Undergraduate Course: Social Work in Communities (UG) (SCWR10035)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE IS ONLY FOR STUDENTS ON THE BSC SOCIAL WORK DEGREE PROGRAMME
This course is intended to familiarise students with the range of communities and contexts in which social work is practised and to introduce them to different orientations towards social work practice.
An Enquiry Action Learning (EAL) approach is used, which requires students to research a particular community and to interview a series of key informants who live and work in the community about its features and characteristics. The EAL method also requires them to work together in small groups in order to grow their professional knowledge and understanding. This is designed to enhance problem solving skills and knowledge of the theory, skills and values of social work in its different contexts.
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| Course description |
Week One: History of Social Work, Social Work Contexts e.g children and families, community care, criminal justice, group car, Social Work Theories.
How people change e.g psychodynamic, behaviourist, systems.
Week Two: What is community? Community social work, Social capital
Housing, changing demographics, e.g immigrants, asylum seekers
Week Three The Welfare State, Welfare Law, Welfare rights, Ethics, the individual and society
Week Four: Poverty and Inequality, Drugs and substance misuse, Crime
Discrimination
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 14,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 18,
External Visit Hours 3,
Formative Assessment Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
158 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
EAL groupwork presentation (15mins) (30%): in small groups (4-5 students), students are asked to design a community based service for a target population.
Essay (2500 words) (70%): Students are asked to outline a case study and discuss how community is important in relation to their case study and to social work practice.
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Articulate different conceptions of community, drawing on relevant sources of knowledge, to demonstrate how community may function as a site of support and struggle for individuals receiving social work support.
- Apply theories related to community, community support and social support to describe and analyse the ways in which helping professionals can work collaboratively with people's strengths in community settings.
- Reflect on knowledge gained from the lived experiences of people who have been oppressed, excluded or faced loss in communities to demonstrate insight into the ways in which professional support can help and hinder social inclusion and capacity building.
- Share, discuss and interrogate ideas relating to communities, community social work and community support.
- Profile the needs of a given community, identifying strengths, needs for support, gaps in existing community service provision and how gaps may be addressed.
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Reading List
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/91931/0021949.pdf
The Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review
Adams, R., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (eds) (2002) Critical Practice in Social Work, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Cree, V.E. (2010) Sociology for Social Workers and Probation Officers, 2nd edition, London, Routledge.
Cree, V.E. (ed.) (2010) Social Work A Reader, London, Routledge.
Ferguson, I. and Woodward, R. (2009) Radical Social Work in Practice. Making a Difference, Bristol: Policy Press.
Hawtin, M. and Percy-Smith, J. (2007) Community Profiling: A practical guide. 2nd edition. Maidenhead: OUP
Mantle, G. and Backwith, D. (2010) Poverty and Social Work, British Journal of Social Work: 1(18), Advance Access doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcq068/
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Robin Sen
Tel:
Email: r.sen@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Dani Langdridge
Tel:
Email: dani.langdridge@ed.ac.uk |
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