1 SW 612 Mental Health and Mental Disorders of Children and Youth Winter 2006 Instructor: Steven Foley MSW PhD Monday, 6:00 to 9:00 PM Voice Mail: 734 663-9050 ext. 2 Email : [email protected] Office hours: (after class and by appointment) I. Course Description The focus of this course will be on mental health and mental disorders of children and adolescents. Topics will include the nature of diagnosis and the social, political, environmental, and historical influences that have shaped and mis-shaped thought on the topic. Treatment issues will be discussed including counseling and family interventions, school-based interventions, the role of psychopharmacology, and opportunities to impact the environmental factors that may initiate or maintain a disorder. The course will explore the benefit and limitations of the DSM IV TR as a classification system. Factors involving disability, race, social-economic status, ethnicity sexual orientation, and gender and the concept of mental disorders will be discussed. II. Textbooks Required texts: May be obtained at Shaman Drum Bookshop, 311-315 S. State St. or with online vendors. Mash, E.J. & Barkley, R.A. (Eds.). (2003). Child Psychopathology, 2nd Ed. N.Y., N.Y.: Guilford Press. American Psychiatric Association: DSM-IV-TR; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000. Optional texts that may be helpful: Mash, E.J. & Barkley, R.A. (Eds.), (2003). Child Psychopathology: Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press. Canino, I.A., & Spurlock, J. (Eds.), (2000). Culturally Diverse Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment, Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press. Other useful references will be discussed in conjunction with topics presented in the lectures2III. Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: • Recognize and understand the factors that contribute to making a diagnosis of common disorders of children and adolescents • Understand the use and limitations of the current mental health classification systems • Understand and be able to use interventions and strategies appropriate to particular disorders and adjustment problems. • Understand the influence of prejudice, institutional processes, and social and cultural bias on the perception of, or intervention with, child and adolescent disorders. • Recognize the distortions in judgment that can occur as a result of agency goals, societal and cultural influences, and gender, racial, social, economic, and personal history factors. • Recognize and understand the interactional factors that contribute to the onset or maintenance of disorders or dysfunctions. IV. Course Design and Format The objectives of this course will be pursued through lectures, discussions, readings, case presentations. The examinations and optional paper will be intended as further exercises in learning the material as well as tools for evaluation. There will be two examinations, a take-home midterm and an in-class final exam. Class attendance and participation is important and will be considered a factor in determining final grades. Absences require that the professor be notified as to the time and nature of the absence. V. Course Requirements and Grading 1. Mid-term exam 40% 2. Final exam 40% 4. Participation in class discussion 10% 5. Attendance 10% 6. Term paper (Optional) NOTE: Requirements #1 through #5 are required activities to be in the E through B+ range. To have an opportunity to receive a grade in the A range you must also complete requirement #6. Completing #s 1 through #6 does not insure a grade in the A range, it only provides an opportunity for a grade in the A range. Receiving a grade in the A range for the course will be determined by a review of requirements 1-6. In the event3that you elect to do the optional paper, the weighted point values will be: Midterm - 28%, Final - 28%, Optional Paper - 24%, Participation - 10%, Attendance - 10%. For those who elect to do the paper, the due date is March 28th. VI. Relationship of Course to Four Curricular Themes • Multiculturalism and Diversity will be highlighted in the course through discussions of the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders and its relationship to gender and social class, and through discussion of culture, ethnicity, race, gender, and class as factors influencing mental health and mental disorders. • Social Justice and Social Change will be addressed through discussion of the misapplication of mental health diagnoses and placements based on race, class, and gender bias, and the potential impact of poverty, discrimination, and disenfranchisement on the development of mental disorders and disorders of parenting. • Promotion, Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation will be addressed through discussion of factors that promote resiliency and positive adaptation. • Behavioral and Social Science Research will be considered a foundation for the course concepts as the material presented will represent the current research on issues related to diagnostic distinctions, social and environmental influences, and biological predispositions, and behavioral, cognitive, and pharmacological interventions. VII. Relationship of the Course to Social Work Ethics and Values Ethical and value issues will be considered in every aspect of the course particularly as they relate to issues of personal, social, and institutional bias, the potential for ethical conflicts in making clinical decisions, and the conflicts inherit in dealing with the constraints of limited time or resources. Other issues discussed in the course will be the interface between the rights of children and the rights/responsibilities of their parents, issues of advocacy with and for children and adolescents, and understanding the limitations of the DSM IV TR and the medical model in understanding the whole child. VIII. Schedule of Class Topics and Required Readings #1 - January 10 • Overview of course including course expectations • Nature of mental health and mental disorders • Utility and limits of categorical/dimensional diagnostic systems • Critical thinking as an exercise and as a tool • Relationships between assessment, treatment, and the therapeutic relationship Texts: DSM IV-TR - pgs.