UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA
SCHOOL OF JUSTICE STUDIES AND SOCIAL WORK
SOW 4242
Families and Family Treatment
3 credits- Spring, 2011
Instructor: Karen Adams, LCSW
Email: kadams@uwf.edu
Phone: 474-2331
Fax: 474-2334
Office: bldg 85, room 141
Class Meeting Time: online forum
Office Hours: By appointment
Classroom: n/a
Course Description: This course is designed with a definition and understanding of
contemporary family forms and family function, both normative and in crisis, and introduces
modalities for assisting troubled families. This course also addresses such issues as: the impact
of the family life cycle, strategies and goals of family treatment, single-parent families, gay and
lesbian couples and families, and families with chronically and terminally ill members, to name a
few.
Text: Collins, D., Jordan, C., Coleman, H., (2007). An introduction to family social work (2rd
ed.). Belmont, CA. Thomson, Brooks/Cole, Publishers.
Course Outline: This class schedule is tentative and subject to change. Changes will be
announced in class and posted in elearning on the News page.
Date
Course Material / Assignments
Jan. 10-14
Defining Family Social Work and Families
Jan. 18-21
Readings: Chapter 1 and 2
Preparing for the first family meeting
Jan. 24-28
Reading: Chapter 3
The beginning stage of family treatment
Reading: Chapter 4
Online Quiz over chapters 1-4 and power-point lectures
Jan. 31- Feb. 4
Quiz open Monday, Jan. 31st at 8:00 a.m. and will close on
Friday, Feb. 4th at 11:59 p.m.
Feb. 9-11
Family Assessments
Readings: Chapter 5 and 6
Feb.7-11
Assessing Family Development and Life Stages
Reading: Chapter 7
Genogram due on Feb. 11th
Feb. 14-18
Assessing Family Strengths and Resilience
Feb. 21-25
Reading: Chapter 8 & 9
Family Assessment
Feb. 28-March 4
Online Quiz 2 Covers chapters 5-9 and power-point lectures
Quiz 2 open from March 12-15th
March 7-11
Intervening with Families
March 14-18
SPRING BREAK!
March 21-25
Reading: Chapter 10
March 28-April 1
Intervening with couples, parents and children
Readings: Chapter 11 and 12
April 4-8
Course Evaluations
Termination with Families
Reading: Chapter 13
April 11-15
April 18-22
Presentations
Presentations
Online Quiz 3 Covers chapters 10-13, power-points and
presentations
Quiz 3 open from April 25th-29th
Student Learning Outcomes: Through reading, exams, presentations, experiential activities,
videos and written assignments, the student will demonstrate his or her knowledge or skills of the
following:
1. A historical background on individual and family treatment.
2. Theoretical approaches to family treatment and systems approach
3. The impact of the family life cycle and family development, including stressors on family
functioning;
4. Commonly used terms and definitions in family social work.
5. Intervention strategies used when working with culturally sensitive families such as singleparent families, gay and lesbian families, families of poverty, families of color, violent families
and substance abuse.
6. Family social worker, agencies, and their responsibilities.
7. Practical aspects of family social work.
8. Family preservation principles and intensive family preservation service models.
9. Ethics, values and the law.
Teaching Philosophy and Classroom Structure. This course will combine lectures, videos,
class discussions, lectures, written assignments, research, and exams to assist students
understand information related to families and family treatments. Students are encouraged to ask
questions and participate in class, on-line and group discussions.
UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA AND DIVISION OF SOCIAL WORK POLICIES
Withdrawal, Change of Grades, and Grades of Incomplete. Refer to the UWF catalog for
policy and procedures. Students should not assume the instructor will submit and incomplete
grade if this has not been discussed and agreed upon prior to grades being submitted. A contract
between the student and instructor is required before an incomplete grade can be assigned.
Special Technology Utilized by Students. Students will use technology including elearning
(D2L), email, and word processing. They will also be expected to conduct scholarly research in
electronic databases.
Expectations for Academic Conduct
Plagiarism. Students are expected to abide by the University of West Florida Plagiarism Policy.
Those found plagiarizing the work of others will receive an "F" in the course and may be subject
to suspension from the university. The Plagiarism Policy may be found at the following website:
http://uwf.edu/StudentAffairs/division/publications/PlagBroch.pdf
National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. The NASW Code of Ethics will be
followed. Students will especially honor client confidentiality when involved in agency based
assignments. The NASW Code of Ethics is found at the following website:
https://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/default.asp
Student Code of Ethics. The University of West Florida Student Academic Conduct and Code
of Ethics can be found at the following site:
http://nautical.uwf.edu/unitapp/publication/Pub.cfm?PubFormatID=759
Students with Special Needs. Students with special needs regarding access and completion of
exams and assignments should inform the professor the first week of class and make
arrangements as necessary with Student Services and the instructor. Information for students
with special needs is available on page 14 from the Student Handbook at
http://nautical.uwf.edu/unitapp/publication/Pub.cfm?PubFormatID=759
Use of APA Style. Unless otherwise instructed the American Psychological Associations style
manual will be followed for all written assignments in the Department of Social Work.
Standing of Social Work Majors. Social Work majors are required to complete all core courses
with a grade of C to be eligible for entry into Field Instruction and graduation.
Generalist Practice. Generalist practice means that social workers must be able to work with
systems of various sizes: individual, small groups, community, and organizations. Generalist
practitioners use an eclectic theoretical base. This means that they are comfortable with several
different research-based theories of practice and can apply these to best meet the needs of the
client system. Generalist practice uses a problem solving approach (assessment, planning,
intervention, evaluation, termination and follow-up) and it is driven by systems theory. This
means that the generalist practitioner is able to intervene with multiple systems on behalf of the
client. Generalist practice knowledge and skills are transferable from one field of practice to
another. Generalist practitioners use critical thinking skills and practice life long learning.
Class Participation/Responsibility for Learning. Teachers, through course requirements,
presentations and activities, provide opportunities for students to learn. Students have the
responsibility to participate, complete requirements and expend the energy necessary to learn
information and master skills. Grades are used as a measure of the knowledge and skill level a
student is able and/or chooses to demonstrate during a class. Getting grades is not the sole
purpose of a course, learning is. Learning requires the learner to stretch, grow and change
behavior in some manner. Thus, learning will involve some stress and exertion of energy. For
this class the discussion board activities will take the place of class participation. Each student
will be assigned to a group and will be expected to participate in activities as assigned via the
discussion board weekly topics.
Quizzes and Assignments (50 points each for a total of 150 points) There will be 3 quizzes.
Each quiz will address material most recently covered; however, answers should reflect a
comprehension of prior information. The majority of questions on an exam will come from the
textbook and lectures; however, some questions may include information from videos or guest
speakers. There are no makeup exams. If the instructor does allow a student to take makeup
exam due to a verified emergency (such as jury duty) or prior permission from the instructor, the
quiz will be given online, The final exam cannot be a makeup quiz.
Quizzes will be given on elearning. It should be noted that each quiz is time limited. If the quiz is
scheduled to close at 10:00 P.M. and you go online to take it at 9:30 P.M. you will only have 30
minutes (not the allotted time) to complete the quiz; therefore, it is strongly recommended that
you not wait to the last possible moment to take the quiz or submit assignments.
Genograms. (50 points) Students will be required to complete a genogram. This genogram must
be submitted on a poster. Students should consult Genograms in Family Assessment (1985)
McGoldrick & Gerson, or Genopro (http://www.genopro.com/) in completing this project.
Presentations: (100 points) Choose one of the following and create a power point presentation
for class including key concepts, leading proponents, underlying theory, therapeutic goals, and
theoretical critique. These presentations should be 20 - 30 minutes in length. Graduate students
are required to submit a 10-12 page paper (100 points) including at least 6 -8 references.
Topic (key terms) areas
1. Bowen Family Systems Therapy
2. Strategic Family Therapy
3. Structural Family Therapy
4. Experiential Family Therapy
5. Psychoanalytic Family Therapy
6. Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy
7. Narrative Therapy
8. Solution-focused
9. Postmodern (i.e. social constructivist; feminist) - for graduate students
GRADING SCALE (300 possible points for undergraduate students; 400 possible points
for graduate students. The final grade will be determined by adding the student's points
and dividing by the possible points.
A
100-93
B+
89-87
C+
79-77
D+
69-66
A-
92-90
B
86-83
C
76-73
D
65-60
B-
82-80
C-
72-70
F
59-0