Instructor: Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq.
Course: Soc. 328-01: Social Agencies: Practice and Power
Office: SBS-B 326
Telephone: 310-243-3831
Office Hours: TWTh 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.; evenings, before and after class
Teaching and Research Associate: Patricia Acone, A.B.T.

Course Description:

The agencies course first entered our curriculum through the paralegal program. But it is esential for Human Service majors and for those of you would enter agency-related social work, including corrections. I have maintained the legal foundation perspective because in the current global mix of job relocation and government and corporate ascension, the role of the agency is changing drastically. If you wish to work in a helping area, you need to stay on top of that.

The Foundations of Administrative Law text is out of print, and I settled for a much more practically oriented text on leadership. That sounds like a good thing, I guess, except that I want you to have a solid substantive understanding of the underlying issues of agency. We'll balance the more practical text with sumaries of the old text on site.

The course will cover the extent to which agencies affect our daily lives. The most obvious are the social work agencies with whiich you are already familiar. But the course will address administrative theory and agency practice in many areas.. And since it is possible in this huge metropolitan area, the course will include opportunities for brief experiences of interning and actual exchange with agency personnel.

Texts:

Required Texts:

• Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal. Reframing Organizations : Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. Jossey-Bass. 1997. ISBN: 0787908223

  Good review and summary of text. Backup

  Recommended Texts:

• Ann Raimes. Universal Keys for Writers. Houghton Mifflin. 2004. Reference book. Contains sample writings and corrections. Gives detailed advice and samples. Well done. Easy to find stuff. Expensive. Susan said $54 on Amazon.com. Get it only as a reference book. But it looks good as a reference book. Those of you who plan to continue in formal education should consider it. Term papers and theses and dissertations. Remember?

• Schuck, Peter H. Foundations of Administrative Law. Oxford University Press, 1994. This is NOT a law book. It is a reader, by some of the best known writers in the field on topics that influence the administration of agencies and their role in our infrastructure. It is not easy to read. BUT, since I have put lecture notes for each reading on the site, if you will read them and the discussion questions first, you will find that you can read through the text much faster and not stumble over obscure writing. This is an impressive book, if you will think about it enough to be able to discuss it. The last time I taught this course a lawyer asked one of my students, who was appearing in court, if she could read the book. She answered, "Well, yes, it's my text. We talk about it in class." "Good," said the lawyer, "You're going to meet with the judge next week. Bring that book." Unfortunately, it's out of print. But copies are around, and you might like to hunt for it.

Course Objectives:

1. Objective: To master the concept of aesthetic process of answerability and its role in creating an atmosphere of morality and ethics in our institutions and world systems, particularly the educational system. Answerability

   Outcomes: Students will participate in class discussions on answerability and the aesthetic process of collaborative creation. Students will also choose from these discussiontopics for written discussion that will enhance their skills at translating oral thinking into written documents and serve as one measure of learning for this class. Academic Assessment

2. Objective: To master the concept of monologic non-answerability that is typical of bureaucratization that relies on rules and customs and denies answerability on the part of client or student. To appy this critical perspective to agency stories and experiences, and to suggest remedies. Non-Answerability

   Outcomes: Students will share experiences and reading in class discussions on monologic non-answerability and the extent to which its presence in an institution creates harm. Students may choose from these discussion topics for written discussion that will enhance their skills at translating oral thinking into written documents and serve as one measure of learning for this class. Academic Assessment

3. Objective: To master Maria Pia Lara's definition of illocutionary force as a feminist contribution to balance Habermas' step away from aesthetics in his focus on rationality.

   Outcome: Students will use site readings and discussion questions to clarify the concepts and engage in class discussions of the application of illucutionary discourse to leadership in agencies.

4. Objectives: To master the different windows of perception suggested by Bolman and Deal, and to apply those perspectives to their workrole when they are not yet in a position of leadership.

   Outcomes: Students will participate in class discussions on the supervisor or administrator as Other, and consider the ways in which they can most effectively adapt to different leadership types, and discover alternative ways around those to whom they do not wish to adapt. In other words, they will determine some means of answerability for themselves.

5. Objective: To understand that alienation and frustration are an inherent part of social work. Of most work, actually. To recognize the role such alienation and frustration play in burnout, and then to learn to build support networks to prevent burnout for themselves as workers, for others whom they supervise.

   Outcomes: Class discussions, summaries of which will appear on the Internet, will provide myriad examples for applications. Students will choose an application of specific personal interest and prepare an approach to the application, either for understanding, or in some cases, making it better, using the theoretical tools on which we have focussed. Students may choose measures of learning from these applications.

6. Objective: To gain some practical experience through a scheduled visit, partial internship, or formal sharing with someone who has such experience. We prefer that you actually have the field experience, but we understand that schedules sometimes do not permit.

   Outcomes: Students will prepare a debriefing on their field experience that will be shared with the class. This will count as one of their measures of learning.

7. Objective: Towards the end of the semester students will look back on their own class interactions as an example of the creative production of a forum through application of the tools of the aesthetic process of answerability and the understanding of illocutionary force. This evaluation of the class will be initiated in class and internet discussions.

   Outcomes: Students may choose this evaluative process as a measure of their learning in this class.

Academic Assessment:

• Academic Assessment and Grading Policy
• Minimal Requirements for Passing Grades in Agencies, Soc. 328-01/
• Here Be Dragons: The Plagiarism Gotcha Game The university requires inclusion of this component, so it might be a good idea to take a look at it. I stole the title "here be dragons" from a feminist work on the site, but it was more in the spirit of "stealing theory," which is a good thing.

Common Sense:

Permission to enroll in this course is premised on upper division status, rendering you capable of performing competently. However, I recognize that crises occur and that you have many conflicting demands as students, family members, and workers. Please remember that A's are earned, not given for the status characteristic of "being a good student who could get an A if he/she made the effort." One way to deal with such crises effectively is to be sure that I know when they are happening. Because most of my lectures and your practice are on the site, it's easier to make up missed time over conflicts than you might think.

Nota bene: If you have the flu, please don't come and give it to the rest of us. We'll help you catch up when you're well. I lost three weeks to flu a year ago. The bugs are getting stronger and more resistant to medication. If I lose three weeks during classes, you'll be left with a substitute.

If you haven't slept, and are falling asleep from exhaustion, please stay home and sleep. Sleep deprivation is a very real problem. We all drive freeways to get here, and go home often late at night. You can kill yourself and others that way. Please don't.

I do not give specific deadlines, because I want you to use your common sense and your own discipline to study effectively. All work can be made up within university imposed limits.

Preparations Schedule for Social Agencies, Soc 328-01

• Reading and Discussion Preparations for Social Agencies, Soc 328-01
• Agencies: Minimal Requirements for Weeks 1 and 2 Minimal requirements are just a quick check list for you to determine what we consider absolutely minimal for you to have learned in this course. That means be prepared to assure us that you have learned it. No, we won't give a test. Your job to let us know that you know, in class, by e-mail, in the hallways, etc.
• Agencies: Minimal Preparations for Textual Readings:

Minimal Preparations for Textual Readings in Agencies
Week	Topic	Readings
Week 1	Answerability and Academic Assessment	Bolman and Deal, Introduction Academic Assessment
Week 2	Dialogic Answerability in Hierarchical Institutions	Bolman and Deal Chapters 1 and 2 and The Aesthetics of Answerability Lecture on Dialogic Answerability in Institutional Hierarchy
Week 3	Organizations from McDonald's to Harvard University	Bolman and Deal Chapters 3 and 4
Week 4	What Do Managers Really Do? And What Do Workers Really Do?	Bolman and Deal Chapter 5 and Mintzberg, The Manager's Job: Folklore or Fact
Week 5	Managers: Stewards and Enterpreneurs And How Do They Fit?	Bolman and Deal Chapters 6 and 7
Week 6	Interpersonal and Group Dynamics And Answerability	Bolman and Deal Chapter 8
Week 7	The Political Perspective Is There a Right or Left? Is There a God?	Bolman and Deal Chapters 9 and 10
Week 8	Organizations as Political Agents	Bolman and Deal Chapter 11
Week 9	Organizations as Ritual, Symbol, Theatre	Bolman and Deal Chapters 12, 13, and 14
Week 10	Integrating Perspectives	Bolman and Deal Chapter 15
Week 11	But What Can I Do?	Bolman and Deal Chapters 16 and 17
Week 12	Does Any of It Really Matter?	Bolman and Deal Chapters 18, 19, and 20
Week 13	Review, Revise, and Practice Answerability as a Moral and Illocutionary Force	jeanne and Pat not available
Week 14	Presentations Answerability as a Moral and Illocutionary Force in Social Agencies	One day for presentations. Thanksgiving Break
Week 15	Presentations Answerability as a Moral and Illocutionary Force in Social Agencies	Two days for presentations.
Week 16	Exam Week