Undergraduate Program

Breadcrumbs

The mission of the Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work Baccalaureate Social Work (BSW) Program is to develop social work generalist practitioners who are ethical and competent critical thinkers dedicated to helping vulnerable, oppressed, or marginalized individuals, families, groups, and communities through research-informed practice; and committed to addressing social, economic, and environmental injustices locally, nationally and globally.

The School and the program utilizes an Afrocentric, autonomous social work practice model to prepare culturally competent practitioners capable of intervening and working with systems of all sizes and resolving problems that particularly affect African American children, families, and males within the context of family and community.  The curriculum is built on a liberal arts base and is guided by humanistic values.  Faculty ensures that graduates are prepared to recognize and impact social and economic injustice issues at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

The Program’s mission embraces not only the Institution and the School’s mission; it is consistent with the purpose of the social work profession to promote human and community well-being. The program is also guided by a person and environment construct, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific inquiry, social work’s purpose is actualized through its quest for social and economic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination of poverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all persons.  Both the School and the BSW Program seek to increase the work force of generalist social workers engaging in accountability, empirically based practice, knowledge building and sharing of their own practice wisdom. 

Program Goals

  • Goal 1: Prepare students for generalist practice with diverse groups without discrimination and with respect, knowledge of age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, sex, religious, sexual orientation and the relationships between human behavior and the social environment across the lifespan which incorporates the Afrocentric Perspective and the values and ethics of the social work profession.
  • Goal 2:  Prepare students as social work generalists who link social research and social service practice by applying research findings to practice, and by evaluating their own practice. 
  • Goal 3:  Prepare students for generalist social work practice with systems of all sizes.
  • Goal 4:  Prepare students for lifelong learning and critical thinking through an educational process that combines a liberal arts foundation with professional social work education and prepares them for graduate education in social work.

Program Outcomes:

Upon completion of the BSW Program graduates will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior
  2. Engage diversity and difference in practice
  3. Advance human rights and social, economic and environmental justice.
  4. Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
  5. Engage in policy practice.
  6. Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  7. Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  8. Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  9. Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  10. Demonstrate knowledge of the Afrocentric Perspective with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

 

 

The Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work Baccalaureate Social Work Program has four goals, which reflect the stated mission of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work BSW Program at Clark Atlanta University. The goals embrace each other and specific generalist knowledge and skills that students are expected to synthesize and apply in practice.  Thus, the goals of the BSW Program are designed to: 

Goal 1: Prepare students for beginning entry-level generalist practice with diverse groups without discrimination and with respect, knowledge of age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, sex, religious, sexual orientation and the relationships between human behavior and the social environment across the lifespan which incorporates the Afrocentric Perspective and the values and ethics of the social work profession.

Goal 2:  Prepare students as beginning entry-level social work generalists who link social research and social service practice by applying research findings to practice, and by evaluating their own practice.

Goal 3:  Prepare students for beginning entry-level generalist social work practice with systems of all sizes.

Goal 4:  Prepare students for lifelong learning and critical thinking through an educational process that combines a liberal arts foundation with professional social work education and prepares them for graduate education in social work.

Important Information