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Course Syllabus
Name of Instructor:
Jim Holben, LCSW, CTRS, CPRP
Course Number and Title:
GERO 130 INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SERVICES
Credits:
2
Prerequisite:
None
Course Description:
This course provides an introduction to helping professions, including the
various roles, functions, values, and personal attributes needed to function effectively in these
careers. Included will be the history, practice settings, career opportunities, and philosophical
concepts related to working with vulnerable populations.
Required Textbook:
The Generalist Model of Human Services Practice;
G. Hull & K. Kirst-
Ashman, Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning; 2004, ISBN # 0-534-51273
Recommended Resources:
The Social Work Portfolio: Planning, Learning in Dynamic
Profession,
Barry R. Cournoyer, Mary J. Stanley
,
Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning; 2002, ISBN
# 0-534-34305-8
Social Work Values and Ethics 2
nd
Ed, Frederic G. Reamers, Columbia University Press; 1999,
ISBN # 0231-11391-9
Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills 6
th
. Ed
, Dean H. Hepworth, Ronald H. Rooney,
Jo Ann Larsen, Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning; 2002, ISBN # 0-534-36830-7
“Human Services?...That must be so rewarding.”
Gail S. Bernstein & Judith A. Halaszyn, Paul
H. Brooks Publishing Co., Inc. 1989, ISBN # 1-55766-007-7
Therapeutic Recreation: Processes and Techniques 2
nd
. Ed,
David R. Austin, Sagamore
Publishing, Inc. 1991, ISBN # 0-915611-45-7.
American Social Welfare Policy: A Pluralist Approach 4
th
Ed.
Howard Jacob Karger, David
Stoesz, Allyn and Bacon 2002, ISBN # 0-8013-3311-3
The Reluctant Welfare State 4
th
Ed,
Bruce S. Jansson, Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning; 2001,
ISBN # 0-534-36551-5
A New History of Social Welfare 5
th
Ed,
Phyllis J. Day, Allyn and Bacon 2006, ISBN # 0-205-
43703-6
Course Outcomes:
Students will
1.
Describe the importance of a liberal arts (electic) knowledge base for generalist human
services practice.
2.
Identify and describe basic knowledge, practice principles, and human services values
and ethics.
3.
Appraise one’s goodness of fit by examining personal motivation for entering a human
services profession.
4.
Explain the basic concepts of social problems, social justice, economic justice, social
welfare, and human diversity with emphasis on the oppressed and vulnerable particularly
in rural populations.
5.
Discuss the impact of cultural diversity and the practitioner’s need to develop ethnic and
gender competencies.
6.
Demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of the human services
professions.