Social Work

In this module we explore the challenges facing young people in the UK today, particularly those involved with the criminal justice system. Youth justice has been a contentious area of social policy for many years, and the contemporary situation is no different, with the national and local policy formulations posing particular considerations for social work within the values, ethics, skills, and methods which are so important to it, within a multi-professional and multi-agency setting.

The module seeks to draw out the particular features of a system which contains within it a variety of identifiable views on the causes of youth offending, and various means to deal with the problems which the young people themselves might face, and problems which they may present to others.

Social work is a messy, unpredictable, complex and intangible activity. This is because it is tied up with human emotions and emotions are very difficult to explain, quantify, objectify or fit into neat boxes. Actively engaging and using the emotions involved, both in terms of the practitioner and service user, enables a deeper social work approach to take place and enables the forming of relationships. Such relationships can then be used as the tool themselves to bring about positive changes for children and families who are receiving intervention from youth justice social workers.

Social workers working within the youth justice system know through their experience what is most likely to be effective in meeting the aims of the system – that is prevention of offending. To achieve this means real questions need to be asked about the effectiveness of the technical-rational risk focused approach of the current youth justice system in favour of a system which adopts the principles of Munro (2011). Such a system empowers social workers to actively use critically reflective and reflexive practice and supports the use of self to build powerful social work relationships with the vulnerable children they work with.

This module focuses upon developing your understanding of the contribution that social work can make to the lives of disabled and older people who use adult social care services or who may be in need of support.

Its starting point is that concepts such as the social model of disability, independent living and personalisation are ways of thinking as well as doing. This requires social workers to understand the philosophy and principles that underpin ways of delivering support and that enable choice and control for people who use services.

This module helps you to appreciate how working effectively in partnership with service users and the wider community around them requires social workers to understand the legacy of paternalistic, oppressive and dependency cultures in creating ways of understanding the problems of disability and old age, and the forms of provision that these understandings have led to.

This module builds on the module Social Work Practice 1, and continues the process of preparing you to demonstrate your readiness for practice, through critical examination of the social work knowledge base.

The module examines the contested nature of social work knowledge by considering differing theoretical perspectives and how different theories of knowledge come about. It introduces you to methods and theories of social work, and the importance of use of self, reflexivity and critical thinking to practice.

The classroom sessions also include guest speaker input from both practitioners and service users, enabling you to learn directly from their experience.

The module gives you the opportunity to build on the knowledge, values and skills you have developed during your first placement and to reflect on the learning and feedback you have gained from the practice context. Importantly, it is about helping you to be not simply a passive recipient of knowledge but more aware of how you can apply that knowledge actively within your own practice.

This 70 day placement in the private, voluntary or independent sector provides professional learning, personal development and assessment, complemented by skills development sessions. It is assessed through a practice assignment and portfolio.

This module helps you to apply a wide range of knowledge and skills to help build family relationships, resource and resilience so that the welfare of the child remains paramount. You will learn the latest child care law, policy and statutory guidance, and how to think critically about the assumptions, language and practices that underpin ‘risk’ assessments and social work practice relating to child care.

We explore the role played by developmental psychology in shaping concepts of childhood within welfare and protection practices. We also consider child harm and crimes against children and the problematic nature of child-rearing practices in conditions of poverty, isolation, single parenthood and cultural diversity.

You are introduced to key elements of effective practice, with a particular focus on how to safeguard and engage children and families – especially when the social worker also has to balance the often competing interests of parent and child and to deal with the challenges of multi-agency working.

The importance of timely assessment and intervention to prevent family breakdown is also stressed, as is the need for care planning and partnership working with parents whose children have become subject to legal proceedings. You will study court structures, roles and processes relevant to child care social work.

The module exposes you to the latest research, including analysis of serious case reviews, enabling you to demonstrate a high level of skill in evidence based, effective social work approaches to helping children and families which support change.

How can social workers know that their decision-making is informed by the best possible evidence? How prepared are they to defend the evidence on which they rely to service users and other professionals in court or in case conferences?

Whilst there are many forms of evidence, one important source is that of research. Social Work’s Professional Capabilities Framework and the HCPC Standards of Proficiency both insist that research and research-mindedness is central to confident and effective social work practice. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s subject benchmark statement for Social Work also emphasises the importance of social workers having the skills to engage with research and employ knowledge from research in their practice.

This module is designed to give you the opportunity to develop the skills and attributes needed to become a practitioner who understands and can demonstrate the value of research evidence for practice, can critically appraise different forms of evidence and interpret complex and sometimes conflicting findings, and can apply research appropriately in your own practice.

The module also supports your ability to develop and apply the skills necessary to undertake independent study for your dissertation.

This module enables you to explore in some depth a social-work-related topic of your choice by undertaking a coherent and logical review of a relevant piece of literature relating to your chosen topic. It thus demonstrates and extends the knowledge and skills you have developed through other modules and through your placement experience.

You start thinking seriously about your dissertation during the summer term of Year 2 when there are two briefing sessions which help you to produce a dissertation rationale. After you have been allocated a supervisor, you then agree a plan of study before the end of the summer term. In the final briefing session, at the beginning of Year 3, the focus is on structure, writing strategies and how to produce a chapter plan.

The assessment of the dissertation examines whether you are able to produce a coherent and substantial piece of writing on a chosen issue, draw on and evaluate research evidence and other relevant literature, and address critically the policy and practice context of contemporary social work.

Mental health is an increasingly complex area of social work practice, due to competing rights and sanctions, fast-paced legal change and controversial case law precedents. The boundaries between lawful and unlawful practice are not easily identifiable, which presents a challenge for social work – especially given our duty as social workers to defend people’s human rights.

This module is designed to enable you to develop a critical understanding of the nature of contemporary mental health services, and the associated legislative, policy and practice context. It emphasises the importance of alternative constructions of mental health, as opposed to the dominance of the medical model, and asserts the importance of service user expertise.

The module concludes by re-evaluating the role of social work in mental health services and considering implications for future practice.

This module focuses on transitions in complex times: from the transitions that we all face across the life course to those which contextual factors, including service boundaries, impose; from students' transitions in to social work employment, to those which result from broader shifts in identity and perspective. In preparing to change, individuals have to manage complexity and uncertainty, which is exacerbated by limited socio- economic resources. In conditions of austerity, options to respond to individual and communities become ever more restricted; how can newly qualified social workers maintain the ethics and values of the profession whilst operating within techno-rational organisational systems? How, in that context, can a student hold an empathic position about difficult social circumstances? The module aims to help students understand how to balance competing priorities without creating undue personal and professional stress.

This 100 day placement prepares you for the statutory aspect of the social work role, and gives you the opportunity to gain practical insight into the legal context of social work. It is assessed through a practice assignment and portfolio.