THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
COURSE NO. & SECTION:
SOWO 530 (Section 957)
COURSE TITLE &YEAR:
Foundations of Social Welfare & Social Work
Fall Semester 2014
Winston-Salem Distance Education Program
MEETING TIME:
Friday 9:00 – 11:50 am
INSTRUCTOR:
Dan Hudgins, MSW, ACSW
Tate Turner Kuralt Bldg. Room 118
Phone: 919-962-5163
danhudgins@unc.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
By appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Introduces public welfare policy through lecture and discussion of the
purposes of public welfare and describes the most important programs created by those policies.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: By the end of this course, students will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of current social welfare policies and programs in the U.S. and
the ideals which shaped existing public welfare structures;
2. Identify and describe the social concerns which those structures have or have not been
able to address successfully. Special attention will be given to their impact on various
family types.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of social work and effects of social policy on
historic and contemporary patterns of social welfare service provision;
4. Rigorously evaluate existing research related to social welfare policy and demonstrate
knowledge of the development and implementation of contemporary social welfare policy;
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the values and ethics of social work that guide
professional behavior in the conduct of public policy activities;
6. Demonstrate skill in strategies for advocacy and social change that advance social and
economic justice;
7. Identify conditions that promote or deter equal access to resources for minorities and
women and be able to discuss concerns related to race, disability, gender and sexual
orientation.
SKILLS BASE ADDRESSED: By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the origins and unique characteristics of the social work profession.
2. Assess clients for eligibility for major publicly funded programs and/or benefits.
3. Analyze the effects of social welfare policies on well-being and opportunities for lowerincome individuals and families, as well as for other vulnerable populations.
4. Articulate the underlying values and principles shaping major public welfare policies.
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5. Describe how legislative and administrative policy is made and how to influence policy
development.
Text:
Jimenez, J., Pasztor, E. M., Chambers, R. M., & Fujii, C. P. (2014). Social policy and social
change: Toward the creation of social and economic justice (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage. (Note: this will be referred to as “text” in the assigned readings).
Additional required readings will be posted on Sakai.
TEACHING METHODS AND EXPECTATIONS:
Teaching methods will include lecture, discussion, multimedia presentations, and small group
activities. My perspective is that we all have much to learn AND much to teach. Full
participation is essential to your learning in the class, and will allow you to successfully apply
the course material in a way that is personally and professionally meaningful.
You are expected to attend all classes and to complete the readings before class begins. You
are expected to participate in discussions by sharing information from their reading and/or
field experiences. I ask that you contact me, in advance, if you will miss a class. Any student
with significant difficulty with these requirements should speak with me at the beginning of
the semester so that alternative forms of contribution can be identified.
POLICIES ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN THE CLASSROOM:
I expect that we will all be invested in creating a learning environment of respect and
engagement. Your attention is an important sign of respect to your colleagues, and an
important part of your learning. During class, cell phones should be turned off or silenced. I
welcome the use of laptops in class for taking notes or completing small group tasks.
However, I ask that you use them only for relevant activities – not for checking email or
surfing the Web. Please do not mistakenly assume that others are unaware when you
are doing so!! If distracting use of electronics is observed, I will need to strictly limit their
use to specific times during class.
OVERVIEW OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:
The following is a brief description of assignments – additional detail will be provided:
Social Construction Paper
This 5-6 page paper will assess your integration of readings, class discussions, and personal
thinking about history, social construction, vulnerable groups, and social work practice
addressed in the early part of the course.
Budget Exercise
This exercise is intended to help you learn more about the struggles and dilemmas that
families face to meet their basic needs and the public and private sector resources that may be
available to them. You will be provided with a fictional account of a family living in a North
Carolina county, along with their income and other resources. You will conduct research
(abundant resources will be posted on Sakai) to estimate what the family will require to meet
their basic needs, and what assistance is available from public and private/nonprofit sources.
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You will enter your information on a worksheet (to be provided). Accompanying your
worksheet will be a brief (~ 3 pages) paper addressing your working assumptions, conclusions
about the bottom line, challenges encountered, and learning reflections.
Expert Panels & Advocacy Briefs: Social Welfare & Social Justice Intersections
This assignment will give you the opportunity to develop competence in (a) researching social
policy legislation, (b) analyzing bodies of legislation related to a particular issue, (c)
developing and articulating a position on a given policy, and (d) designing social work
advocacy agendas. Below are brief descriptions of issues to be considered (these are
negotiable, depending on students’ interests):
Disability
Examples of issues: Inclusion, equal rights, employment, education, housing, parenting,
access to care
Examples of legislation: ADA, Ryan White, mental health parity, IDEA
Criminal Justice: Focus on Adults
Examples of issues: Racial profiling & disproportionalities, criminalization of mental
illness &/or homelessness, hate crimes, war on drugs, death penalty
Examples of legislation: Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994); Local
Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009); Racial Justice Act; syringe exchange
policies; death penalty legislation
Criminal Justice: Focus on Youth
Examples of issues: School violence, juvenile sentencing policies, school-to-prison
pipeline
Examples of legislation: Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (2001); Raise
the Age
Family Violence & Child Welfare
Examples of issues: Child abuse (physical, sexual) & neglect, partner violence, adoption
for LGBTQI families, inter-ethnic adoptions, kinship care
Examples of legislation: Adoption & Safe Families Act, sex offender registry laws; Violence
against Women Act; U-Visas; Indian Child Welfare Act; second parent adoption policies
Reproductive Rights & Health
Examples of issues: Abortion, parental consent, teen pregnancy and childbirth, sex
education, reproductive rights in the military
Examples of legislation: Abstinence-only education; TANF provisions re: teen parents;
Burris Amendment; emergency contraception legislation
Immigration
Examples of issues: Migrant worker policies, health care, education, citizenship,
criminalization, amnesty
Examples of legislation: 287 g; DREAM Act; amnesty/refugee resettlement legislation
The assignment has a group component and an individual component, summarized here:
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Group Component/Expert Panel: You will team up with classmates based on shared
interests in social welfare policy issues with significant history, landmark legislation,
continued social injustices, advocacy efforts, & success stories. You will work in teams to
develop a presentation of about 45 minutes that:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Addresses the history or evolution of the social welfare system’s response to
the population
Summarizes multiple perspectives on the issue
Analyzes key legislation relative to the issue (one piece of legislation per
student) -- including political, economic, ethical, and practice dimensions –
critically appraises that legislation in terms of its underlying assumptions and
internal consistency/inconsistency.
Describes advocacy efforts and successes; and
Proposes an agenda for action that is consistent with the NASW Code of Ethics
Individual Component/Advocacy Brief: Focusing on the policy or legislation that you
discussed in the expert panel, you will develop one of the following: (a) a letter to the
editor of a news publication, (b) an editorial, or (c) a fact sheet. Your brief should be
factual and evidence-based, and should clearly articulate a recommendation or position
on the issue. Guidelines for each of the above formats will be provided and discussed.
Assignments will be scored as follows:
Social Construction Paper
Budget Exercise
Expert Panel Presentation
Advocacy Brief
Meaningful Participation
Total:
H:
P:
L:
F:
25 points
25 points
25 points
15 points
10 points
100 points
94 and above
93-80
79-70
69 and below
EXPECTATIONS FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:
You are expected to adhere to appropriate scholarly writing guidelines and to use APA
formatting. A portion of the points for each assignment will be allocated to writing quality.
Please use the writing resources provided at orientation. The web sites listed below provide
additional information:



http://ssw.unc.edu/index.php?q=students/academic/advising (Academic resources
from the School of Social Work, including an APA quick reference guide)
http://www.apastyle.org/apa-style-help.aspx (APA Style basics)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html (general information
about documentation using APA style)
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POLICY ON INCOMPLETES AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day noted. You must notify me at least 3
days before a due date if you would like to request an extension. If this does not happen,
you will lose 5% of the assignment’s points per day (including weekends, and
including the date on which the assignment was due, if submitted after the beginning
of class).
Incompletes may be granted if (a) there are extreme and unforeseeable circumstances that
affect your ability to complete the semester’s work, and (b) you meet with me in advance to
develop a plan and timeline for completing your work.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
I assume that all students follow the UNC Honor Code. Please ensure that the Honor Code
statement “I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance in completing this
assignment”, with your signature, is on all assignments turned in. In keeping with the Honor
Code, if reason exists to believe that academic dishonesty has occurred, a referral will be made
to the Office of the Student Attorney General for investigation and further action as required.
Please refer to the APA Style Guide, the SSW Manual, and the SSW Writing Guide for
information on attribution of quotes, plagiarism, and the appropriate use of assistance in
preparing assignments.
POLICY ON ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
If you have a disability that affects your participation in the course and you wish to receive
accommodations, you should contact the University’s Disabilities Services. They will then
notify me of the documented disability, and we can meet to design the appropriate
accommodations to support your learning.
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CLASS SCHEDULE & ASSIGNED READINGS
Date
Week 1
Aug 22
Week 2
Aug 29
Topics Addressed
Welcome & Overview:
 Introductions, syllabus
 Introduction to social
construction as a lens for
understanding social
welfare policy
Text:
Ch. 1: Introduction
Ch. 2: The Nature of Social Policy (read pp. 1122)
Context & Framework for
Exploring Social Welfare
 Social construction
 Ideology
 Definitions of social
welfare/social justice
Text:
Ch. 3: The Social Work Profession & Social
Justice (read pp. 47-66)
Ch. 4: Historical Values Influencing Social
Problems & Social Policies (skim as
desired; identify values with which
you feel affinity &/or antipathy)
Ch. 6: Oppression & Social Justice in the United
States (read pp. 175-184; skim to p. 210
as desired)
Ch. 7: Income Support Policies & Social Justice
(read pp. 254-257)
History to 1900
 Elizabethan poor laws
 Colonial America
 Civil War era &
aftermath
Week 3
Sept 5
Readings
Due
Articles/Chapters:
Schneider A & Ingram, H. (1993). Social
construction of target populations:
Implications for politics & policy. American
Political Science Review 87(2), 334-347.
Social Work Practice
 Charity organization
societies
 Settlement houses, social
gospel movement
Articles/Chapters:
Thyer, B. A. (2010). Social justice: A conservative
perspective, Journal of Comparative Social
Welfare, 26(2), 261 – 274.
The Progressive Era
 Industrialization
 Social reform
 Social Darwinism
 Eugenics
Text:
Ch. 3: The Social Work Profession & Social
Justice (read pp. 66-72)
Ch. 7: Income Support Policies & Social Justice
(read pp. 257-258)
Social Work Practice
 African American
pioneers
 Social work involvement
in Eugenics
 Professionalization
Articles/Chapters:
Sabbath, T. F. (2001). African Americans &
social work in Philadelphia, 1900–1930. In I.
Carlton-LaNey (Ed.). African American
Leadership: An Empowerment Tradition In
Social Welfare History. Washington, DC:
NASW Press.
Schoen, J. (2011). Reassessing eugenic
sterilization: The case of North Carolina. In
P. Lombardo (Ed.), A Century of Eugenics in
Political perspective inventory
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Date
Topics Addressed
Readings
Due
America: From the Indiana Experiment to the
Human Genome Era (pp. 141-160).
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Optional:
Park, Y. & Kemp, S. (2006). “Little alien
colonies”: Representations of immigrants &
their neighborhoods in social work
discourse, 1875-1924. Social Service Review,
80(4), 705-734.
Week 4
Sept 12
The Great Depression
 New Deal
 Social Security Act
Social Work Practice
 Professionalization,
medicalization,
bureaucratization
 Rank & file movement
Week 5
Sept 19
History
 WWII & postwar America
 “The Great Society”
 Reforms: War on
Poverty, civil rights
 Responses: Federalism,
devolution, “ending
welfare as we know it”
Social Work Practice
Week 6:
Sept 26
Contemporary Social
Welfare Policy
 Rubrics for analysis
 Types of social welfare
Text:
Ch. 3: The Social Work Profession & Social
Justice (read pp. 72-76)
Ch. 7: Income Support Policies & Social Justice
(read pp. 258-265; 282-285)
Text:
Ch. 3: The Social Work Profession & Social
Justice (read pp. 76-90)
Ch. 7: Income Support Policies & Social Justice
(read pp. 265-277)
Articles/Chapters:
Urban Institute (2007). Assessing federalism:
ANF and the recent evolution of American
social policy federalism. Retrieved from:
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411473
_assessing_federalism.pdf (Note: we will
split up responsibility for this article
among students)
Text:
Ch. 2: The Nature of Social Policy (read pp. 2246)
Ch. 7: Income Support Policies & Social Justice
(read pp. 277-297)
Universal Social Welfare
 Social Security
 Medicare
Means-Tested Social
Welfare
 Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF)
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Date
Topics Addressed
Readings
Due
 Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program
(SNAP)
 Supplemental Security
Income (SSI)
 Medicaid
Week 7
Oct 3
Week 8
Oct 10
Poverty in America:
Contemporary Issues
 Poverty definitions &
rates
 The “poverty line” &
critiques (living income
standards)
 Market economy,
capitalism, & poverty
(income inequality)
 Impact of poverty
Approaches to Poverty
Relief
 Market-based approaches
(asset building,
development accounts)
 “Character” or behavioral
approaches
 Public benefit & taxationrelated approaches
 Structural & institutional
approaches
Text:
Ch. 5: The Market Economy & Social Justice
(read pp. 138-156)
Social
Construction
Paper Due
Articles/Chapters:
Berlin, G. (2010). Rethinking welfare in the great
recession: Issues in the reauthorization of
Temporary Aid to Needy Families.
Washington, DC: MDRC.
Sirota, A., Mitchell, T., & Johnson, C. (2014).
Living income standard 2014. NC Justice
Center. Retrieved from
http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=budget-andtax/living-income-standard-2014-boom-lowwage-work-means-many-north-caroliniansdont-make (read pp. 1-11 & skim
remainder as desired)
Text:
Ch. 5: The Market Economy & Social Justice
(read pp. 156-160 and 162-167)
Articles/Chapters:
Cooney, K. & Shanks, T. R. (2010) New
approaches to old problems: Market‐based
strategies for poverty alleviation. Social
Services Review 84(1) 29-56. (Note: we will
split this reading among students).
Rank, M. (2011). Rethinking American poverty.
Contexts (10), 16-21.
Sawhill, I. (2003). The behavioral aspects of
poverty. The Public Interest (153), 79-93.
Optional:
Lim, Y., DeJohn, T. V., & Murray, D. (2012). Free
tax assistance and the Earned Income Tax
Credit: Vital resources for social workers and
low-income families. Social Work, 57(2), 175184.
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Date
Week 9
Oct 24
Topics Addressed
The Health Care Safety Net
 Health disparities
 Healthcare reform & the
Affordable Care Act
Readings
Due
Text:
Ch. 10: Health, Mental Health, & Social Justice
(read pp. 395-428)
Articles/Chapters:
Horton, S. (2006). The double burden on safety
net providers: Placing health disparities in
the context of the privatization of health
care in the US. Social Science & Medicine,
63(10), 2702-2714.
Keefe, R. H. (2010). Health disparities: A primer
for public health social workers. Social
Work in Public Health, 25(3/4), 237-257.
Woolf, S.H., & Braveman, P. (2011). Where
health disparities begin: The role of social
and economic determinants and why
current policies may make matters worse.
Health Affairs, 30, 1852 - 1859.
Week 10
Oct 31
The Mental Health &
Substance Abuse Safety Net
 MH reform in North
Carolina
 Intersections with
criminal justice & other
safety net systems
Text:
Ch. 10: Health, Mental Health, & Social Justice
(read pp. 428-440)
Articles/Chapters:
Baillargeon, J., Hoge, S., & Penn, J. V. (2010).
Addressing the challenge of community
reentry among released inmates with serious
mental illness. American Journal of
Community Psychology, 46(3/4), 361-375.
Newman, S., & Goldman, H. (2008). Putting
housing first, making housing last: housing
policy for persons with severe mental illness.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 165(10), 12421248
Week 11
Nov 7
Housing & Food Security
 Homelessness
 Food Insecurity &
Hunger
Text:
Ch. 8: Housing & Social Justice
Budget
Assignment
Due
Chilton, M., & Rose, D. (2009). A rights-based
approach to food insecurity in the United
States. American Journal of Public Health, 99,
1203–1211.
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Date
Topics Addressed
Readings
Due
Libal, K. Tomczak, S. M., Spath, R., & Harding, S.
(2004). Hunger in a “Land of Plenty”: A
renewed call for social work action.
(Commentary). Social Work doi:
10.1093/sw/swu029
Week 12
Nov 14
Policies Impacting Children
& Families
 Child maltreatment &
child welfare
 Disproportionalities &
disparities
 Issues related to
marginalized groups
(American Indian, LGBT)
Text:
Ch. 9: Child Welfare Policies & Social Justice
Articles/Chapters:
Haskins, R., Paxson, C., & Brooks-Gunn, J.
(2009). Social science rising: A tale of
evidence shaping public policy. Princeton,
NJ: The Future of Children. Retrieved from
http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren
/publications/docs/19_02_PolicyBrief.pdf
National Conference of State Legislatures (2013).
The US Supreme Court and the Indian Child
Welfare Act. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/issuesresearch/tribal/the-supreme-court-and-theindian-child-welfare-act.aspx
Norris, C. (2013). Dirty secret no. 1 in
Obamacare. Retrieved from
http://townhall.com/columnists/chucknorri
s/2009/08/11/dirty_secret_no_1_in_obamacar
e/page/full
Week 13
Nov 21
Policy Advocacy & Activism
Articles/Chapters:
Faulkner, A., & Lindsey, A. (2004). Grassroots
meets homophobia: A rocky mountain
success story. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social
Services, 16(3/4), 113-128.
Figueira-McDonough, J. (1993). Policy practice:
The neglected side of social work
intervention. Social Work, 38(2), 179-188.
Expert Panel Presentations
Friday,
Dec 5
Letter to Editor, Editorial, or Fact Sheet Due via Email
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