Course Description
Exploration and analysis of causes, theories, effects, policy and community strategies, and practice implications regarding poverty in the U.S. Students will examine the impact of poverty on social work fields of service, interventions designed to ameliorate poverty, and how issues of poverty are related to social justice.
Athena Title
Poverty in the United States
Prerequisite
(SOWK 2154 or SOWK 2157S) and SOWK 2155 and (SOWK 2156 or SOWK 2156E) and permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
· Understand and apply critical thinking skills to how poverty is constructed, measured, theorized, and experienced in the U.S., as well as how poverty disproportionately affects certain populations. · Engage in self-reflection regarding one’s own attitudes about poverty. · Describe and analyze the range of policies, programs, and community-based efforts aimed to ameliorate poverty. REQUIRED READINGS Coates, T. (June 2014). The case for reparations. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/ (LOCATED ON COURSE WEBSITE) Edin, K. J., & Shaefer, H. L. (2015). $2.00 a day: Living on almost nothing in America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (PURCHASE ON YOUR OWN OR CHECK OUT FROM THE LIBRARY) Giffords, E. D., & Garber, K. R. (Eds.). (2014). New perspectives on poverty: Policies, programs, and practice. New York: Oxford University Press. (AVAILABLE AT THE UGA BOOKSTORE) ASSIGNMENTS (Brief description of each assignment) 1. Answer questions about poverty-related micro/mezzo and/or macro-related case studies, using material from the textbook to support your conclusions. 2. Create a concept map to gain understanding of the relationship between structural racism and poverty. 3. Analyze a research-based book in the field of poverty using concepts from the course.
Topical Outline
· Conceptualization of poverty: historical and contemporary · Poverty measurement · Demographics of poverty in the U.S. · Explanatory theories of poverty · Structural racism and poverty · Poverty alleviation efforts: public and private
Syllabus