YORK COLLEGE OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

 

Social Welfare Programs & Policy                                                Social Work 203

Dr. Susan Letteney                                                              Fall 2002

 

SOCIAL WELFARE (US) ASSIGNMENT

(10% of Grade)

 

Name and describe a social welfare problem and a program that addresses that problem.*

 

Prior to submission of the final written product, each of the individual aspects of the paper is to be submitted to the instructor for preliminary feedback.  The final paper will comprise revised versions of each of these individual aspects.  The schedule for the assignment is as follows:

 

 

I.          PRELIMINARY STEPS

 

A.        Choice of a social problem                                                              9/12/02

            Name the social problem. (1 sentence)          

 

B.        Preliminary reference list                                                              9/26/02

 

This must include at least 2 references: One article from a professional journal and one article from The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. Use the Psychological Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts and/or Social Work Research and Abstracts to find journal articles. (You are encouraged to add references to your preliminary list throughout the semester.)  You must use correct A.P.A. bibliographic style.  Use the A.P.A. Publication Manual and the reference list on the syllabus for this course, as your guides for correct style.  See additional notes on A.P.A. style on page 3 of this assignment.

 

C.        Description of Social Problem                                                        10/8/02

 

1.               Assert that your social problem is an important social problem. (1 sentence)  In this sentence, you can use several reference citations, for example, Alcohol abuse is a serious social problem in the United States (McClinton, 1995; Reed, 1971; Smith, 1990). 

 

2.              Provide one quotation from one source that supports your assertion that the problem is important.  (1 sentence)  Make sure you follow A.P.A. guidelines on the use and format of quotations.  Provide the citation of the source for the quotation using correct A.P.A. style.

 

D.        Description of a specific program addressing the problem         10/22/02

 

Identify an actual program that addresses your social problem.  You are required to visit the program.  You must document the following statements with written material obtained from the program.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

1.         Name the program. (1 sentence)

 

2.         Describe the program's purpose.

            (1 sentence; cite the source of your information.)

 

3.         Name one or two services provided by the program.

            (1-2 sentences; cite source.)

 

4.         Describe the clients served by the program.

            (1 sentence; cite source.)

 

            NOTE:  DO NOT PLAGIARIZE**

 

E.         Summary and Conclusions                                                             10/31/02         

 

This section is to contain a summary of, and conclusions about what you have already presented above (Sections A, B, C, and D).  Note: no new information should be in this section.  (2-5 sentences; cite source(s) of information if appropriate.)

 

II.        FINAL ASSIGNMENT        3-5 Pages                                            11/14/02         

 

The paper must be typed, double-spaced, with margins of at least one inch, all around.  The paper must follow the outline presented below and must be written within the page noted above.  Label each section clearly by titling it according to the underlined sections of the outline below.  You must use correct A.P.A. style for citations and references.  Be sure that all citations used in the text are also in the Reference List and that the Reference List contains only those references which are cited in the text.

A.        Outline for the final paper

 

  1. Give a title to the paper. 

The title should be on the cover page with your name, date, and the course name and course section.

  1. Name the social problem
  2. Give a description of the social problem
  3. Give a description of a specific program addressing the problem
  4. Summary and conclusions
  5. References-Must include 4-6 references (2 from social work journals, 1 newspaper, and 1 book)

 

IMPORTANT:  Final assignment and designated preliminary steps must be submitted on time.  The penalty for lateness in submission of the preliminary assignments will be refusal of instructor to provide feedback.  The penalty for lateness in submission of the final paper will be the reduction of the grade by 1/2 for each day late.

                                                                                                                                   

Examples of social problems:  Poverty, AIDS, chemical dependency, child abuse, family violence, community violence, homelessness, lack of health care, substance abuse, youth suicide, teen pregnancy, elder abuse, etc.

 

Plagiarism is literary theft.  Plagiarism violates the NASW Code of Ethics (see section on Acknowledging Credit).  York College has a clear policy on plagiarism (see Bulletin, p. 30). "The penalty for academic plagiarism or cheating shall be failure in the course. The failure shall be indicated by an "F" grade and the grade shall be irremovable.  If a student is found guilty of academic plagiarism or cheating...the student shall not at any time be permitted to withdraw from the course or to take a leave of absence to avoid receiving the "F" grade.  The "F" grade shall be mandatory" (p.30).

 

A.P.A. Style

You must learn to use correct A.P.A. bibliographic style in two places: in the text and in the list of references at the end of the paper.  Samples of the list of references may be found in the A.P.A. Publication Manual.  Following are the two forms for citing sources in the text:

1.         Johnson (1997) reports that a major difficulty for students is learning correct A.P.A. format.   

 

2.         A major difficulty for students is learning correct A.P.A. format (Johnson, 1997).