About the Department
Department Overview
A degree in professional social work teaches the specialized skills needed to help diverse people in a variety of ways. Social workers provide one-on-one counseling, intervene with families, lead small groups, and facilitate change in communities and the environment. Professional social work promotes social and economic justice for all people through advocacy, and organizational and political change. In their courses, Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students learn theories to help them understand and assess client situations, learn direct practice skills such as interviewing, and complete a supervised internship in their senior year.
The Master of Social Work (MSW) offers concentration courses that allow students to specialize in a selected area of social work practice. Courses and internships prepare graduates for positions as advanced-level practitioners, clinicians, supervisors, and managers, in addition to leadership roles in community and program development.
Department Mission
The Department of Social Work at Azusa Pacific University seeks to develop competent generalist social work practitioners who can integrate the knowledge, values, and skills necessary to enhance the social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Grounded in the profession’s history and commitment to social justice and diversity, the Department of Social Work is committed to excellence in teaching and scholarship; to the integration of Christian faith in learning and practice; and the facilitation of community within the department, with students, and within the greater environment.
About Social Work
Social workers help people overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges: poverty, discrimination, abuse, addiction, physical illness, divorce, loss, unemployment, educational problems, disability, and mental illness. Social workers help prevent crises and counsel individuals and families. In addition, they also work to develop organizations and communities, both locally and internationally, in order to assist people to cope more effectively with the stresses of everyday life.
The Department of Social Work has been nationally accredited since 1982 by the Council on Social Work Education. APU’s programs in professional social work maintain the following goals:
- To prepare students for generalist work practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, and communities
- To provide knowledge, built on a liberal arts foundation of human behavior and the interaction of person and environment
- To prepare students for lifelong learning, critical thinking, and advanced study
- To advocate the development of policies and programs that seek to advance human well-being and promote social and economic justice
- To socialize students to the values and ethics of the profession, and to the integration of Christian values throughout their practice
- To engage in ongoing scholarship reflecting the goals and needs of professional social work
