Law and Social Policy (858L5)

15 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

This module introduces the statutory and policy contexts of ethical social work practice. It provides the opportunity to: acquire knowledge about, and critically examine, the legal rules underpinning social work practice, acquire knowledge about and critically examine the policy and organisational context of social work, explore the contested and ambiguous dynamics of power and discrimination through which the values and ethics of social work are applied or negotiated within legal and policy frameworks, critically reflect on the process by which lawful, ethical and evidence-based judgements and decisions are made in social work practice in respect of questions of vulnerability, need, harm, risk, safety, protection and care.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

75%: Coursework (Essay)
25%: Examination (Take away paper)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 77 hours of contact time and about 73 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2021/22. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.