Social Workers help individuals and families cope with mental illness and problems such as inadequate housing, unemployment, lack of job skills, financial mismanagement, serious illness, disability, substance abuse, unwanted pregnancy, or antisocial behavior.  They also work with families who have serious conflicts, including those involving child or spousal abuse.  Social Work is distinctive among professions in the extent to which its value base includes a commitment to social justice and social change, to serving the needs and changing the conditions of the poor and oppressed.  Iowa's undergraduate program prepares students for beginning professional social work practice as generalists.  The goals of the program are to prepare students for employment in public and private social services in home and community-based settings such as public welfare, child welfare, health, mental health, elderly services, and corrections; to prepare students for informed community participation in social welfare issues; and to provide a base for graduate study in social work or allied professions.