APPENDICES
APPENDIX A:
Mission of the
School of Social Welfare
The MSW program
at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley,
seeks to equip social workers for a range of leadership and practice
roles in the profession. While students will be prepared to practice
at specific intervention levels, and with specialized skills, all will
be thoroughly grounded in a knowledge of social and psychological issues,
social welfare policies, and social service organizations. The process
of professional education at Berkeley is characterized by a spirit of
critical inquiry and an emphasis on the use of tested knowledge and
theory in developing and applying intervention methods.
Berkeley has a special
mission to serve students from groups that historically have not participated
in university education because of age, socio-economic background, disability,
geography, or discrimination. Demographically, California is experiencing
rapid population growth, particularly among its minority and refugee
populations. Students and faculty need to address these changes in order
to respond to the values and goals of the social work profession. These
include recognizing the worth, uniqueness, and dignity of all individuals;
fostering and strengthening the family and other systems of support;
assisting individuals to enhance and fulfill their potential; advancing
social justice; respecting cultural diversity; and promoting equitable
opportunity and social and economic welfare for all, especially the
disadvantaged and the underserved.
Berkeley's educational
emphasis is on preparing students for professional responsibility in
the field of social welfare and the institutional systems which comprise
it, particularly public social services and publicly supported voluntary
social services. The modes of practice we emphasize include those most
relevant to the public service system.
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