Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE SWP5202

 
TITLE Social Work Placement 2

 
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 second and final assessable placement to be undertaken by students. It consists of 375 hours worked over 14 weeks, and is held during the second 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 2:
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 and concurrent study units undertaken on their course. This placement will focus on those aspects of the social work process that centre on the Intervention and Evaluation phases of social work practice. 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:

This study-unit aims to provide students with opportunities to:
- acquire increasing responsibility within a social work agency;
- identify appropriate forms of intervention in social situations;
- understand the tasks, activities and relationships in which the social worker would be correctly involved and to distinguish these from the tasks and activities which are more appropriate to intervention by others, both internal and external to the agency;
- carry out a comprehensive evaluation of goals agreed between student and service user.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- demonstrate that they can cope effectively with increased responsibility;
- identify appropriate forms of intervention;
- explain the appropriate tasks, activities and relationships of the social worker;
- identify those tasks and activities which require referral;
- recognise and carry out effective intervention;
- describe the importance of supervision and make good use of it.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- identify and apply appropriate methods of intervention;
- plan, carry out, review and evaluate sustained social work practice with individuals, families, carers, groups, communities and other workers from other disciplines;
- describe the theoretical underpinnings of methods used and critically reflect on their effectiveness in addressing service user needs, thus integrating theory with practice;
- describe and analyse how organisations are able to address and meet client needs, organisational goals and community expectations;
- identify and use inter-relationships of social workers, allied professionals and other staff;
- manage, be accountable for and develop his/her own practice within an organisational context, including time management and workload prioritisation;
- critically analyse and evaluate existing practices and structures;
- evaluate his/her own practice with service users;
- identify and engage in the process of continuing education and reflective practice that informs professional and ethical practice;
- practice as an entry level professional social work practitioner.

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:
- Kadushin, A., & Kadushin, G. (2013). The social work interview. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Mathews, I., Simpson, D., & Crawford, K. (2014). Your social work practice placement: From start to finish. London: Sage.
- 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.

 
RULES/CONDITIONS Before TAKING THIS UNIT YOU MUST PASS SWP5201

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

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 intervene in case situations according to the care plan established after assessment.
2. Ability to apply social work values in practice.
3. Ability to use supervision for professional and personal growth.
4. Ability to evaluate their own practice with service users.
5. Ability to analyse and evaluate existing practices and structures.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Practical

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Competencies [See Add. Notes] SEM2 Yes 50%
Case Study (Take Home) SEM2 Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Maureen Cole
Natalie A. Kenely
Maria Mangion
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.

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