Bachelor of Social Work

The study of professional social work is designed for those dedicated to helping people to satisfy their biological, psychological, and social needs; to developing mutually beneficial relationships between people and their environments; empowering people to recognize and mobilize their strengths; and to helping society to create policies and programs more responsive to human need. The overall mission of the Department of Social Work is to prepare students for generalist social work practice at the bachelor’s degree level and for graduate level social work education. This preparation is developed through offering the student a broad liberal arts education combined with a social work foundation that incorporates the knowledge, values, and skills of the social work profession. Both the liberal arts sequence and the professional social work sequence emphasize a holistic view of the person-in-environment and the impact of biological, psychological, and social forces upon human functioning. Underlying the knowledge base of social work education at Western New England University are values and ethics that emphasize the worth and dignity of all people regardless of race, gender, age, creed, ethnic or national origin, ability, political orientation, sexual orientation, or social class. The goals and objectives of the Department of Social Work teach students the skills to work in partnership with clients to support and develop strengths and competencies to procure the resources necessary to meet their basic human needs and develop human potential. This Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education at the BSW level and students are eligible to apply for advanced standing to graduate schools of social work, to obtain an MSW degree in one year, rather than two. Career Opportunities Students develop the knowledge, values, and skills to work in a wide variety of social service settings under both governmental and private voluntary auspices. Rewarding career opportunities include work with diverse populations of children and adults at the individual, family, group, and community levels in agencies that provide healthcare, services to abused and neglected children, mental health services, substance abuse rehabilitation, family services, services to battered women, residential child care and treatment, educational settings, criminal justice programs for juvenile and adult offenders, nursing home and elderly services, services for pregnant and parenting teens, services to people affected by HIV/AIDS, and many other programs for people whose emotional and/or physical health and safety are at risk. Students are prepared for entry-level professional generalist social work practice at the BSW level and for further social work education at the graduate level. Program Goals Engage in evidence-based entry level social work practice within individuals, families, groups, communities and organizations within a multicultural society. Identify and respond to human need, wherever it exists, using interventions that promote the social welfare of all people, with attention to oppressed and vulnerable populations. Understand and practice to enhance human functioning, informed by biological, psychological, sociological, cultural, historical, economic and spiritual knowledge. Identify as a social work practitioner/researcher who can competently apply and integrate theory with evidence-based practice. Facilitate change through professional practice within a professional context that nurtures diverse human relationships at all levels. Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being and to deliver effective social work services.