IU Indianapolis Campus Bulletin 2024-2025

This course will introduce MSW students to human rights and social justice perspectives in order to examine the shifting landscape of diversity, oppression, power, and privilege. The fundamental goal of the course is for students to develop critical consciousness in order to gain competencies to address diversity, privilege and oppression in social work practice. The importance of power and the dynamics of domination and subordination in multiple manifestations of oppression, particularly among historically oppressed groups, will be explored. An understanding of these concepts integrated with an understanding of one’s self within these systems is essential for social work practice.

This course focuses on reciprocal relationships between human behavior and the social environment with selected theoretical perspectives and their associated empirically-based theories, including strengths/empowerment, ecological/systems, behavioral, critical, and developmental perspectives and theories. Learners will use micro interviewing skills to apply these perspectives and theories throughout the planned change process to service diverse client needs and experiences. The integration of theory and practice through the planned change process will be guided by the biopsychosocial and spiritual perspective.

This course builds on Generalist Theory & practice; Practice and focuses on developing further knowledge of clinical practice theory and its application to prepare students for competent social work practice with individuals and groups. A transtheoretical model of change is emphasized, and motivational interviewing methods and interventions are the focus for practice. Underlying theory, including behaviorism and person-centered therapy, are introduced to provide a foundation for the skills necessary for implementation of motivational interviewing techniques. Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is also introduced to students, which stresses a strengths based approach to practice and client empowerment. SFBT has roots in cognitive theory and this is reviewed to strengthen student understanding of both theory and practice skills. Students will be prepared to use intervention skills that can serve diverse populations and gain an understanding of how theory influences interventions with individuals and groups.

This course aims to build competencies in the areas of theory and practice, preparing students to work with communities in a global context.  With local communities facing increased global socio-economic and political forces, community constituents, especially marginalized groups, are facing unprecedented challenges ranging from widespread increases in refugee migration, poverty, human trafficking, substance abuse, natural disasters, gender violence, civil conflict and wars, and environmental social injustices.  More than ever, social work professionals need to understand global issues and their impact on local communities, and be ready to design appropriate and effective interventions for community and global practice.  Building on the core values of the social work profession, this course consists of five major topics: 1) Macro-practice and international social development; 2) Civil society and local capacity building; 3) Local and international agencies and legal frameworks; and 4) International social work community practice in different contexts (from global to local); and 5) Cultural relativism and the power of a rights-based discourse to affect positive change in global communities.

This course introduces students to the school social worker’s role as a specialized instructional support personnel (SISP), whose task is to enhance the ability of every school child to learn to his or her capacity.  Through the study of research, practice, and policy issues facing school children, especially those with exceptionalities, students in this course will learn to promote educational services and expand educational success for children with exceptionalities, their families, schools, and communities.  Students will learn the imperative for multidisciplinary collaboration that advances student well-being and supportive school environments.  Recognizing the influence of historical and cultural contexts, diversity and oppression as well as social and economic forces shaping educational experiences are examined, specifically focusing on the occurrence of educational disparities and academic outcomes. 

This course examines different types of program evaluation, including needs assessment, process evaluation, impact and outcome evaluation, and cost analysis.  The course has two major parts: 1) Students will develop a program evaluation plan that identifies appropriate program evaluation questions, develops designs suitable for addressing the program evaluation questions, 2) Students will carry out the evaluation plan that collects the necessary information (data), accurately analyzes the information, and effectively presents the findings in written and oral forms, while being sensitive to the political and interpersonal contexts in which the evaluation takes place.  In addition, students will explore the role of evaluators, funders, program staff, and stakeholders in planning, implementing and responding to program evaluation. This course furthers the knowledge, skills, and values students develop in the earlier practice and research courses. Students will apply their knowledge and skills in research to evaluate practice or program effectiveness, using research methods that are sensitive to programs’ needs and clients’ race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and additional aspects important to effective and ethical research.

This course is designed to build individual and group practice skills for work with children and families impacted by child physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and/or family violence. Emphasis will be placed on practice skills with children. Students will practice assessment and intervention skills guided by theories of child development, attachment and bonding, grief, and trauma. The goals of safety, permanency and well-being will be emphasized when assessing risk and trauma and intervening within the child welfare and school systems.   Students will explore cultural differences and issues impacting particular oppressed and underserved populations.

This course will focus on the experiences of children and families in the child welfare system.  Content will include interventions with families through all stages of change including preparation for change, separation and loss, the changed family system, reintegration as children transition into a family, and adolescents transitioning into independent living.  Content will include the impact on families when the natural cycle of family development is disrupted.  Special consideration will be given to various family types including adoptive, foster care, kinship, extended, single parent, multi-generational, and homosexual families.  Practice content will emphasize strengths based and family-centered approaches and include knowledge and skill development to help children and families work through their family and personal crisis and grief in a timely manner to achieve permanency for children in safe and nurturing environments within 12 months after separation.

This course will examine the development of and build skills for the implementation of a wide range of prevention and intervention strategies to support child well-being provided at the community level.  Special attention will be given to the philosophy of empowerment-oriented and client-driven service models.  This course will provide content to build skills in developing and implementing mutual aid and self-help groups to support and educate children and families on issues such as parenting, domestic violence, grief/loss, conflict mediation and child abuse issues.  The course will explore the community as a resource and discuss strategies of collaboration and advocacy services for families and children to prevent out-of-home placement or involvement in other formal child protection/juvenile justice services, such as models of community-building, youth development and family group conferencing/restorative justice.  The course also provides frameworks for identifying and analyzing best practices in group and community-based services for children and families. 

This course is designed to teach strategies and skills for working with families impacted by the challenges of addictions, domestic violence and mental illness. Building upon knowledge of assessment and intervention with diagnosed mental illnesses, students will analyze the relationships between and among the social problems of addictions, mental illness and domestic violence in relation to socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical and mental ability, and other socio-environmental factors of vulnerability. The class will provide students with the opportunities to describe and demonstrate a theoretical understanding of both the dynamics of being an involuntary client and the legal and ethical dilemmas that abound for social work practitioners working with them. The class will provide students with the opportunities to describe and analyze power differentials between the client and worker, as well as, devise, assess and implement strategies to minimize the behaviors that have been identified as “resistance”. The class will provide students with the opportunities to demonstrate knowledge, skills, judgment, sensitivity, and self-awareness necessary to resolve the challenges of social work practice with involuntary populations when utilizing strengths-based, empowerment and eco-systems perspectives.

This course addresses administrative, management, leadership, and supervisory skills necessary for leadership practice. Included are staff hiring, supervision, evaluation, and termination; working with boards and volunteers, leadership styles, strategic planning, and current best practices in administration.

This course focuses on knowledge and skills essential for developing core skills in fiscal management (which will include issues of budgeting, understanding balance sheets, audits, and theories of accounting) and resource development (including fund raising, grant writing and personnel policies) for social work leaders.

This course focuses on knowledge and skills essential for understanding, analyzing, and application in organizations, communities and political arenas. Such knowledge and skills include, but are not limited to: organizational theories, structures, and processes; examination and application of rural, urban and virtual community models, themes and practices; and, understand and involvement in political, social action and social change interventions and empowerment practices.

This course focuses on knowledge and skills essential for understanding, applying, and analyzing alternative, transformational models of program, organizational, and community planning. It is designed to enable students to achieve advanced mastery of the models, skills, and techniques of program planning. There is particular emphasis on inclusive, collaborative planning models that foster empowerment of diverse stakeholders in the planning processes. The course transcends a focus on the basic technology of program development. It is centered upon applying, analyzing, and evaluating the technology of designing transformational planning as a powerful vehicle for organizational, community, and social change. The methods, roles, functions, and values associated with this course emphasize models, themes, and practices that promote cultural competency, advocacy, ethics, and social justice. The students will master knowledge and skills including, but not limited to: creating a social work program grounded in evidence based practices; applying advanced proposal writing skills; identifying funding and other resources; and, analyzing philanthropic trends.

The purpose of this course is to provide learners with knowledge and skills relevant to various aspects of social work practice in prevention, intervention, and treatment of selected addictions. Students draw upon previous and concurrent learning experiences and integrate values, knowledge, and skills acquired in other social work courses with the values, knowledge, and skills characteristic of addictions practice. The course assists students to develop a multidimensional understanding of prevention, intervention, and treatment needs of diverse populations and associated social work practice principles, methods, and skills. Students explore the relationships between and among addiction and socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical and mental ability, and other socio-environmental factors of vulnerability. Consistent with strengths and ecosystems perspectives, students consider the impact of social environments, physical settings, community contexts, and political realities that support or inhibit the emergence of addiction problems.

This course will focus on the development of professional expertise relevant to children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their families. It is designed to provide social work students with an overview of disability within the developmental, historical, cultural, policy, treatment and research paradigms. Special emphasis on assessment of the impact of illness and disability on children with special health care needs and their families will be addressed. This course also aims to socialize students to their professional role(s) utilizing patient-centered and consumer driven strategies of disability advocacy and practice.  This course is an elective in the health care concentration however is open to all concentrations for students interested in focusing on children with special health care needs