SWTP622 - Social Work with Individuals

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

On Campus Mode: 3 hours per week for twelve weeks or equivalent totaling 36 hours. Students may be required to prepare role play videos in between classes and complete readings set for each week.

ACU Online: 150 hours of study, inclusive of one week intensive (as scheduled in the Intensive Calendar for this program), as well as online activities and readings. 

Unit rationale, description and aim

The purpose of social work is to improve the wellbeing of individuals, families, and society, especially those who are most vulnerable. Social workers work with individuals to enable them to achieve the best possible personal and social wellbeing outcomes. This unit will provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to work with individuals in diverse practice contexts through the critical examination of theoretical models for social work practice. Students will develop foundational communication skills including skills in engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation of social work practice with individuals. The models of practice examined will include working with voluntary and involuntary clients in different practice contexts and population groups including Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The experiential component will include practice in foundational social work communication skills as well as the use of reflective processes through simulation activities and reflective writing.  The aim of this unit is to prepare students for social work practice with individuals, informed by social work values, ethics, knowledge and skills.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

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

LO1 - Identify various models and frameworks for practice with individuals in diverse contexts and from diverse race, ethnic and cultural backgrounds recognising the complexity of personal, social and cultural identity, and avoiding homogenisation of clients and service users’ experiences  (GA1, GA2)

LO2 - Demonstrate social work practice skills in engagement, assessment, planning, intervention and review (GA5, GA7, GA8, GA10)

LO3 - Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and in diverse contexts (GA7, GA9)

LO4 - Apply ethical principles and values underpinning social work practice with individuals to a range of ethical issues in practice (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA8, GA9)

LO5 - Critically reflect on the influence of personal values, professional values and ethics in social work practice with individuals (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - Demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA2 - Recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - Apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - Think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA7 - Work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - Locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - Demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - Utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively

AASW Practice Standards

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes

Content

Social Work Processes in Working with Individuals

• Anti-oppressive practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people of diverse ages, abilities, racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, socio-economic-educational circumstances, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions
• The influence of personal values
• Cultural and diversity issues including working with interpreters
• Reflective practice
• Self-care

Social Work Practice Skills

• Interpersonal communication skills
• Understanding communication
• Communication processes
• Communication for survival, for healing, as power
• Influences on our listening

Client Engagement Skills

• Engaging with clients
• Worker qualities that enhance engagement
• Tasks of engagement
• Rapport building
• Empathy
• Reflective listening
• Deep listening
• Working with involuntary clients

Social Work Assessment

• Assessment tools
• Genograms
• Ecomaps
• Culturagrams
• Road maps
• Stay strong plans
• Multi-dimensional assessment
• Biopsychosocial assessment
• Risk assessment

Intervention Planning Skills

• Understanding the change process
• Planning for endings
• Evaluation and termination

Practice Approaches

• Strengths perspective
• Solution focused therapy
• Crisis intervention
• Task centred approaches
• Solution focused approach
• Empowerment and advocacy approach
• Cultural responsiveness

Values and Ethics

• Respect
• Social justice and human rights
• Practice competency
• Social work service and propriety
• Professional boundaries and dual relationships
• Conflicts of interest
• Ethical issues and ethical dilemmas in social work practice
• Professionalism
• Information recording and sharing
• Professional development and supervision

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ON CAMPUS:

This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face lectures, interactive face to face tutorials which may be time-tabled separate to the lecture or together with the lecture as a 3 hour block depending on student numbers. The unit promotes experiential learning methods to enable students to develop interpersonal communication and counselling skills. Teaching and learning strategies may include workshops (delivery/discussion of content and practice skills in smaller tutorial groups) and reflective/critical thinking activities that respect the student as an independent learner. The teaching and learning strategies are designed to scaffold students’ learning through observation, demonstration and live methods (role play and feedback) into self-reflection on the following dimensions of practice:

• The use of self in the practitioner role
• The stages of the social work process from engagement to completion
• The micro-skills of counselling with individuals
• The use of theory and ethics in practice with individuals

Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively within class activities. This unit has a compulsory minimum 80% attendance requirement in workshops which is deemed necessary to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Attendance record will be maintained for this purpose. With approved special consideration, students will be required to complete an additional learning activity if the 80% attendance requirement is not met. Failure to submit learning activity/ies for missed classes by the specified due date may result in a Fail grade for this unit. Attendance demonstrates professional behaviour and it is therefore not discretionary. In tutorials, students will be interacting with other students and developing skills which will be uses in professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these essential skills which are required to be safe and competent social workers.

ACU ONLINE:

This unit involves 150 hours of learning, involving a five day intensive alongside online content, activities and readings. The unit promotes experiential learning methods to enable students to develop interpersonal communication and counselling skills. Teaching and learning strategies include simulation of direct/micro social work practice, and reflective/critical thinking activities.

The teaching and learning strategies are designed to scaffold students’ learning through a simulation pedagogy - observation, briefing demonstration, simulation, debriefing, feedback and critical reflection. The following dimensions of practice will be covered:

• The use of self in the practitioner role
• The stages of the social work process from engagement to completion
• The micro-skills counselling with individuals
• The use of theory and ethics in practice with individuals

Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in all online and on-campus intensive experiences.

This unit has a compulsory attendance requirement for a five day intensive which is deemed necessary to achieve the intended learning outcomes and meets the requirements of the AASW. Attendance record will be maintained for this purpose. Attendance demonstrates professional behaviour and it is therefore not discretionary. During the intensive, students will be interacting with other students and developing skills which will be used during placements and in future professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these core skills which are required to be safe and competent social workers.

Assessment strategy and rationale

ON CAMPUS:

This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that will allow students to demonstrate their social work knowledge and skills for practice with individuals from diverse backgrounds and in various practice contexts.

The first assessment is a critical reflection exercise in which students are encouraged to identify a critical incident they have experienced in their own lives. Reflecting on personal experiences encourages insight and generates new learning for students. They learn to engage with the new learning obtained through reflection and apply it effectively in other more complex situations. 

Assessment 2 is a case study assignment which will assess students’ knowledge and skills in conducting a social work assessment. In doing this assignment students are required to explain the process they have used drawing from social work knowledge/theory, skills values and ethics. Awareness of the impact of self and personal values and beliefs that may impact on the assessment also need to be demonstrated.

Assessment 3, which is a role-play exam, is a summative assessment testing the overall knowledge and skills which the students have developed in their practice with individuals. This is a compulsory assessment which the students must pass in order to undertake their field placement. Should a student fail the role-play exam they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play exam. This is an opportunity to achieve a Pass (PA) grade for the unit by demonstrating satisfactory attainment of specific learning outcomes.  

ACU ONLINE:

This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that will allow students to demonstrate their social work knowledge and skills for practice with individuals from diverse backgrounds and in various practice contexts.

As this unit has online learning and teaching, Assessment One is a quiz designed to formatively assess students understanding of core social work processes when working with individuals prior to the intensive.

Assessment Two is a case study assignment which will assess students’ knowledge and skills in conducting a social work assessment. In doing this assignment students are required to explain the process they have used drawing from social work knowledge/theory, skills values and ethics. Awareness of the impact of self and personal values and beliefs that may impact on the assessment also need to be demonstrated.

Assessment Three, which is a skills based simulation and reflection, a summative assessment which tests the overall knowledge and skills students have developed in the unit. This is a compulsory assessment and students must be passed in order to undertake field placement. Should a student fail Assessment they will be offered a second chance to complete the simulation. This is an opportunity to achieve a Pass (PA) grade for the unit by demonstrating satisfactory attainment of specific learning outcomes.  

Assessment Four asks students to use a model of critical reflection to deconstruct the performance of their emerging social work skills in Assessment Three. Here students are asked to identify the strengths and the areas for development of their social work practice skills.

Overview of assessments

ON CAMPUS;

ACU ONLINE

Representative texts and references

Bolton, G. (2014). Reflective practice: writing and professional development (4th Ed.), London: Sage.

Connolly, M., & Harms, L. (2012). Social work from theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Davies, K., & Jones, R. (Eds). (2016). Skills for social work practice. London: Palgrave.

Fook, J. (2007). Practicing critical reflection: a resource handbook. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Harms, L. (2007). Working with people: communication skills for reflective practice. Sydney: Oxford University Press.

Harms, L. (2010). Understanding human development: A multidimensional Approach (2nd ed.). Australia: Oxford University Press

Healy, K. (2014). Social work theories in context creating frameworks for practice (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Healy, K., & Mulholland, J. (2009). Writing skills for social workers. London: Sage Publication

Maidment, J., & Egan, R. (2015). (Eds.) (3rd ed.). Practice skills in social work and welfare: More than just common sense. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and Unwin.

Milner, J., & O’Byrne, P. (2009). Assessment in social work. (3rd ed.). New York: Palgrave, Macmillan.

Payne, M. (2014). Modern social work theory (4th ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Parker, J., & Bradley, G. (2017). Social work practice: Assessment, planning, intervention and review (6th ed.). Poole: Learning Matters.

Saleebey, D. (2012). The strengths perspective in social work practice. (6th ed.).Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Trotter, C. (2015). Working with involuntary clients: a guide to practice. (3rd ed.). St. Leonards, Australia: Allen and Unwin.