Week 10:Substance Use

Week 10:Substance Use

Week 10:Substance Use. Substance use is perceived in a variety of ways by different entities. The court system may view substance use as a criminal activity. The medical and social work fields may view it as evidence of a disease or disorder. Uninformed individuals may view substance misuse as a personal choice or weakness. Decisions about how to address and respond to this social problem influence the development of effective policies.

This week, you explore the impact of drug policies on clients and populations. You identify the ethical obligations of social workers in changing drug policies. You also identify a social justice issue for which you can advocate and write a letter to a legislative representative.

Learning Objectives

Week 10:Substance Use

Students will:

• Analyze effects of drug policies on a social work case study
• Identify gaps in service as a result of current drug policies in a social work case study
• Apply strategies for addressing gaps in service due to drug policies in a social work case study
• Analyze the ethical obligations of social workers in changing drug policies
• Demonstrate effective and persuasive written communication
• Advocate for policies that address social justice

Photo Credit: [Ingram Publishing]/[None]/Getty Images

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Week 10:Substance Use

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Beerma, D. (2012). Advocacy handbook for social workers. National Association of Social Workers – North Carolina Chapter. Retrieved fromhttp://c.ymcdn.com/sites/naswnc.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/Advocacy/Advocacyhandbook.pdf

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore: MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

• “Working with Clients with Dual Diagnosis: The Case of Joe” (pp. 77–78)

Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2019). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

• Chapter 8, “Mental Health and Substance Abuse” (pp. 161-191)

Humphreys, K., & McLellan, A. T. (2011). A policy-oriented review of strategies for improving the outcomes of services for substance use disorder patients. Addiction, 106(12), 2058–2066.

Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

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Week 10:Substance Use

Discussion: Drug Policies and Ethics

The NASW Code of Ethics provides social workers with guidelines and standards for interacting with clients, colleagues, communities, and society, as a whole. These standards govern interactions and professional behavior of social work practitioners. The NASW has also developed specific standards, which are published in the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice With Clients With Substance Use Disorders. These standards emphasize the importance of the competence of social workers. The standards indicate that social workers should be knowledgeable of evidence-based interventions for substance disorders. The confidentiality standard becomes essential as social workers must be informed and comply with federal, state, and local laws about substance use, as well as third-party payee regulations.

For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including the case Working with Clients with Dual Diagnosis: The Case of Joe,and consider how social policies affect Joe’s circumstances as described in the case study. Then, think about any gaps in service you found in Joe’s case. Finally, reflect on how you might address these gaps or make changes to the policies that affect Joe.

 

Week 10:Substance Use

By Day 3

Post an explanation of how drug policies affect Joe’s circumstances, as described in the case study. Then, explain any gaps in service you found in Joe’s case as a result of the drug policies described in the case study. Finally, describe a strategy you might use to address these gaps or make changes to the policies that affect Joe.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

 

Week 10:Substance Use

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues with a critique of the gaps in service they identified for Joe. Then, describe a substance use or drug policy that you believe is unjust or disproportionately affects a certain group or population. Finally, describe the ethical obligations of social workers to make changes to substance use policies.

Support your response with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial post. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Week 10:Substance Use

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 10 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 10 Discussion

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Week 10:Substance Use

Assignment:
Advocating with Policy Makers

In social work, advocacy is very important to promote social change. Letters are often used as an effective tool to bring attention to social justice issues. This assignment requires you to choose a social justice issue that is important to you, gather current research and data on the subject matter, and write a one page professional and formal letter to your elected local, state, or national representative responsible for your social justice matter you have identified.

Choose a social welfare problem that you believe is in need of change and write a letter to an elected local, state, or federal official regarding the issue you have chosen. You are not required to send the letter; however, it must be written in a professional, well organized, clear, and concise format.

Writing letters to public officials is a form of political advocacy for clients and social workers. For this Assignment, you will write an advocacy letter to public official about a problem and a policy. In addition, you will write a 1-2 page explanation of your letter. Your explanation will provide the rationale behind your chosen issue and the approach you took with the specific representative.

 

Week 10:Substance Use

By Day 7

Assignment: In the same document, submit both Part I and II of the assignment (2-4 pages):

Part I: Letter to Representative

Your letter should include:

• A description of the social welfare issue
• An explanation of how you want the legislator to respond to the issue (vote, create legislation, hold public hearings, etc.) and why.
• Support of your viewpoints with credible facts and research.

 

Part II: Explanation (1-2 pages, double-space, APA format)

For this part of the assignment, provide an explanation of:

• Why you selected the issue
• How the issue affects social work
• The reason you chose the specific representative
• The approach you took with the representative (consider the representative’s voting history, political affiliation, and any other factors you considered)

 

Week 10:Substance Use

Submit your Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK10Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 10 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 10 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK10Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

 

Week 10:Substance Use

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 10 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 10 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:

Week 10 Assignment

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Week 10:Substance Use

Week in Review

This Week you examined the impact of drug policies on clients and populations. You also investigated the obligations of social workers in changing drug policies. Additionally, you reviewed the impact of social agencies on social issues, as you explored social service delivery systems.

Next Week you examined the impact of drug policies on clients and populations. You also investigated the obligations of social workers in changing drug policies. Additionally, you identified a social welfare problem and wrote an advocacy letter to a policy maker.

To go to the next week:

Week 11

 

Week 10:Substance Use

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Week 10:Substance Use