Child and Adolescent Development: BS in Human Services

Imagine life without cell phones, television, or the Internet. Recent technological developments have significantly altered all aspects of human life: at work; in play; and in personal, family, and social interactions. In this course, students examine the advantages, disadvantages, and controversies of living and learning in an ever-changing technological environment. By exploring multiple perspectives, students discover how technology is changing media, culture, business, health, human behavior, and overall access to information. In a dynamic, reflective, and engaging classroom environment, students use a variety of audio, visual, literary, and artistic resources, to engage in open dialogue. Students are also introduced to the tools essential to success at Walden. Students complete the course with a personalized success plan that provides a customized roadmap and tools that they can use immediately on their journey toward the completion of their bachelor's degree. *Note: virtual, cyber, digital, and asynchronous are used to describe online environments in this course.

The human services field provides rewarding and challenging situations as professionals support diverse populations in an effort to change the lives of individuals, families, and communities. Students in this course explore the profession and the role of a human services professional practitioner as a humanitarian in this increasingly diverse and complex world. As students explore the range of humanitarian efforts, they self-assess their own aspirations, abilities, skills, characteristics, ethics, and cultural identity in preparation for their future in the human services. Students also explore ethical issues that can arise when working in diverse cultures around the globe. Applying foundational concepts, students also investigate current trends in the field of human and humanitarian service.

Human services professional practitioners must be able to demonstrate helping skills and approaches that lead to productive relationships with service users, no matter the context. These skills include basic communication skills, active listening, empathy, trust building, and cultural humility. Students in this course examine their existing skill set and then build on it through a series of written exercises, reflections, and interactive video-based responses to human services scenarios. They also receive instruction on holistic appraisal, collaborative advocacy, and goal setting as key activities in the helping relationship. The course culminates with students filming and evaluating themselves in the role of a practitioner engaging with a service user. HUMN 1030.)

[Under development] ENGL 1010.)

In this course, students examine situational procedures and techniques necessary in defusing situations identified as crises. Students work toward gaining skills to evaluate crisis experiences by combining active listening with an understanding of crisis patterns. Through class activities, such as case studies and comparative analyses, they learn how to work through difficult emotional, social, and health crises. Students also assess concepts and share perspectives through peer discussion on related topics, such as intervention models and strategies; system crisis intervention; collaboration; countertransference; secondary traumatic stress disorder and vicarious trauma; burnout prevention; and referral resources.   PSYC 1001, or PSYC 1002, or PSYC 1003.)

This course is designed to provide students with practical skills for organizing and brokering community resources for human services clients. This includes emphasis on needs assessment for different client communities, developing plans for comprehensive care services, and utilizing formal and informal networks to maximize client access to services. Emphasis is placed on interagency coordination as well as human services community resource building to achieve success in service delivery. HUMN 1030 and HUMN 2007.)

Human service professionals engage clients with a variety of needs. How can students be certain, though, that their services are effective in preventing recidivism in a population of drug-addicted persons, or that they have provided the necessary life skills training for a homeless person to transition into the workplace? This course is designed to provide skills for community needs assessment, program development, design, implementation, and evaluation across a variety of human services domains. Specific focus will be given to planning quality measures that demonstrate a program's effectiveness to all key stakeholders.

Learning to work effectively with diverse individuals and communities requires a clear understanding of one's own culture, status, and power in society, as well as the values and beliefs of others. In this course, students recognize, reconstruct, and analyze the unique cultural setting out of which they themselves developed. Students then apply this self-awareness to their interactions, both within the course and in their personal and professional lives. Through directed journaling and applied assignments, students explore how to recognize bias, oppression, and power imbalances as they exist in our everyday lives and gain a broad understanding of the importance of cultural humility. Students leave the course with an action plan for how best to continue their own growth as well as apply their new understandings as social change agents engaged in multicultural practice. HUMN 1030.)

The ability to effectively respond to people in mental health and substance use crisis is especially important for professionals on the front lines of human services. In this course, students study how to identify the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use disorders in adults. They then analyze and apply approaches to deescalate scenarios involving various mental health problems and contexts. By the end of the course, students have a set of guidelines to follow and referral resources to use in the practice of mental health crisis response in their own communities and workplaces. HUMN 1030 and HUMN 2007.)

Students in this course explore how groups and organizations are making a difference by serving the global community. Students examine the function, operation, and relationship between organizations that address global issues, such as disaster relief, HIV, hunger, education, women's rights, and healthcare; such organizations include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Students examine the strategies and techniques that successful organizations use in responding to global challenges. They also consider current issues that have potential to become global crises, and they discuss the future of public service in the global community. Applying concepts of service and related governance issues, students complete a final research project on a major issue currently affecting the global society. HUMN 1030.)

Humans experience many developmental changes throughout the lifespan, but those of greatest significance occur from conception to young adulthood. In this course, students examine key theories related to various aspects of development in infants, children, and adolescents. Students apply social, biological, and cognitive maturation processes and perspectives to better understand their own development and personal experiences. They also discuss related topics, such as cross-cultural issues, attachment and temperament, language and personality development, and puberty and sexual development.   PSYC 1001 [or PSYC 1002 and PSYC 1003] and PSYC 2000.)

Individuals are often influenced by others and by the social situations in which they find themselves. Students in this course examine the basic concepts and applications of social psychology, including attitudes, beliefs, and behavior; stereotyping; prejudice and discrimination; interpersonal relationships; group behavior; and the effect of environmental stress on behavior. They also learn how bias can sway objective conclusions as well as how ethical factors influence research in social psychology. Students apply principles and theories presented in the course to case studies and situations in daily life, including instances of stereotyping and discrimination. They also use these theories to understand strategies for helping others and reducing aggressive behavior.   PSYC 1001 [or PSYC 1002 and PSYC 1003] and PSYC 2000.)

[Under development] HUMN 1030 and HUMN 2007.)

[Under development] HUMN 1030 and HUMN 2007.)

By understanding the relationship between children's health, culture, and socioeconomic status, in addition to related trends and issues, professionals who work with school-age children are in a better position to address and respond to these issues and related challenges effectively. Education professionals in this course critically examine selected issues and trends related to school-age children, such as technology/media, bullying, gender, abuse prevention, drugs/alcohol, obesity/eating disorders, stress, peer relationships, and school success. They demonstrate their understanding of course concepts through various applications, including the creation of an informative brochure for the purpose of explaining topical issues on health and wellness to parents and other stakeholders.

Physical changes and social pressures make adolescence a challenging time for many teens; therefore, it is important for professionals to be aware of current trends and critical issues that affect the mental and physical well-being of this age group. Education professionals in this course examine and discuss selected issues and trends related to adolescents, such as technology/media, cyber-bullying, gender, sexual orientation, drugs/alcohol, obesity/eating disorders, depression, self-injury, suicide, teenage pregnancy, and school success. Applying course concepts, education professionals engage in practical exercises, such as research analyses through which they explore the connections between topical issues and the larger world as they affect adolescents and their transition into adulthood.

In this course, students synthesize information and experiences gathered over the course of the Bachelor of Science in Human Services program. Students will identify a human service gap in their local area and develop a detailed proposal for addressing the needs of the client population who are affected. This will include a background literature review, description of the problem area and the history of the community's response, and a detailed plan for addressing the gap with attention given to multicultural considerations. In accordance with Walden University's mission, students will be expected to demonstrate clearly the social change implications of the plan that they develop.