6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL
Postgraduate - Unit
Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.
Faculty
Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit
Chief examiner(s)
Coordinator(s)
Unit guides
Notes
Please note: The teaching dates for this unit vary from the standard teaching datesstandard teaching dates (http://www.monash.edu/enrolments/dates/census) for this teaching period.
Unit discontinuation and penalty dates for these units are different to other units taught in the same teaching period.
Please refer to the information available on the Faculty non standard teaching dates pageFaculty non standard teaching dates page (https://www.monash.edu/medicine/study/student-services/non-standard-dates) to avoid academic and financial penaltiesacademic and financial penalties (https://www.monash.edu/enrolments/change/add-or-discontinue-units).
Synopsis
Students will be introduced to the specific role of social work in social policy analysis and community practice and advocacy. Areas covered will include the meaning and nature of social policy, the key trends and philosophies underlying the positions of the major political parties, the key theories and ideological perspectives in social policy, the link between social policy and the goals and actions of social work, the impact of social structure and social policy on welfare service consumers, the implementation of social policy interventions in everyday social work practice, ideological critiques of the welfare state, the role, strategies and effectiveness of lobby groups in social policy debates, the link between local and global welfare trends, the concepts of community and community work, and the role of community work skills and strategies in social work practice.
Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:
- Analyse the meaning and nature of social policy, and to be able to hypothesize the ways it can be understood from different theoretical and practical points of view.
- Compare and contrast the way political parties deal with social policy issues, and evaluate the key trends and philosophies underlying the positions of major political parties.
- Construct the link between social policy and the goals and values of social work.
- Analyse the impact of social structure and social policy on welfare service users.
- Analyse the role of community practice in social work settings.
- Apply a range of roles and strategies in community practice.
Assessment
- Essay 1 (1,250 words) (30%)
- Essay 2 (3,250 words) (60%)
- Community practice exercise or Off-campus Workshop attendance and participation (10%)
Workload requirements
The unit runs for 8 weeks (via a combination of live and online lectures) for on-campus students and 10 weeks for off-campus student.
On-campus students are expected to undertake 156 hours per semester study. Students are expected to use their study time to attend on-campus lectures and workshops, undertake weekly readings as set out in the Unit Outline, and to complete three assignment tasks. This unit will be taught in a total of approximately 36 hours contact time over 8/10 weeks following the completion of the second fieldwork placement (SWM5108) for full-time students.
See also Unit timetable information
Off-campus attendance requirements
Off-campus students are expected to undertake 156 hours per semester in private study, completing readings and other tasks as outlined on the Moodle site and to complete two assignment tasks. Off-campus students are also required to attend a 2 day workshop at Caulfield Campus. All off -campus students will be notified by Student Services regarding workshop dates each year.