SOW4700: Social Work and Chemical Addiction

Course Description

SOW4700 — statewide title Social Work and Chemical Addiction — prepares social workers to recognise, assess and treat substance use disorders, and to work with the families and systems around them.

The statewide inventory records the course at Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, the University of North Florida and the University of West Florida.

⚠ Evidence base. Only the University of West Florida's catalog entry was retrievable; the others publish no fetchable descriptions. The mechanics below are UWF's. ⚠ The subject matter is well standardised — the Council on Social Work Education's competencies, the DSM-5 criteria and the SAMHSA evidence base define the content nationally — so the outcomes and topics are stated with confidence while prerequisites and course structure should be checked locally.

UWF titles it Substance Use, Prevention, and Treatment, places it in the College of Health, Department of Social Work at 3 semester hours, and describes it as providing "background on the multiple issues associated with substance use and mental health disorders… substance use related terminology, classification of substances, substance abuse/mental health policy, and ethical dilemmas," with students "gaining knowledge on evaluating, assessing, and developing treatment plans using evidence-based approaches for working with substance-using people and their families."

What the course covers, and why the terminology unit comes first. ⚠ UWF lists "substance use related terminology" as the opening topic, and in this field vocabulary is clinical practice. "Addict", "abuser", "clean", "dirty urine" and "substance abuser" are documented in the research as associated with more punitive judgements — including by clinicians — than "person with a substance use disorder." Person-first language here is not politeness; it measurably changes how someone is treated.

The pharmacology, taught for practice rather than for chemistry. Classification of substances — depressants including alcohol and benzodiazepines, stimulants, opioids, cannabis, hallucinogens, inhalants and nicotine — with, for each, route, effects, tolerance, withdrawal and overdose risk. ⚠⚠ Two facts a social worker must know cold: alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can be fatal and requires medical management, while opioid withdrawal is agonising and generally not. Getting that backwards — a common assumption — is dangerous.

Models of understanding, which the course compares rather than adjudicates. The moral model (historical, and still present in policy and in families); the disease model, the basis of the twelve-step tradition; the brain disease model and its critics; the biopsychosocial model, which most contemporary practice adopts; and social and structural models that locate substance use in poverty, trauma and community conditions. ⚠ Each model implies a different response, which is why the comparison is not academic.

Assessment and screening — the DSM-5 substance use disorder criteria and their severity specifiers; standard instruments (AUDIT, DAST, CAGE, ASSIST); the ASAM criteria for placement decisions; and screening for co-occurring conditions, trauma and suicide risk.

Treatment, and here the evidence is unusually clear. ⚠⚠ Medications for opioid use disorder — buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone — substantially reduce mortality, and this is among the best-supported findings in the field. The guide states it plainly because the belief that medication is "substituting one drug for another" remains common, including among practitioners, and it costs lives. Alongside: motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioural approaches, contingency management, family and group treatment, mutual-help fellowships, and the harm reduction framework.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Use current, non-stigmatising terminology accurately, and explain why the language matters clinically.
• Describe the classification of psychoactive substances and, for each class, effects, tolerance, withdrawal and overdose risk.
• ⚠ Identify withdrawal states that are medically dangerous and require medical management.
• Explain the neurobiology of substance use disorders at the level needed for practice and for explaining it to clients and families.
• Compare the models of addiction — moral, disease, brain disease, biopsychosocial, social — and the response each implies.
• Explain risk and protective factors across individual, family, peer, community and structural levels.
• Explain the relationship between trauma, adverse childhood experiences and substance use.
• Apply the DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorders, including severity specifiers.
• Administer and interpret standard screening instruments.
• Conduct a biopsychosocial assessment including substance use history.
• Screen for co-occurring mental health disorders, trauma and suicide risk.
• Explain levels of care and apply placement criteria.
• ⚠ Explain integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders and why sequential or parallel treatment produces worse outcomes.
• ⚠ Explain medications for opioid and alcohol use disorder, the evidence for them, and the misconceptions that limit their use.
• Apply motivational interviewing principles and the stages-of-change framework.
• Explain and evaluate evidence-based psychosocial treatments.
• Explain harm reduction, including naloxone distribution and syringe services, and the evidence for each.
• Explain relapse as a feature of a chronic condition and apply relapse-prevention approaches.
• Develop a treatment plan with measurable goals using evidence-based approaches.
• Explain the impact on families, including children, and family-focused intervention.
• Explain substance use and mental health policy, funding and the treatment system.
• ⚠ Explain the confidentiality rules specific to substance use records and how they differ from general health privacy law.
• Analyse ethical dilemmas arising in practice with people who use substances.
• Explain cultural, racial and structural dimensions, including disparities in enforcement and access to treatment.
• Recognise and address stigma, including one's own.

Optional Outcomes

• Explain prevention science and evaluate prevention programmes.
• Explain drug courts and diversion programmes.
• Explain substance use in specific populations — adolescents, older adults, pregnant people, veterans, LGBTQ+ people.
• Explain behavioural addictions — gambling and others.
• Explain recovery-oriented systems of care and peer support.
• Explain employee assistance and workplace programmes.
• Explain Florida's treatment system, Marchman Act and funding structures in detail.
• Explain credentialing pathways for addiction professionals.
• Explain programme evaluation in substance use treatment settings.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Terminology and stigma.
• Classification and pharmacology of substances.
• Intoxication, tolerance, withdrawal and overdose.
• Neurobiology of substance use disorders.
• Models of addiction.
• Risk, protective factors and trauma.
• DSM-5 criteria and diagnosis.
• Screening and assessment.
• Co-occurring disorders and integrated treatment.
• Levels of care and placement.
• Medications for addiction treatment.
• Motivational interviewing and stages of change.
• Evidence-based psychosocial treatments.
• Harm reduction.
• Relapse and recovery.
• Treatment planning.
• Families and children.
• Policy, funding and the treatment system.
• Confidentiality and ethics.
• Culture, race and structural factors.

Optional Topics

• Prevention science.
• Drug courts and diversion.
• Specific populations.
• Behavioural addictions.
• Recovery-oriented systems and peer support.
• Workplace programmes.
• Florida's system and the Marchman Act.
• Credentialing.
• Programme evaluation.

Resources & Tools

• Textbooks: van Wormer and Davis, Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective — ⚠ written from within social work and the most likely assignment; Doweiko, Concepts of Chemical Dependency; Miller and Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing — ⚠⚠ the primary source for the field's most widely used counselling approach, and worth owning.
• ⚠⚠ Free, authoritative and current — and better than any textbook's policy chapter: SAMHSA — its TIP (Treatment Improvement Protocol) series is free, written by expert panels, and is the practical reference the field actually uses; the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for prevalence data; and the SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-HELP). The National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism publish free, accurate material on mechanisms and treatment, including NIDA's Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.
• Clinical standards: the DSM-5-TR criteria; the ASAM Criteria for placement; the NASW Code of Ethics; and 42 CFR Part 2 — ⚠⚠ the federal regulation giving substance use treatment records protections BEYOND HIPAA, which every social worker in this field must know.
• Evidence registries: SAMHSA's evidence resources, the Cochrane Library — ⚠ its reviews of opioid agonist treatment are the definitive syntheses — and the Campbell Collaboration. All free or library-accessible.
• ⚠⚠ Florida-specific, and you should know these by name: the Florida Department of Children and Families, Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, which administers the publicly funded system through regional Managing Entities; ⚠ the Marchman Act (Chapter 397, Florida Statutes) — Florida's involuntary assessment and treatment law for substance use, distinct from the Baker Act, which covers mental health — students and families confuse the two constantly; Florida's Certification Board (FCB) for the CAP and related credentials; the Florida Department of Health's overdose surveillance data; and naloxone access under Florida's standing order and the Helpline 211.
• Mutual-help resources to know and be able to describe accurately: Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous; SMART Recovery; Al-Anon and Nar-Anon for families; Refuge Recovery and secular alternatives. ⚠ A social worker should be able to describe several, because the fit between a person and a fellowship varies and offering only one is poor practice.
• Journals: Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, Addiction, Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.

Career Pathways

• Substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health counselors (SOC 21-1018) — ⚠ among the fastest-growing occupations in the United States, and Florida has substantial demand.
• Mental health and substance abuse social workers (SOC 21-1023) — ⚠ Florida clinical licensure (LCSW) requires a CSWE-accredited MSW, supervised clinical experience and examination.
• Healthcare social workers (SOC 21-1022) — hospital and emergency department roles, including overdose follow-up.
• Case managers and care coordinators (SOC 21-1093, 11-9111).
• Child welfare workers (SOC 21-1021) — ⚠⚠ parental substance use is a factor in a large share of child welfare cases, and this course is directly relevant to that work.
• Criminal justice and drug court professionals (SOC 21-1092, 21-1018) — ⚠ Florida operates drug courts in most circuits.
• Peer recovery specialists and programme staff (SOC 21-1093) — ⚠ Florida certifies peer specialists, and lived experience is a qualification rather than a disqualification in this role.
• Prevention specialists (SOC 21-1094).
• Programme directors and administrators (SOC 11-9151).
• Employee assistance professionals (SOC 21-1018, 13-1141).

⚠ Credentialing note. Florida certifies addiction professionals through the Florida Certification Board — the Certified Addiction Professional (CAP) and related credentials — with education, supervised experience and examination requirements that are separate from social work licensure. ⚠ This course frequently counts toward the education requirement, and whether it does depends on the credential and the current standards. Check with the FCB directly rather than assuming.

⚠⚠ And the structural rule this repository documents repeatedly: LCSW licensure requires a CSWE-accredited MSW. Courses accumulated outside an accredited programme do not substitute.

Special Information

⚠ Dual-listed with the graduate course — two consequences

UWF states this course is "offered concurrently with SOW 5710."

• Undergraduate and graduate students share the classroom, with additional requirements for the graduate section. ⚠ Expect the reading and discussion to be pitched somewhat above a typical undergraduate course — which is generally a benefit.
• ⚠⚠ Check whether taking the undergraduate version affects your ability to take SOW 5710 for credit later. Dual-listed pairs frequently carry a repeat restriction, and a student heading into an MSW at the same institution should confirm before registering. Ask the programme.

Prerequisites and position in the curriculum

• ⚠ UWF lists no prerequisite for this course, though admission to the social work programme is normally the real gate and the 4000-level number places it late in the sequence.
• Useful preparation: human behaviour in the social environment and social work practice courses, which supply the assessment framework; abnormal or clinical psychology, given how much of the course is co-occurring disorders; and ⚠ a research methods course, because the course asks you to evaluate evidence-based approaches and this field is full of confidently marketed treatments with no evidence behind them.
• ⚠ BSW programmes are cohort-sequenced with a field placement — plan with an advisor, since a missed course can cost a year.

Course format and workload

3 credits, 45 contact hours — lecture and discussion, three hours per week. May not be repeated for credit.

Expect 6–9 hours per week outside class. Assessment typically includes examinations, a treatment plan or case assessment — ⚠ the assignment most like professional work and the one worth keeping — screening instrument practice, and often a policy analysis or a community resource mapping exercise.

⚠ Many courses include attending an open mutual-help meeting (AA, NA, SMART Recovery or Al-Anon). If yours does: attend an open meeting, identify yourself honestly as a student if asked, do not take notes in the room, and write about your own reaction rather than about identifiable people. Students consistently report this as the most valuable hour of the course.

⚠⚠ This course is personally close for a large share of the students in it

Substance use disorders affect a very large number of American families, and social work students are not a random sample — many enter the field because of what they have lived through.

• ⚠ Expect people in the room who are in recovery, who are actively struggling, who have lost someone to an overdose, or who grew up with a parent who used. None of this is visible.
• Disclosure is voluntary and never required. ⚠ A student is not obliged to explain why a class is hard.
• ⚠⚠ Lived experience is an asset in this field and it is not a substitute for the training. "It worked for me" is not evidence, and the course's central discipline is separating what helped you from what helps clients — a distinction the profession takes seriously precisely because so many of its practitioners are in recovery.
• Support: campus counselling is confidential; the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline operates at any hour; the SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-HELP) is free, confidential and available around the clock; Florida 211 connects to local services; and Al-Anon exists for family members.
• ⚠ Naloxone is available without an individual prescription in Florida under a standing order, and many campuses now stock it. Knowing how to use it is a reasonable thing to leave this course with.

⚠⚠ Confidentiality here is stricter than elsewhere in health care

42 CFR Part 2 governs the confidentiality of substance use disorder treatment records held by federally assisted programmes, and ⚠ its protections exceed HIPAA's.

• The reason is deliberate: without stronger protection, people do not seek treatment for a condition that carries criminal and employment exposure.
• ⚠ The practical consequences are specific — disclosure generally requires written consent even for purposes HIPAA would permit, and re-disclosure by the recipient is restricted. Students entering placements must know this before they are in one.
• The limits still apply: ⚠ mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes — the Florida Abuse Hotline is 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873) — and duties arising from imminent risk of harm. These must be explained to a client at the start, not discovered by them later.

⚠ Florida context that changes the practice

• ⚠⚠ The Marchman Act (Chapter 397) permits involuntary assessment and stabilisation for substance use, and unlike the Baker Act it can be initiated by a spouse, relative or three adults with direct knowledge, through the court. Families ask social workers about this constantly and the two Acts are routinely confused. Know which is which.
• Florida's treatment industry has a documented history of fraud and patient brokering, particularly in South Florida — ⚠ which produced state legislation, and which a practising social worker must be able to recognise when making a referral. Referring a client to a predatory facility is a serious harm.
• Overdose deaths, driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl, are a continuing public health emergency in the state. ⚠ The practical implications for practice — that fentanyl contamination of the non-opioid drug supply makes naloxone relevant far beyond opioid users, and that tolerance falls fast after abstinence, making post-release and post-discharge periods the highest-risk moments — are the kind of thing this course should leave you knowing.
• Florida's system is administered through regional Managing Entities under DCF, with a substantial gap between need and publicly funded capacity.

Articulation and transfer

⚠ Single-source guide, so verify locally. The number SOW4700 is used at the institutions carrying it and articulation should be clean, but ⚠ as with every social work course, the question is competency rather than credit — a CSWE-accredited programme evaluates the syllabus. Keep it.

Prefix note. SOW is social work; HUS human services; CLP clinical psychology; MHS mental health services; HSC health science; CCJ criminal justice. ⚠⚠ Substance use courses appear under SOW, HUS, MHS and CLP, and they lead to different credentials. HUS and MHS coursework does NOT substitute for SOW in a CSWE-accredited programme, though it may count toward addiction-counsellor certification. Know which credential you are working toward, and search by subject rather than prefix.

AI Integration

Where AI assistance helps in this course:

• Explaining pharmacology — mechanisms, half-lives, withdrawal timelines — ⚠ verified against NIDA or SAMHSA, which are free and authoritative.
• Explaining policy and regulation as a starting point before reading the statute.
• Practising motivational interviewing — ⚠ role-play with a model is genuinely useful for rehearsing reflective listening and open questions, and several programmes now use it deliberately. It does not replace supervised practice with a person.
• Drafting and improving written work, including treatment plan language.
• Summarising research as an entry point.

⚠⚠ Where it fails, and here the failures are patient-safety and ethics problems:

• ⚠⚠ Client information must never be entered into a general-purpose tool. 42 CFR Part 2 protections apply on top of HIPAA and the NASW Code, and pasting a case note into a chatbot is a disclosure. This is the single most important rule in this section and it applies from your first placement onward.
• ⚠⚠ Clinical and medical detail. Do not take withdrawal management, dosing or interaction information from a model. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can kill; medication decisions belong to prescribers; and a confident wrong answer here has a body attached to it.
• Stigmatising language. ⚠ Training data is full of "addict", "abuser" and "clean/dirty", because that is how most published text has described this population. Generated text will reproduce it — which is precisely what the course's opening unit exists to correct. Read generated text for language, not only for content.
• Reproducing the treatment folklore rather than the evidence. ⚠⚠ The popular literature contains a great deal that the evidence does not support — that a person must "hit rock bottom", that medication is substituting one drug for another, that confrontational approaches work. Each is common in text and contradicted by research. Go to SAMHSA, NIDA and Cochrane.
• Fabricated citations and statistics. Prevalence and outcome figures invented fluently. Verify.

⚠ AI as subject matter, briefly. Machine learning is being applied to overdose risk prediction, prescription monitoring and treatment matching, with the same caution this repository records elsewhere: a model trained on who was previously identified learns who was previously surveilled, and in a field where a false positive can mean a person is denied pain treatment or flagged to law enforcement, that is not an abstract concern. Digital therapeutics and recovery apps are a genuine and growing adjunct with a real evidence base for some products and none for others — which is a good exercise in exactly the appraisal skill this course teaches.

Academic integrity. Follow the course policy. Submitting generated work as your own violates every Florida institution's policy — ⚠ and in a professional programme leading to licensure, integrity findings are reportable and are asked about at licensure and at credentialing.