With a reinforced focus on service learning, BYU-Hawaii social work majors are infusing concepts and skills learned in the classroom by advocating for social justice in communities throughout the world.
Department Professor and Chairperson Dr. Sharlene Furuto, a CCH alumna who has taught at BYU-Hawaii since 1975, noted the program has "over 100 majors, and we graduate about 40 every year . . . about twice as many as the UH baccalaureate program does. Approximately 15-20% of them go on to graduate school immediately, while international students go back to their home countries, particularly Asia."
She explained a typical graduate is a qualified entry-level practitioner — "someone who's knowledgeable in working with individuals, families, groups and the larger community in a number of different fields. We call this multi-level practice."
"Working with individuals means one-on-one counseling," Furuto said. "Family work could include marital discord, substance abuse problems with family members, etc.; and community work could include working on community issues such as crime, poverty, under-education or violence."
"We focus on working with special populations such as women, people with disabilities, gays and lesbians, people of color and ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and very young children. We call these our target populations."
"We also give our majors background in policies and services. We teach them a framework for analyzing social policies, which govern what social workers can and can't do. For example, if someone less than 65 years of age wants to apply for Medicare, he won't normally qualify because there is a policy that the one must be at least 65 to be eligible for services. We also teach students how to change, modify or initiate policies that people need," Furuto continued.
"We teach our students how to be strong advocates to meet the needs of people, whether they're going to lobby before the state legislature or the city council, or whether they're going to be asking for grant money from eleemosynary groups. If you think about it, all of the social welfare programs that we have today — such as Social Security and unemployment compensation, medical insurance and children's programs such as A-Plus — came about through advocacy."
"We teach students about research and statistical analyses. We believe very strongly that as social workers we need to evaluate our practice, to know what's effective and what's not. To do that, the students need to know research design, how to carry out research appropriately, how to analyze the data, and what to do with the results."
One of the more intriguing aspects of the social work program is a field practicum component — often carried out back home for international students — where students work a minimum of 450 hours at an agency. "They go out two days a week during fall, winter, and spring," Furuto said. "There's also a seminar which helps them infuse what's going on in the agencies with the coursework and skills they've learned. Or students can do the block practicum five days a week in the spring and summer terms and 'attend' the seminar electronically."
"The four full-time faculty and students are very proud of our program. Our students who have gone back to the Pacific have really become social work pioneers in the truest sense. For example, we graduated a student who went back to Fiji where she started doing community work in some of the villages. She emailed me about two months ago and said she had been transferred to the largest hospital there as a medical social worker — the first and only one in all of Fiji."
Another student from Fiji and one from New Zealand also returned home to "help develop policies regarding family welfare services. Both have only their BSW degrees. MSW [Master of Social Work] graduates dream of doing things like that. We're very, very proud of our students and their huge potential for doing good."
Furuto said the department started a new class about three years ago that focuses more attention on service learning. For example, in 2005 the class first studied poverty alleviation on campus, and then went to Cambodia for three weeks where they "visited agencies and organizations that participate in microfinance and human services. We built two houses in collaboration with the NGO [non-governmental organization] Tabitha. That was really hard work, but very rewarding. We also collaborated with LDS Charities Cambodia. We had raised over $1,000 before we left campus, and we used part of it to buy basic household needs for 250 poor Vietnamese families that were fire survivors in Phnom Penh. We also donated some of the money to orphanages and schools."
Furuto said she would like to see the social work program continue to "progressively expand into Asia, and continue to recruit Asian and Pacific islanders and prepare them for the MSW degree. There is a noted need for trained social work practitioners in Asia and the Pacific. Our students can take the lead in these areas. I hope some of them will get their doctoral degrees and come back here to teach."
Asked what has been most gratifying to her after 30-plus years of working in the department, Furuto replied, "seeing students getting more serious, gaining a stronger testimony, and becoming more committed to service is most rewarding. Our graduates are able to perform mightily wherever they are. They're able to display definitive Christ-like characteristics. I think Christ was the greatest social worker."
"Our social work students will do much good for many people throughout the world through service in their home, in the church and community, as well as professionally."
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