Recommended Study Sequence

This unit introduces students to the foundational skills and knowledge required for professional practice in a range of social science related careers. It introduces students to a range of organisational structures, professional value frameworks, and skills in interpersonal and written communication within these contexts. It enable students to identify issues of power, interests, participation, representation, values, ethics, trust and collaboration; ways of working with others to achieve shared objectives; mechanisms for goal setting, issues identification, information and resource sharing that operate in everyday life.

Understanding Society is a core unit offered by the School of Social Sciences which will introduce students in the first year of their studies to key concepts and theories used in examination off and for understanding social action, social policy, social institutions, social structure and social change. Students enrolled in the unit will be introduced to factual information concerning contemporary societies and the methods of interpreting such information. At the conclusion of their studies in this unit students will have been presented with opportunities to develop skills in critical reading and sociological analysis.

Mental health service delivery in the community is now the main form of care for people across the lifespan living with mental and emotional disorders. The development of a wider range of pharmacological, psychological and psychosocial treatments have enabled many people to live productively in the community. This unit explores the changes in policy and practice in the development of integrated mental health care and the impact of these changes on the lives of people living with mental illness and their communities. Early intervention, resilience and community capacity building are concepts explored in this unit in terms mental health and wellbeing.

This unit introduces students to the role of human services within the Australian political context. Students will develop a critical analysis of the contribution of the market, state and community encouraging reflection on underpinning values. It will also identify the change strategies which can be developed and used in each of these domains to bring about socially just outcomes.

This unit focuses on the local experiences of cultural and socio-economic difference. This includes applied social science approaches to inequality, diversity, community, sense of place, and environmental sustainability in the urban setting. There is an emphasis upon spatial literacy for social scientists (fieldwork, mapping, data analysis and place description).

This unit introduces the main theoretical perspectives for understanding the ‘individual in society’, including biological, cognitive, behavioural and personality explanations of individual behaviour. Students are guided and encouraged to explore relevance to everyday life and contemporary issues. Once established, these theories are extended to understanding individuals in society using a bio-psycho-social framework. Theoretical stances related to ‘levels of explanation’, ‘individualism vs collectivism’, and ‘personality vs situation’ are explored as are topics such as social cognition; social influence, and social relations, for example, social identity, prejudice, aggression, pro-social behaviours, attitude formation and change and relationships.

This is an introductory unit which builds upon Skills Development in the Human Services. It examines underlying theories of social welfare work, community work, youth work and international social development. Students will explore the ideological underpinnings of theories and discourses in the human services and social action. The contribution of other disciplines to knowledge and practice in these vocational areas will also be examined. Students will develop more advanced skills in working with individuals (casework) and working with groups.

The purpose of this unit is to develop awareness and understanding of cultural differences, whiteness and power relations in Australian society. Students are introduced to and required to develop a working understanding of theories of whiteness, culture, identity, difference and relations of power. Through assignments and activities students have the opportunity to work through the application of these theories in relation to different groups and social identities issues in the Australian context.

This unit introduces students to the nature of western ethics and moral discourse, to ethical methodology and to the possibilities and limits of ethical discourse and practice. It covers the history of the formalisation of ethics as well as its current philosophical and sociological dimensions. It also deals with various case studies of ethical issues and moral debates students may encounter in their everyday day and professional lives. Students will be invited to reflect on moral discourse(s) and on the use of ethics for social justice and fairness.

In this unit students will complete a 250 hour practicum and in class they will practice tasks directly related to equipping them for a welfare field placement and will integrate theoretical concepts with practice skills. Emphasis will be on identifying and improving verbal and written skills, appropriate behaviour in an agency setting, ethical implications of practice for themselves, workers and agencies and the development of a professional, competent approach to field based welfare practice. Supervision will be provided in the agency by a qualified welfare worker and academic visitor.

This unit is being replaced by 101632 Community Work and Development in Autumn 2010. This unit introduces theories and skills in community work and community development. Case studies of current community development projects are presented and students critically analyse political, economic and cultural issues in community development practice.

Social Research Methods is an interdisciplinary research unit which explores research methods appropriate to the understanding of broad, complex, interconnected social issues and processes. The understanding of research in the social sphere is based on the premise that research seeks to both understand and improve the material social conditions of peoples. Students are introduced to key methods, paradigms and techniques in social research. Skills in using multiple research methods in both generating and testing theory are developed and students are encouraged to assess critically both published research and research in progress. Research in the social world requires a socially responsible and ethical application of methods, as such, political and ethical issues in social research are central.

This unit will provide an understanding of social change processes and the strengths and challenges involved in social change for the 21st century. Students will be able to identify links between change at local/global and individual/structural levels. They will focus on an area of particular interest to themselves and on the skills involved in bringing about change. At the end of this unit students will have acquired the knowledge required to be active change agents.

This unit will develop more advanced research understanding and skills in students who have successfully completed Social Research Methods. Students are required to design and complete a developed research project that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques of information gathering and analysis and reporting. Contemporary developments in methods, research relationships with funding bodies, sponsors and community groups, and the social impacts of University-based research will be examined.

In this unit students will complete a practicum of 375 hours in a welfare agency and in class they will integrate theoretical concepts with advanced practice skills. Supervision is provided by at the placement site by a qualified welfare workder and by school staff member.

This unit will provide students with the opportunity to engage with contemporary debates in the social sciences. Students will examine key concepts and structures in the social sciences such as place, work, community, family, power, diversity and globalisation within the context of current political and social events. This will encourage the student to critically analyse and understand current debates and contentious issues relevant to the social sciences. Students will use both theoretical and applied knowledge to develop an informed position on matters of continuing importance to the community and the polity.

This unit is being replaced by 101644 Community Management and Organisations in Spring 2010. This unit focuses on community management in Australia and the social and economic factors that influence and frame community management practices. At the macro level, It examines the effects of neo-liberal (economic rationalist) reforms in the public and community sectors; and the rise of developments such as managerialism and ‘third way’ approaches, on community management practices. The unit also explores developments in management practices in response to social developments such as multiculturalism, recognition of diversity, equal employment opportunity and recognition of contextual and local issues. It further looks at community management work practices, including volunteerism, steering committees, management committees, and collectives. The unit provides the opportunity for students to examine competing interests that arise in community management, participative organisational development, and strategies for working within different management environments.

In this unit students examine the way child abuse became a public issue, its definition and the assumptions, values and interest which contribute to strategies to protect children from abuse. This unit will integrate theoretical concepts with child protection policy and practice.