Not offered in 1999
Ian Murray
6 points - 3 hours per week - Second semester - Caulfield
Objectives On completion of this subject students should have an overview of the practice of human services work from the worker's perspective, including the interaction of methods, values and knowledge; be aware of the role and status of professional human service work; of the influences of ideology and agency practice; and of the nature, origins and validity of values and knowledge as they affect this field; have an understanding of the ways in which their own experiences, values and perceptions might influence their professional work; understand basic professional ethical principles.
Synopsis Sources of help. Professional roles and practice; employment conditions; comparisons with social work. Remedial and radical ideologies. Work with individuals, groups and communities. Fields of practice and agency settings. Values and knowledge: nature, validity, types and sources. Professional ethics. Love and human services work.
Assessment Discussion issues (500 words): 10% - Values assignment (1000 words): 25% - Essay (2000 words): 40% - Class test (1 hour): 25%
Prescribed texts
Zastrow C The practice of social work 5th edn,
Brooks-Cole, 1995
O'Connor I, Wilson J and Setterlund D Social work and welfare practice
2nd edn, Longman Cheshire, 1995
Recommended texts
Fook J Radical casework: A theory for practice Allen and
Unwin, 1993
Ife J Rethinking social work Longman, 1997