From unit outline:
Assessment item # 1 Critical Analysis report 50% Due week 12 – 2500 words
You will collate a variety of data from reliable secondary sources (e.g. ABS, AIHW), and research and critically analyse major trends, challenges, and opportunities impacting at various levels of practice in your sub-sector (practice field) of social work/human services. You will complete a detailed literature review, and prepare an analytical report analysing how changing circumstances may affect your employer organisation, its identified interventions, services, human service practice, the social work role, the service user, and the community. Your report will include a review of available data and literature, research, analysis, collaboration, and references, and identify future areas for research, to be pursued in an assessment item in ***. Further guidance will be given at the fortnightly workshops.
Length: 2,500 words
Guidelines added:
Choose a field of practice.
Provide a critical review of the literature about the issue/problem in your chosen field of practice (using reliable secondary sources) to identify major trends, challenges and opportunities (to advance a social justice agenda). Your report should be analytical (not simply describe what is in the literature) and present a critical overview of the issue/problem and suggest ways forward (including identification of future areas for research).
(Hint: There will be unit materials touching on some of these issues in the fields of grief, crisis, mental health, sexual assault, domestic violence, poverty. You do not have to choose one of these, but it is recommended if you are unsure about your field, as relevant readings are available on *** readings, etc).
Your critical overview should draw on the learning you have gained in the unit thus far. (For example, think about how global social forces (such global capitalism, neoliberalism, managerialism, medicalization, colonization, for example) might be implicated in creating changing circumstances that affect human services organisations in your chosen field of practice. How might these changing circumstances affect your role as a social worker? How might they impact on service users? Given contemporary contexts, are mainstream/dominant social work understandings and practices becoming more conservative/establishment in your field of practice? Why or why not? What are your views in relation to this? (critical reflection). What theoretical frameworks and practices methods (micro and macro) might be helpful to support critical and emancipatory social work practice goals in your chosen field?
Please use at least 15 academic sources to inform your writing.