Social Service: The "Helping Professions"
Many students choose to major in psychology because they are fascinated by people. They want to learn more about why other people, and they themselves, behave as they do. Many are also motivated to help other people make changes in their lives. These students may choose to enter such professions as social work, teaching, counseling, and the ministry. They may obtain positions in community centers, schools, treatment facilities, and other agencies directly after graduation and may return to schooling on a part-time or full-time basis after gaining some work experience. Other students may obtain graduate credentials before they seek employment.
Students with interests in social service often choose to take many of their psychology courses in social and personality/clinical psychology ("Column A" in the table of requirements for the major). 303-Psychopathology is especially relevant for many of these students. Some foundation in the biologically-oriented courses (for example, 212-Introduction to Neuroscience or 312-Neurobiology and Behavior) may also enhance their sensitivity to the situations of future clients and their understanding of therapeutic approaches. Students interested in working with children and families should consider taking 218-Developmental Psychology, 326-Social and Personality Development, 362-Cognitive Development, and other courses that focus on children.
Many courses offered by the School of Education and Social Policy will also be relevant for students interested in social service. Among these are SESP 203-Human Development: Adulthood and Aging, HDPS 301-Introduction to Counseling, and HDPS 311-Group Dynamics. Relevant courses in communication studies include 241-Theories of Relational Communication and 344-Interpersonal Conflict. In addition, the sociology department offers many courses that can be very useful for those with an interest in providing human services. Among these are 201-Social Inequality: Race, Class, and Power, 202-Social Problems: Norms and Deviance, 216-Gender and Society, and 323-American Subcultures and Ethnic Groups.
Students interested in becoming teachers should make contact with the School of Education and Social Policy early in their college careers; all secondary teacher certification programs at Northwestern are administered through that school. No specific certification in psychology is available, but students who have taken enough courses in other departments may be certified to teach in those areas. (Northwestern offers no certification in elementary education, so interested students will need to do some of their course work elsewhere.)
Students who hope to become involved in people-oriented professions after graduation should gain some social service experience while they are still in school. Tutoring, volunteering at a teen drop-in center or a hospital, working as a camp counselor, and answering phones for a helpline can all be relevant experiences for such students. If your goal is to work with some specific population -- troubled teens, the elderly, autistic children -- then you should try to gain some firsthand experience with this population. In part, this will serve as a valuable credential when you apply for jobs or for graduate training. In part, it will let you know if working with this population is as rewarding for you as you expect it to be. Two student groups – Northwestern Community Development Corps (NCDC) and OASIS – are good sources of information about volunteer opportunities in Evanston and surrounding communities.
