MA Social Work

The course aims to provide a detailed introduction to the range of legislation related to social work practice. It does this with reference to key ethical principles and theories and the professional social work mandates these inform: these include social work values, policy and practice frameworks, organisational and multi-agency requirements, and human rights and equalities provisions.

• Enable students to develop critical understanding and the ability to undertake critical analysis in respect of the relationships between law, ethical principles and theories and the professional mandates for social work practice these inform, including social work values, policy and practice frameworks, organisational and multi-agency requirements, and human rights and equalities provisions.
• Develop students' knowledge, critical understanding and ability to undertake critical analysis in respect of legal principles and relevant statute and case-law, regulations and guidance, in relation to ethics and professional social work mandates.
• Enable students’ to develop the ability to apply law, through a process of critical understanding, reflection and analysis, to social work problems including those pertaining to state intervention, risk, harm, autonomy, protection, safeguarding, rights, personalisation and wellbeing, in relation to ethical principles and theories, and the professional mandates these inform.
• Develop students' ability to undertake critical analysis in respect of complex legal judgements and their relationships with legal and ethical principles and theories, and trace implications for the practice of social work law within professional mandates.
• Develop students’ ability to practice written and verbal communication skills and the use of IT in relation to the practice of social work law within the ethical and professional context.

Lectures and seminars. Guided learning and quizzes through Blackboard.

• Demonstrate a critical awareness and the ability to conduct critical analyses of the complex relationships between law, ethical principles and theories and the professional mandates for social work practice theseinform, including social work values, relevant policy and practice frameworks, organisational and multi-agency requirements, and human rights and equalities provisions, together with areas in which these relationships may be contested.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the main ethical principles, theories and debates relating to the practice of social work law within professional mandates, together with a critical appreciation of associate professional ethics. That will include a consideration of ‘confidentiality’ and the issues involved in reconciling it with other social work responsibilities.
• Gain an awareness of human rights law and its relation to both statute relating to social work with both children and adults and social work practice.

• Demonstrate knowledge, critical understanding and the ability to conduct critical analyses in respect of relevant legal principles, statute and case law, regulations and guidance, together with their interrelated roles in governing and informing social work practice in relation to ethics and professional mandates.
• Consider relationships and tensions between legal statute, social work cods of practice and public opinion and how law and related guidance reflects social policy concerns.
• Critically consider the relationship between learning on this course unit and others that are taken as part of the MA Social Work.

• Apply through a process of critical understanding, reflection and analysis, legal statute and case-law including complex legal judgements, regulations and guidance, to social work problems in relation to ethical principles and theories, and the professional mandates these inform.

• Demonstrate the ability to conduct critical analyses of complex problems in the use social work law in relation to ethics and professional mandates, through a critical evaluation and synthesis of relevant research, theory, evidence and argument, and a clear and coherent formulation of conclusions.
• Demonstrate the ability to practice written and verbal communication and IT skills in relation to the practice of social work law in the ethical and professional context.
• Develop the potential to use the law in an informed, authoritative and fair way in social work practice.

The remaining 15% of the unit will be assessed through multiple choice questions

Students will normally have the opportunity to receive feedback on formative work submitted prior to the summative assessment. Other feedback opportunities will also be available in class and online discussion boards. Online feedback is provided in Grademark. Provisional feedback based on internal marking will be made available prior to the Exam Board on the basis that these marks are yet to be ratified at the Exam Board and therefore may be subject to change. A standard feedback mechanism in Grademark is utilised across all postgraduate programmes within the School which provides detailed and constructive feedback on each component and aspect of assessment and identifies areas of strength and those aspects which could be enhanced.

Student feedback is obtained through open discussion forums on blackboard, in class discussions, via formal University unit evaluation forms and also qualitative, in house evaluations at the end of the unit. 

http://www.readinglists.manchester.ac.uk/lists/F2A74EAB-636D-4685-8326-2704F0EC24CC.html