Social Work Concentration
Overview
From job-ending injuries to life-altering addictions, the sad truth is people all over the world need help. Social work is a field devoted to helping individuals improve the quality of their lives. Such persons might otherwise be experiencing a broad range of social, economic or personal concerns, including poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, elder care, or even domestic violence.
This is why social work courses in Chicago and, indeed, everywhere are so important. By earning a bachelor’s degree with a focus on social work, you’re gaining the skills you need to pursue a career in social work and help people.
You’ll have the ability to provide a variety of primary and secondary supportive services directly to clients … or help plan, implement and evaluate those services, managing programs and developing intervention strategies for individuals, groups, and organizations. Many social workers work within child and family service agencies, mental health facilities, and extend social and educational services within correctional and related facilities. Bottom line: the right social work education in Chicago can make a world of difference.
Program Objectives
We are on a mission to prepare professionals for social work. We’re focused on guiding students through courses grouped around a strong general education core, an area concentration focused on social work, and area-complementary electives reflecting their specific educational goals.
We help:
- Prepare beginning level practitioners who are responsible to providing professional services in the area of social work in a variety of settings.
- Provide a foundation of post- baccalaureate and/or graduate professional education and continuing life-long professional development.
- Foster commitment toward a local, regional, and global humane service- oriented perspective and dedication to professional values in the area of social work.
- Prepare program participants to be able to participate after they graduate in the development of the social work profession and in its responses to the changing needs of society.
Program Outcomes:
At the completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Science with emphasis on social work, graduates are prepared to:
- Apply theoretical and empirical knowledge from the liberal arts and sciences to provide professional services in the area of social work.
- Enroll into a graduate or (specialized) professional program in social work or a closely related field.
- Find methods and apply relevant best practices to protect the growth and well being of contemporary society.
- Identify and apply policies to promote equity and equality as they relate to social work.
- Structure programs to improve services to disadvantaged communities in the area of social work.
- Base social work best practices on personal and professional values which incorporate a humane, service- oriented perspective.
- Accept responsibility and accountability for professional and personal development.
Why a Concentration in Social Work from East-West University?
Usually the academic and professional requirements for entry level positions in this field are a bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences with an area concentration in social work. A substantial number of the interdisciplinary courses in this program can prepare you for social work or related vocations.
The Social Work area concentration complements the philosophy and supports the mission of the University in that it “is dedicated to pursuit of excellence by all through relevant, effective and convenient education, and service to humankind with a global, multi-cultural and future-oriented perspective. It is both comprehensive and pluralistic in terms of clientele, academic programs, educational delivery systems, research and publication projects, and sources of financial support.”
The Social Work Curriculum
- Includes both liberal and professional instruction to prepare graduates for life in general and a career in high demand.
- Offers a geographic and demographic location in the center of an urban area with a population of over 9 million people; it has the opportunity to make use of the urban and suburban infrastructure and resources. Other resources include nursing related industries, the entire range of criminal justice services, agencies, and organizations, and a job market within convenient commuting distance, health and health-related facilities, as well as the entire range of “rest and recreation” opportunities.
- Is demographically blended, providing ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, and with a broader range of exceptionalities. It is situated in one of the major diverse and multicultural urban areas of the world which presents an ideal “laboratory” for first- hand experience/observation of an extended variety of social work and social service issues.
- Provides education in a career geared to the service economy. Few professions touch the lives of so many, individuals, families, communities, the society at large, in so many different ways and are proactive, preventative, and reactive, restorative.
- Offers practical experience in agencies and organizations directly or substantively related to aspects of social work within the metropolitan Chicago area that are state of the art and enjoy educational opportunities that include the most modern advances.
- Fulfills requirements for career growth – the number of potential professionals in areas of social work is projected to increase.
Substantial opportunities for personal contact and interaction with multi- cultural populations will be an ongoing part of the student’s practical experiences. - Contact with the area agencies and organizations of social work that will assume increased responsibilities in the future. Students have the option to pursue specialized professional programs in the areas, for instance, of law, criminal justice, aspects of environmental and urban planning, and governmental agencies.
Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Behavioral Sciences - Social Work Concentration
The program embodies three broad blocks of curricular requirements or components:
I: General Education Core (64 Credit Hours)
II: BHS Core and Concentration Courses (80 Credit Hours)
III: Elective Courses (36 Credit Hours)
I: General Education Core courses
- 5 specified courses in English and Communications for a total of 20 quarter hours
- 1 specified mathematics course, one biology course, and 12 additional hours from biology, chemistry, mathematics, and/or physics for a total of 20 hours
- 1 specified humanities course and 16 additional quarter hours selected from behavioral and social sciences and humanities for a total of 20 hours
- 1 specified course from computer and information science for a total of 4 hours.
II: BHS Core and Selected Social Work Concentration Area Courses
- 12 specified BHS core courses, and an additional 32 hours BHS elective courses for a total of 80 hours
III: Elective Courses
- 36 quarter hours from freely selected courses
Degree Requirements
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Biological Sciences Total Course Requirement: 180 credit hours
General Education Core Courses
(64 credit hours)
Behavioral Sciences Major Courses
(60 credit hours)
Free Electives
(56 credit hours)
Suggested areas of focused interest in the BHS program, with a recommended sequence of courses, include:
Criminal Justice
| CJ201 | Introduction to the Criminal Justice |
| CJ202 | Administration of the Criminal Justice |
| CJ203 | Administration of the Juvenile Justice |
| CJ220 | Criminal Law and Procedure |
| CJ230 | Introduction to Investigation |
| CJ240 | Police Organization and Management |
| CJ250 | Professional Responsibility in Criminal Justice |
| CJ260 | Constitutional Law |
| CJ270 | Crisis Intervention and Deviant Behavior |
| CJ276 | Criminal Profiling |
Students who opt not to select one of these focused areas of interest must still complete the general education requirements (64 quarter hours), the BHS major courses (60 quarter hours); and additional 56 quarter hours for a total of 180 credit hours.
Curricular Requirements
Curricular requirements must comply with all general academic requirements for a bachelor’s degree, including:
- Completion of 180 quarter hours
- Residency requirement of 48 quarter hours
- Completion of HM 279 (East-West University Signature course)
- Completion of HM 491 (Senior Seminar)
- An overall GPA of 2.0 and 2.5 GPA in the major
- Compliance with Satisfactory Academic Progress policy pertaining to both Grade Maintenance and Timely Completion
- All outcome measures required by the assessment program must be passed successfully
- All financial obligations must be cleared