australia. It questions whether these groups were treated ‘differently'because of their Islamic beliefs. The study draws upon both primary and secondary sources, including archival materials and oral testimonies. From the evidence presented, it is clear that a hardening attitude against Muslims has been apparent and that historical antipathies and long-lived antipathies have grown in the specific context of the current geopolitical climate