Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE SWP5201

 
TITLE Social Work Placement 1

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 15

 
DEPARTMENT Social Policy and Social Work

 
DESCRIPTION This is the first assessable placement to be undertaken by students. It consists of 375 hours worked over 14 weeks, and is held during the first semester of the 2nd year of study. During the placement period the student will be expected to spend all week at the host agency.

The purpose of Social Work Placement 1:
This study-unit is intended to provide students with opportunities to develop skills, values, knowledge and competence in a specified range of key components of social work practice, and to integrate this with learning across all prior study units undertaken on their course. This placement will focus on those aspects of the social work process that centre on the Assessment phase of social work practice – i.e. communication, engagement, assessment and planning. Students will be expected to bear responsibility for 10 to 15 cases.

Legitimate work on placement would include:
- direct practice with service users and carers;
- associated meetings;
- supervision;
- preparation for supervision;
- attendance at recall days at the university;
- preparation of placement-related written work;
- preparation of assessable work.

Study-Unit Aims:

Social Work Placement 1 aims to provide students with an opportunity to:
- Develop an understanding of the range of roles undertaken by social workers, and build their capacity to perform such roles;
- Develop their capacity for ethical and effective social work through direct work with service users;
- Clarify and use common principles, processes and concepts applicable across a range of roles and settings;
- Integrate and transfer learning for practice.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Describe and form a warm, empathic helping relationship;
- Describe and identify effective and ineffective verbal and written communication;
- Complete a professional assessment of service users;
- Propose a plan of action based on the professional assessment carried out of service users' needs.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Assess and explain the impact of psychosocial, political, cultural, racial and economic systems on the lives of people;
- Demonstrate the application of theory to practice;
- Engage in the process of assessment and formulate plans based on such assessment;
- Engage in a process of self-reflection;
- Describe and use various methods of social work intervention with which they are familiar, with community and institutional systems, small groups, families and individuals;
- Conduct culturally sensitive interviews, give and receive information and communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing;
- Appreciate and use the human resource and service network to facilitate appropriate referrals and understand policy and practice implications;
- Write clearly, using the tool of Process Recording as well as Agency records;
- Describe and analyse the impact of inequality, discrimination and social exclusion in work with people in a range of contexts and problem situations;
- Demonstrate and apply ethical principles in all aspects of social work practice, where relevant working purposefully with tensions and conflicts in the application of such principles to real situations;
- Take significant responsibility for their own continuing learning and development.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:
- Compton, B., Galaway, B. and Cournoyer, B.R. (2005) Social work processes. (7th edn. California: Brooks/Cole.
- Coulshed, V. & Orme, J., (2012). Social work practice (Practical social work). London: Macmillan.

Supplementary Readings:
- Mathews, I., Simpson, D., & Crawford, K. (2014). Your social work practice placement: From start to finish. London: Sage.
- Kadushin, A., & Kadushin, G. (2013). The social work interview. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Murphy, B. C., & Dillon, C. (2011). Interviewing in action in a multicultural world. Fourth Edition. London: Brooks/Cole.
- Nelson-Jones, R. (2012). Theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy. London: Cassell.
- Nelson-Jones, R., (2006). Human relationship skills: Coaching and self-coaching. London: Hold, Rinehart and Winston.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Please note that a pass in the Competencies component is obligatory for an overall pass mark to be awarded.

You must pass this study-unit in order to follow SWP5202

For the students’ practice to be eligible for assessment, they must attain competence in five core areas assessed through the Competencies component. These are:
1. Ability to build relationships with people.
2. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
3. Ability to assess situations.
4. Ability to apply social work values in practice.
5. Ability to use supervision for professional and personal growth.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Placement

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Competencies [See Add. Notes] See note below Yes 50%
Essay See note below Yes 50%
Note: Assessment due will vary according to the study-unit availability.

 
LECTURER/S Maureen Cole
Claudia Psaila
Daniella Zerafa

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

Study at UM

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit