Mission of the Doctoral Program

Within the context of Barry University and of the School of Social Work, both of which advance a mission to deliver quality education in a diverse, caring, community service focused environment, the PhD Program strives to develop doctoral level social work leaders who will contribute to practice-relevant knowledge, its creation, dissemination, and application in community practice settings. The program responds to the diversity and unique cultural, social and economic characteristics of South Florida and the larger region, including the countries of the Caribbean. The program aims to produce quality educators, applied social researchers, and leaders prepared to advance social work practice, interventions and services, with particular commitment to socially marginalized, disadvantaged and underserved populations. Graduates of the program will have the capacity to conceptually or theoretically frame, investigate, and analyze complex systems, human problems, and human behavior, to the end of improving quality and effectiveness of human services and the well-being of all people, through the work of its faculty, students and graduates. The PhD Program is dedicated to the promotion of environments, including its own educational environment, that allow diverse people to realize their full potential, with social and economic justice for all people, and free of discrimination in all of its forms.