SW 502 Social Welfare & Mental Health Policy and Services

This course introduces students to the history of social welfare and mental health policy in the United States as informed by power, economics, and values. Students will examine these issues through the lenses of critical race theory, standpoint feminist theory, intersectionality, and social justice. Students will learn about the origins of "asylums'' for people with mental illness in the United States, established first in Pennsylvania and Virginia in the 18th century. Students will understand the social, political, religious, economic, and medical influences on mental health policies from these earliest machinations of institutionalization to consequences of underfunded and ill-conceived deinstitutionalization in the 20th century. Students will be able to articulate and advocate for their position regarding current needs for clients within the mental health and larger healthcare systems. This course also provides a foundation for later concepts and theories, such as qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in preparation for the student’s capstone project and the identification of trauma-related social determinants of health affecting large populations.