Tulane School of Social Work
Do Work that Matters
Course Syllabus
TIDES 1610-01
Understanding the Persistence of Social Problems
in America
Fall, 2014
1 Credit Hour
Mondays, 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Faculty member
Office No.
Contact No.
E-mail Address
Office hours
I.
Fred Buttell, Ph.D., LCSW
TSSW Building, Room 305
504.862.3486
[email protected]
By appointment
Course Rationale and Description
The purpose of this course is to examine the persistence of social problems (e.g.,
poverty, substance abuse, criminal activity, chronic community violence) in
America. Students will learn that we typically single out individual social problems
for study but that this parceling out of problems one at a time is an artificial
distinction and does not mirror reality. Specifically, students will learn that social
problems tend to co-exist in the same family systems and that people who are
poor also tend to live in neighborhoods that are characterized by substance abuse,
crime, violence, gangs and prostitution and have schools that under perform.
Students will visit two community-based social service agencies in the New Orleans
community to meet and talk with community residents to discover first hand what
it is like to live in these New Orleans neighborhoods. Why have we spent 3 trillion
dollars on poverty programs in the United States and yet we still have poverty?
The purpose of this class is to help students understand that social problems like
poverty and drug use tend to co-exist in the same families. Consequently, simple
solutions like giving money to poor people are inadequate and have failed as social
programs because they misunderstand the problem. This course will examine the
reality of working with poor people in the United States.
A. Understanding the nature of social problems in the U.S.
 Goal: Reflect on the origins and relationships among social problems, particularly
those affecting families in the United States.
 Outcome: Examine the variety of social problems that affect families in the U.S.,
particularly those at the bottom of the income distribution.
 Assessment: class readings, in class discussions and written assignments.
B. Social Policy Remedies-Success or Failure?
 Goal: Expand student awareness of the myriad ways the government has tried to
address social problems through legislative policy and program development.
 Outcome: Analyze social policy solutions using the family described in the class
reading as a case study.
 Assessment: in-class case study discussions and written papers
C. Social Problems in the New Orleans Community
 Goal: Become cognizant of the local nature of the social problems identified in
class.
 Outcome: Learn how national social problems (e.g., poverty, public housing,
domestic violence) affect New Orleans communities.
 Assessment: participation in field trips.
II. Required Textbook: None- for required readings, see below:
Dash, L. (1996). Rosa Lee, A mother and her family in urban America.
New York: Basic Books. This story about urban poverty first appeared as a series of
articles in the Washington Post. Dash's series won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory
Journalism and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. A book based on his
reporting and his subsequent friendship with Rosa Lee, "Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her
Family in Urban America," is the book that will be used for this course. This book is
optional.
These articles are also available for free online at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/local/longterm/library/rosalee/epilogue.htm
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III. Course Outline
Week 1- August 25th Introduction & Summer Reading Project Discussion
Week 2- September 8th
Read: Part 1. A difficult journey
Week 3- September 15th
Read: Part 2. Stealing became a way of life
Week 4- September 22nd
Read: Part 3. Paying a heavy toll for illiteracy
Week 5 – September 29th
Read: Part 4. Wrestling with recovery in a changing drug culture
Week 6- October 6th
Guest Speaker-Metropolitan Battered Women’s Shelter
Week 7- October 13th
Read: Part 5. Two sons who avoided the traps
Week 8- October 20th
Read: Part 6. Daughter travels the same troubled path
Week 9- October 27th
Read: Part 7. A grandson's problems start early
Week 10- November 3rd
Read: Part 8. A life comes full circle, and Rosa Lee faces loss
Week 11 – November 10th
Guest Speaker and/or Field Trip to New Orleans Civil District Court
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IV.
Assignments
Final grades will be based on the following course assignments:
Class Participation..….………………….…… 33%
Genogram……………………………….………. 33%
Strengths & Weaknesses Assignment.… 33%
There will be two field trips as described above, the purpose of which is to
consolidate student learning on the course material. There will be two graded
assignments in the course. The first will require students to make a genogram of all
of the family members mentioned in the book. The purpose of this assignment is to
create a visual model of the intergenerational transmission of social problems
discussed in both the text and class. The second assignment will require students to
make a list of strengths and weaknesses for all of the family members identified on
the genogram. The purpose of this assignment is to get students to move beyond a
strict focus on pathology in poor people and begin to expose them to a Strength
Based Framework, the prevailing model in social work.
Revision of the class schedule, the examination dates, and the assignment
due dates are at the discretion of the instructor.
* Refer to the specific section in this syllabus for more information and an outline for
this assignment.
** Class participation includes discussion, attendance, timeliness, collegial conduct,
behavior, and attitude.
V.
Evaluation and Grading
Grading Scale
A…………………
B+………………
B………………..
C+………………
90
88
80
78
–
–
–
–
100
89
87
79
C……………...
D+…………...
D……………..
F……………..
70-77
68-69
60 - 67
59 and below
VI. Americans with Disabilities Act Policies
In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any documented condition,
either permanent or temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class
are encouraged to inform the instructor at the beginning of the term. Adaptations of
teaching methods and class materials, including text and reading materials or
testing, will be made as needed to provide equitable participation.
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