Undergraduate - UnitSWK1011 - Introduction to human services practice

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Social Work
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2014 (Day) Caulfield First semester 2014 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Grace Brown

Synopsis

This subject is an introduction to the profession of Social Work. It will cover the history and contemporary context of practice. Students will be introduced to the values and ethics of the profession, and will consider contemporary issues in the field - such as climate change, Indigenous issues, human rights, diversity, the role/reality of the welfare state, globalization. Sessions will focus on methods of Social Work practice - for instance case work, research, policy development - and/or a field of practice- such as child protection, aged care, drug and alcohol, mental health.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Identify the various methods and fields of social work practice
Articulate the importance of research, policy and evaluation on practice
Describe the historical and contemporary issues that influence social work practice
Recognize the impact of self on practice
Demonstrate how social work knowledge, values and ethics impact on the development of a social work identity.

Assessment

Essay (1,500 words) (30%)
On-campus: Small group in-class presentation (1,000 words) (30%)
Off-campus learning: Small group (5 students) (1,000 words) (30%)
Individual assignment (2,000 words) (40%)

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Grace Brown

Workload requirements

ON CAMPUS: lecture - 1 hour; tutorial/ workshop - 2 hours; reading - 3 hours; preparation of assignments - 3 hours; library and internet searches - 3 hours
OFF CAMPUS LEARNING: On-line and independent workbook based exercises - 3 hours; reading - 3 hours; preparation of assignments - 3 hours; library and internet searches - 3 hours. There is no residential component.

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Social work

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/socialwork/