Ronnie Swartz
Chair, Department of Social Work
Director, Undergraduate Social Work Program
Associate Professor
(707) 826-4562
Behavioral and Social Sciences Building, 514C
I am engaged in practicing and teaching social work to
facilitate change for individuals, families, organizations, and communities. I
am particularly interested in the living wisdom and knowledge people have
developed, and the processes through which this wisdom and knowledge is
marginalized by dominant cultural discourses. I believe social work requires a
commitment to highly ethical and effective practices that privilege people’s
ways of thinking, feeling, acting, and being in the world rather than
universalizing experience and totalizing people’s identities.
My work in communities has focused on inclusive
services that maintain youth and family relationships and minimize out-of-home
placements. This has largely taken the form of Wraparound planning in
education, mental health, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and child
welfare settings. I am committed to socially just practices that assist people
in the realization of their preferred ways of being in the world.
Course Syllabi
(Note: These are samples. Currently enrolled students should not rely on these
syllabi.)
Undergraduate
Graduate
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SW 500: Values
& Ethics – The Philosophy of Social Work SW 530: Social
Welfare Policy and Services SW 642: Advanced Practice
and Problematic Substance Use |
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Manuscripts
(Published):
·
Swartz,
R. (forthcoming). Affirming the
“S” in HBSE through the Socio-Cultural Discourses of Lev Vygotsky, Barbara
Myerhoff, Jerome Bruner, and Ken Gergen. Journal of Human Behavior and
the Social Environment, 19(7).
· Swartz, R. (2008). Some will rob you with a six gun, some with a fountain pen: social work education and the ecological folk wisdom of Woody Guthrie. MERLOT.
· Swartz, R. (2007). Social Work Values in An Age of Complexity. Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, 4(3).
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Swartz, R. (2005). Making The Most With The Time You’ve Got: Myths
and Real Experiences in Human Service Systems. In Gordon, L. J., Tullis,
K., Hanson, A., Sowders, S. (Eds.). Building on family strengths: Research
and services in support of children and their families. 2004 conference
proceedings.
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Swartz, R. (2004). Narrative Work in
Public Social Services through Wraparound Planning. Journal of Systemic
Therapies, 23(2), 51-67.
·
Swartz, R. (2004). The
Spirit of Brief Work in the Human Services. In Gordon, L. J., Tullis, K.,
Hanson, A., Magee, A., Everhart, M., & Bradley, J. (Eds.). Building on
family strengths: Research and services in support of children and their families.
2002 conference proceedings.
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Swartz, R. (1999). Relative Influence
Questioning.
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Swartz, R. (1999). People and Problems.
Manuscripts
(Unpublished/Drafts):
·
Swartz, R. (2004). Construction Zone:
Approaching Social Justice in the Classroom. Unpublished
Professional interests (clicking on the topic
will bring up a list of other websites):
Narrative work – A particular way of thinking about people, the world, and people’s relationships to the world
Wraparound and System of Care – A set of beliefs of human service work, institutional structures in support of these beliefs, and specific strategies for working with individuals, families, communities, and organizations
Competency-based therapeutic conversations – in contrast to taken-for-granted therapeutic approaches that consider people’s lives and relationships in terms of failure, deficit, illness, pathology, and broken-ness, these are ways of working with individuals, families, organizations, and communities that focus on success, achievement, ability, and purpose.
Mediation – How conflict might be resolved, in dissolved, in transformative and meaningful ways
Post Modern/Post Structural/Social Constructionist/Systemic perspectives – Alternative ways of thinking about one’s self, the world, and one’s relationship to the world
Pro-feminism
– As a man, I recognize that there are obvious and not-so-obvious
ways in which I benefit from historical (as well as contemporary)
marginalization of women (not to mention certain privileges I enjoy in relation
to race and ethnicity, financial situation, sexuality, age, national origin,
ability, and more).
Social Policy – There are, I think, two prevailing ways of thinking about changing the world. One suggests that the best way to change the world is to drop out from “mainstream” society and craft one’s own vision for being. The other attempts to facilitate change from within existing institutions. These websites assist those interested in the latter.
Other things I find interesting:
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Humguide
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Simple Directions: The Humboldt Community Switchboard
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Prosperity! The North Coast Strategy
Woody Guthrie