Social Work - CUNY Lehman College

Social Work from CUNY Lehman College is a Campus Master Sociology degree that prepares you for a Human Services career. Mission of the M.S.W. Program The mission of the MSW program at Lehman College, City University of New York, which is the only graduate social work program in the borough of the Bronx, is to educate students to become ethical and competent graduate level social workers for practice in the urban environment. Through the implementation of an advanced integrated practice curriculum, built on a liberal arts foundation, the program prepares students for leadership in urban communities as they provide direct services, provide agency administration and supervision, and promote policies advancing social and economic justice. Guided by the ethical imperative of respect for human rights and diversity, the program prepares graduates to utilize research, develop services, and formulate policies that promote social well-being by strengthening opportunities, resources, and capacities of urban populations. The mission of the program is consistent with the mission of the college, which includes offering "New York City and regional residents a liberal arts education and preparation for careers and advanced study." The program is committed to address the need for graduate social workers in social service agencies, particularly in the Bronx, and to educate MSW students to meet the social service needs of urban populations. Goals of the M.S.W. Program The following goals are derived from the mission of our program, and reflect the purposes of the Council on Social Work Education's Education Policy: Purposes of Social Work Education: 1. Provide students with an advanced integrated practice curriculum grounded in the profession's history, purposes, and philosophy. This curriculum will enable them to: integrate and utilize the knowledge, values and skills of the social work profession essential for ethical, competent, and effective practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, communities and organizations in the urban environment; assume leadership positions in the assessment, development, planning and implementation of service delivery systems in the context of urban social service institutions; become leaders in promoting policies, services, programs, and allocation of resources that alleviate injustices such as poverty, discrimination and oppression through advocacy and political action for social and economic justice, with an understanding of the relevant social and political dynamics at the local, national, and global levels; 2. Educate students for practice with a respect for others as they promote the well-being and enhance the functioning of urban populations, with special attention to clients' age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation; 3. Provide curricula that, building on a liberal arts base, incorporates and reflects teaching practices based on current research and an interdisciplinary knowledge base that utilizes current technologies to enhance learning; 4. Promote and support students, faculty, and practitioners in conducting research and in the communication of their findings to develop social work knowledge and to improve the effectiveness of social work practice, policies, and programs. M.S.W. Program Objectives The Lehman College MSW program prepares students for advanced integrated social work practice in the urban environment, and particularly in the Bronx. The program provides content leading to the acquisition of knowledge, values, and development of skills, including the following: 1. Integration of content related to professional values and principles of ethical decision-making. 2. Integration of content that promotes understanding, affirmation, and respect for people from diverse backgrounds and circumstances. 3. Understanding the needs of populations-at-risk, particularly those in our Bronx community; implementation of strategies to combat discrimination, oppression, and injustices affecting populations in the Bronx; and promotion of social and economic justice. 4. Understanding the reciprocal relationships between human behavior and social environments, including biological, sociological, cultural, psychological, and spiritual theories and knowledge of human development across the life span. 5. Heightening awareness of the impact of social welfare policies on client systems and communities and the connections between social welfare policies and social work practice; understanding, analyzing, and changing social welfare policies. 6. Understanding practice content and development of skills needed to work with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, particularly in the Bronx. 7. Understanding content and developing skills needed to work as supervisors and administrators in private and public urban-based agencies and organizations. 8. Understanding, designing, evaluating, and applying research knowledge to social work practice, particularly in relation to social, economic, and health problems of the Bronx and similar urban areas; evaluation of students' own effectiveness and that of their agencies. 9. Utilizing fieldwork and the fieldwork seminar to demonstrate the development of professional competence and reinforce students' identification with the purposes, values, and ethics of the profession; utilize supervision to move toward a higher degree of autonomy. 10. Enhancing and applying critical thinking skills in all aspects of professional practice. 11. Developing and enhancing leadership abilities for work in urban communities, particularly in the Bronx and similar areas. View more details on CUNY Lehman College . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Sociology courses.