Level 3 – Supporting Children Through Parental Separation: Impact on Adolescent Behaviour

Purpose

In the final year of training, social work students have the opportunity to closely inform their knowledge base about the circumstances, needs, and services available to a specific service user group. Students are presented with a challenging learning experience and opportunity to focus on a group of service users using critical enquiry and evidence appraisal skills.

Task

The assignment centers on the consideration of a particular group of people in receipt of social work service, for example, older people experiencing abuse, young people who have experienced the breakdown of foster care placements or people with learning disabilities entering the job market.

The group should be decided upon in consultation with the student’s training team. Care should be taken to ensure sufficient material is available. It is intended that the issue which characterizes the service user group selected for study will be pertinent to the student’s learning.

The completed assignment should provide the reader with an up-to-date account of the current state of knowledge, understanding, and practice in relation to this group.

This assignment will primarily involve library research and should include the voices of the service users, their carers where appropriate, and the agencies/professionals who provide services to this group. This information should normally be taken from the literature reviewed and from personal contact.

In undertaking this task students must:

1. Provide an introduction that clearly specifies the service user group who are the focus of the study and states why this group has been chosen. This section will explain why the project topic is important, relevant, and worthwhile.
2. Briefly describe the literature searching activities completed and provide details of any additional inquiries with professionals or other information sources.
3. Provide a critical review of both UK and international literature relating to this specific group of service users and in doing so; demonstrate an understanding of the historical, sociological, psychological, and policy perspectives.
4. Provide a critical evaluation of the local policies, practices, and provision of services. This should include the identification of any gaps and proposals for improvements in existing provision. (It is expected within this section that Students would convey an understanding of the service providers’ perspective.)
5. Demonstrate an understanding of service users’/carers’ perspectives and demonstrate how this understanding is grounded in practice experience, and/or consultation with practitioners and/or research evidence.
6. Provide an analysis of value issues and anti-oppressive practice within the work. This should also convey the students’ understanding of the discriminatory systems which operate in the lives of the service users and how these might be challenged.
7. Provide a conclusion indicating how aspects of current literature, research findings, and service user/carer perspectives may inform practice, highlight models of good practice, enhance social work understanding, and lead to a greater understanding of Service User participation in practice.
8. Present the assignment to an acceptable standard, which conforms to the academic convention regarding grammar, spelling, and the Harvard system for referencing cited works.

Word Limit

The Project should be no more than 3,000 words (+/- 10%), excluding summary proposal and references (at least 25 references). The student must state the exact word count on the front cover.

NB.

It is suggested that to best assist the student with their assessed pieces of work, Practice Teachers will focus primarily on using the evaluations of evidence and related tasks to assist students in developing their knowledge and skills of reflective practice. Alongside Practice Assessment Panel (PAP) and academic guidance, Practice Teachers can give guidance on the Reflection on Practice Assignments. Tutors will focus primarily on the production of the Case Study/Project. This may include, for example, discussing material which a student may usefully include/consider, direction in relation to reading/research, and reading the work plan for the case study/project. NEITHER Practice Teacher nor Tutor will read drafts of student assignments.