IU Indianapolis Campus Bulletin 2024-2025

This foundation research course assists students in developing the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to evaluate studies testing the effectiveness of social work practice and other empirical research relevant to social work using ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches.  Emphasis is placed upon knowledge of qualitative and quantitative designs, methods, and techniques that inform students of best practices in social work from an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.  Students will recognize the importance of anti-oppression, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the research process and be able to review published studies with attention to bias in research critically.

This course focuses on developing foundational skills for clinical social work practice, with an emphasis on engagement, assessment, and intervention planning. Students will learn effective communication strategies, including motivational interviewing, active listening, and culturally responsive practices. The course will integrate theoretical frameworks with practical techniques for client-centered interviews and performance assessments. Through case studies, peer exercises, and simulations, students will apply skills to real-world scenarios, preparing them for entry-level professional practice. Emphasis will be placed on ethical decision-making and trauma-informed care approaches.

This course introduces MSW students to human rights and social justice, focusing on diversity, oppression, power, and privilege. It aims to develop critical consciousness and competencies in anti-racist, anti-oppressive social work. Students will explore power dynamics, cultural humility, and the impact of racism and oppression on service delivery.

This course focuses on developing foundational skills for clinical social work practice, with an emphasis on engagement, assessment, and intervention planning. Students will learn effective communication strategies, including motivational interviewing, active listening, and culturally responsive practices. The course will integrate theoretical frameworks with practical techniques for client-centered interviews and performance assessments. Through case studies, peer exercises, and simulations, students will apply skills to real-world scenarios, preparing them for entry-level professional practice. Emphasis will be placed on ethical decision-making and trauma-informed care approaches.

This course provides students with fundamental social work competencies to influence change at the group, community, and organizational levels. Special emphasis is being placed on empowerment practices; the dynamics and consequences of human oppression and discrimination; networking competencies; participation in the political process; advocacy for social and economic justice; the development of community intervention plans; and strategies and techniques for working with large systems’ practices, program organization, and policy development.

This course enhances understanding of mental health and substance disorder assessment using various frameworks. It covers bio-psychosocial perspectives, lethality risk interviews, psychotropic medications, and the DSM. Students gain practical experience with assessment tools, focusing on collaboration and ethical implications, preparing them for effective social work practice with diverse populations.

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 advanced level practice course is designed to provide students with an overview of contemporary social work practice in school settings. Specific topical areas include the historical and contemporary contexts of social work service in school settings with individuals and groups, legal mandates for social work practice in schools, social policies and trends in education affecting school settings and social work practice in schools, preventive and intervention methods and roles applicable to diverse populations in school settings, research issues and practice effectiveness, and multiculturalism, anti-racism, and diversity issues in social work practice in schools.

This course is designed to be taken concurrently with SWK-S 651 or 652 (prerequisite). This course examines several single-system designs (SSD) that can be used to evaluate practice or practice interventions with clients or service users. The designs, which are (n=1) types of studies, can be used with any size system, i.e., individuals (persons), couples, families, groups, organizations (agencies), communities, and policies. Students in this course will develop an evaluation plan specifying problems, goals, and outcomes with a service user or other single system, identify valid and reliable measures of outcome for use with identified persons or system targets, and identify an appropriate single-system design to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed intervention on the observed outcomes based on course content and a literature review. Students will carry out the single-subject design, use graphic and statistical analyses to estimate the effectiveness of an intervention on measurable outcome(s), and present results in high-quality written and presentational formats. 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 in their concentrations, using methods that are sensitive to needs and clients’ race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, disability, migration, class, poverty, and additional aspects important to effective and ethical research.

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 and 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.

Analyze theoretical and evidence-based perspectives on working with families at risk encouraging strength and resilience.  Family assessment and interventions for traumatic family issues. Emphasis is on strengths-based and family-centered, ethical, anti-racist, anti-oppressive social work practice and skill development.  Emphasis includes diverse family formations such as kin, adoptive, and LGBTQIA+ families.

Learn group and community practice skills to enhance child, youth, and family well-being and resilience that are community-based, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed including empowerment, collaboration, strengths-based prevention and intervention, culturally responsive practice, and mutual aid. Topics: community and group assessment and intervention, empowerment and strengths-based parenting, interpersonal violence, and grief.

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 provides students with knowledge, skills, and values for social work leadership and management practice, focusing on engagement, assessment, and intervention. Students will apply theories of leadership and management including concepts of power, authority, influence, negotiation, and decision-making. They will also learn evidence-based practices in organizational structures, program development, budgeting, evaluation, governance, human resource development with an emphasis on anti-racist, anti-oppressive, diverse, equitable, and inclusive approaches.

This course provides knowledge and skills essential for developing skills in foundational financial management (which will include issues of budgeting, understanding balance sheets, audits, and theories of accounting) and resource development (including marketing, fund raising, grant writing, and personnel policies) for social work leaders. The content of this course will cultivate students’ understanding of how an organization manages its finances in an anti-racist, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable manner.  It also has students examine the relationships, in social service organizations, between financial management, marketing, and resource development with social work values, ethics, and power dynamics.  

This course focuses on fostering community practice competencies essential for promoting human and sustainable development along with social, economic and environmental justice. In this course, students learn how to identify common interests, mobilize citizens, build constituency and leverage resources to build power and influence social change at the community, organizational, policy, and global levels. The models of practice covered in this course include community organizing, advocacy, and leadership development with special emphasis placed on transformational and empowerment models of practice.

This course focuses on knowledge and skills essential for understanding, applying, and analyzing alternative, evidence-based 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.

Students enrolled in this course develop knowledge, skills, and judgment necessary for competent application of selected evidence-informed practices for service with diverse clients, including children, youth, adults, and families affected by mental health issues, substance use disorders, and other behavioral addictions within the context of trauma responsive, anti-racist and anti-oppressive care. Students learn to discover, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate evidence of practice effectiveness and apply that knowledge in communication, strengths discovery and assessment, hypothesis formation, contracting, intervention and prevention planning, service delivery, and evaluation.

The purpose of this course is to provide learners with knowledge and skills relevant to social work practice in prevention, intervention, and treatment of the coexistence of substance use disorders, mental health issues, and behavioral addictions with individuals, families, and groups. Students will draw upon previous and concurrent learning experiences to integrate values, knowledge, and skills acquired in other social work courses with those characteristic of effective practice in the treatment of substance use and other addictive disorders. Emphasizing an anti-oppressive and harm reduction framework, the course assists students in developing an evidence-based understanding of the prevention, assessment, and treatment needs associated with social work practice principles related to substance use and other addictive disorders, and co-occurring mental health conditions. Human development theory and psychopharmacology, particularly concerning diverse populations experiencing addictive disorders and co-occurring mental health challenges are integrated throughout the course. Students will explore the complex relationships between and among behavioral addictions, substance use/mental disorders, and socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental ability, and other dimensions of vulnerability. The course inspects how systemic oppression and structural inequalities impact client system experiences and access to treatment or safer use. Consistent with strengths and ecosystems perspectives, students will consider the interplay between an individual’s neurochemistry, social environments, community contexts, and political realities that support or inhibit the emergence of addictive disorders and co-occurring mental health issues.

            This course will focus upon the role of the social worker in integrated healthcare settings that focus on both health and mental/behavioral health, such as primary care, emergency rooms, hospice, geriatrics, pediatrics, and many others.  Integrated health settings require specific knowledge and skill sets related to mental health screening and brief intervention techniques. This course will discuss what integrated practice entails, including models for practice relevant to this setting.  Topics will include medical terminology and medications, understanding illness from both a patient and family perspective, interaction and communication with interprofessional team members, brief assessments and interventions, and treatment planning, documentation, and evaluation of progress.  The course will focus on several issues that are at the intersection of health and mental health, such as pain, sleep, smoking cessation, improving health behaviors, and alleviating depression and anxiety.   

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

This course is designed to build individual and family practice skills for school social work with children, adolescents, and families, with emphasis on the impact of traumatic life events, including poverty, homelessness, child physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and/or family violence. Students will learn how to engage with community partners and various child-serving systems to meet the needs of children, adolescents, and families. A primary focus of the course will be on acquiring knowledge and skills for culturally responsive practice, including assessment, interviewing, and engagement with children, adolescents, and families in a school-based context.

This course builds theoretical and practice skills for clinical social work with children/youth impacted by adverse childhood experiences, emotional, behavioral, and developmental issues emphasizing accurate strength-based diagnostic assessment and intervention using anti-oppressive, evidence-based, neuroscientific, and trauma-responsive practice theory and skills.

The purpose of this course is to provide health concentration students with increased depth of knowledge in the area of practice with older adults in healthcare areas, such as acute care hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, adult day care and long-term care facilities.  Effective social work practice with older adults relies on knowledge and application of evidence-based theories, assessments and interventions with this population. Older adults are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, and advances in technology have enhanced longevity.  Social workers must be able to practice with older adults with increasingly complex needs in a variety of settings.   This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to engage in competent social work practice with older adults.