Social Work

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www.nwciowa.edu/socialwork

“Social work is the professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and to create societal conditions favorable to their goals.” (National Association of Social Workers)

The social work program at Northwestern prepares students in the generalist perspective for entry-level professional positions and for advanced graduate training in social work. The generalist perspective means that social workers are trained in a holistic-interactionist paradigm for work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. They work within a distinct value orientation and a defined method.

Social work students at Northwestern College are equipped for the profession through a curriculum of courses in social work theory and practice built on a broad foundation in the liberal arts and in the social and behavioral sciences. Field experience in a professional internship rounds out the students’ preparation. The course requirements of the social work program are extensive due to the broad spectrum of knowledge required to become an effective social work practitioner. Northwestern’s social work program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (since 1986).

The social work faculty is committed to the preparation of graduates who have integrated their faith into all areas of their life: competent professionals, whose integrity is centered in Christ-like compassion and whose spiritual strength enables them to enter with confidence the varied contexts of human need.

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