SocW 514
Global Perspectives in Social Work and Development: A HBSE Approach

Instructors for Spring 2008:

• Nancy Farwell*

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course presents a HBSE approach to global perspectives on social work and development, and their implications for contemporary social work practice in an era of globalization. Utilizing a variety of sources, we will examine selected global social issues and theories of human behavior illustrating case examples primarily in developing countries. Students will be encouraged to investigate ways in which transactions across the lifespan relate to structural issues within micro, mezzo, and macro systems. Concepts of interdependence, responsibility, and reciprocity will be emphasized, along with the consequences of macro policies for individual, family, and community development, comparing individualist, familist, and collectivist approaches. Global events such as the impact of war, cultural norms related to gender and age, sustainable approaches to income generation, and human rights will also be addressed. Students will learn how participatory approaches in work with communities can address situations in which people experience discrimination and marginalization. The major part of the course focuses on HBSE with regard to global social issues in local context. Power dynamics in the context of helping, and the importance of critical consciousness within one’s role as practitioner and facilitator are examined.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

This course will assist students to:

• Articulate working definitions of social work and social development frameworks that incorporate related past and current conceptualizations of these terms, and provide some practical direction for the student's work in this area.

• Examine and apply selected frameworks to analyze international aid and social development approaches in specific settings.

• Integrate knowledge of collective societies and multigenerational dynamics in assessment, program design and implementation.

• Understand the roles of social workers who develop comprehensive, community-based social, cultural, and economic development activities, in partnership with community members.

• Within a HBSE framework, understand participatory methods such as community mapping, assessment and evaluation.

• Develop a critical, reflexive approach to practice, enhancing understanding of how the practitioner’s personal, social, and cultural background affects his or her thinking and global perspectives on social work and development.

• Assess and analyze salient social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of individual, family, and group dynamics that may influence social well-being.

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