Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Community Services)

In this subject, students are introduced to the core skills for counselling and change work, with specific reference to working with adults. The subject provides students with an opportunity to develop their counselling skills in an interactive and supportive learning environment with feedback from others, and to begin considering their preferred counselling style. The interrelationships between counselling theories and models and skills are explored. This subject also focuses on the research into counselling outcomes and effective change processes.

Students develop social analysis skills to critically examine how human and social elements shape our views about equality, justice and fairness. The subject encourages students to assess the relevance of these elements to our social and professional relations.

In this subject students examine the nature and practice of social policy development through a study of key public policy areas such as education, health, welfare, the family, crime and law and order policy, drug and alcohol policy and employment policy. The focus of policy discussions is primarily within the context of Australian social, economic and political systems.

Students examine the theoretical underpinnings of policy development, the role of politics and lobby groups in influencing social policy, the policy process, and how policy decisions are monitored and evaluated. The role of associations, such as NCOSS and ACOSS, and churches in monitoring the impact of government policy and advocating for vulnerable groups within society are also examined, with a view to students considering ‘how else’ policies can be informed and used effectively to bring about change and improvement to social conditions.

This subject provides the context for understanding health and well-being in Australia. It begins by exploring the critical perspectives associated with defining health and well-being, and what impacts these definitions have on various sections of the community, especially those considered most marginal. Health policies, perceptions and promotional activities are analysed as to their impact on health equity and access to services and resources for various sections of the population. The health of individuals, community and society is also discussed in terms of the workplace, the environment and the proximity to service centres such as cities and towns. Students learn about current debates and the impact of service-users, consumer advocates and worker responses. International policies and research will inform many of the discussions.

This subject is designed for students to gain basic understanding of mental health. It includes definitions of mental health, mental health theories, risk factors and disorders. The impact of mental illness in the community, and particularly on individual people’s lives is explored along with approaches to health care, and the role of advocacy by community care workers and services.

Myths and stigma surrounding mental health are critically examined, with special focus on how social and cultural perceptions shape both the experience of mental illness and service provision. The subject includes definitions and classification systems in mental health.

This subject builds on the knowledge and skills developed in Applied Counselling 1. It helps students develop a greater understanding of the various therapeutic approaches that draw on psychodynamic theories, person-centred therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, feminist therapy, solution-focused therapy and narrative therapy. The subject also examines the influence of the counsellor on the counselling process, and counselling practice with children, adolescents and families, drawing on the developmental knowledge acquired in the subject Human Development Across the Lifespan. Students develop a greater understanding of the skills needed for various modalities and reflect on their own development as a therapist.

Students undertake placements comprising 200 hours in the community sector with the aim of building skills with a variety of client groups and presentations. The organizations can include community counselling agencies, government counselling or welfare centres, child/youth service or aged care facilities, neighbourhood centres, correctional facilities, or hospital pastoral care settings. They gain further practical experience in working with individuals and groups and are supported with supervision in a variety of formats such as weekly debriefing and case conferences.

This provides the opportunity for students to learn from contact with other community services workers, critical incidents, ethical dilemmas, tensions, questions and insights. This subject uses an experiential learning process that is based on theory, and group participation with peers and supervisors. Students are required to attend two 3-hour workshops in weeks 1 and 5 to prepare them for their fieldwork. Students also receive a total of 5 hours supervision by the placement supervisor.

As our number of relationships expands, so too does the potential for conflict. This subject looks at the nature of interpersonal conflict, and explores strategies for resolution such as mediation, conferencing and restorative justice. It begins by considering the nature of conflict, theories about its causes, and how conflict manifests in relationships, groups, communities and internationally. It then introduces students to key conflict management strategies and gives steps as to how we might reduce unhealthy forms of conflict and arrive at positive, healthy relationships based on empathy and understanding. The subject also considers anger management strategies in addressing entrenched, high conflict situations.

This subject helps students develop an understanding of diversity in Australia and examines the evolution of multiculturalism since colonization. Students develop the skills for working effectively with diverse client groups such as Indigenous Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds including migrants and refugees, and a variety of other minority groups. Drawing on case studies and experienced guest lecturers from the field, the subject examines community welfare in practice, including how various government and non-government agencies respond to issues of difference and social disadvantage through community development interventions. The various concepts of citizen, consumer, service user, client and consultant are examined to understand how different agencies define the rights and responsibilities of people accessing services.

This subject introduces students to ethics from a variety of perspectives, including deontology and consequentialism, principlist and virtue ethics, narrative and communitarian ethics, and the ethics of self-care. Students learn how ethical and legal frameworks are applied to community services, and in the clinical, public health, and research contexts. They learn to reflect on what are legal or ethical dilemmas in health and community care provision, and practice the use of the conceptual and legal tools available to health and community services workers, as well as to the public, for making decisions in relation to health, community care and counselling.

Topics include ethics theories, codes of ethics for professionalization, and ethics for research, public health, disability and vulnerable groups, internal reporting and whistleblowing, and the ethics of self-care. All practitioners must know how their work is regulated by legal frameworks; students thus learn about tort and negligence law, professional responsibility, duties, and misconduct, mandatory reporting, the protection of vulnerable groups, and privacy and confidentiality at work.

This subject provides an overview of the principles of substance‐related addictions and the processes and mechanisms that underlie addiction. Students are introduced to the developmental course of addiction, risk and protective influences, and the effects of addiction on health and well-being. The subject covers different forms of addictive behaviours that present in the community, including substance dependency (alcohol, tobacco, prescription and illicit drugs), problem gambling, and compulsive sexual and eating behaviour. A critical examination of the concept of addiction will consider why the use of some substances or behaviours is socially problematic and culturally contingent. The subject adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to examine the biological, psychological and social factors that are associated with addictive behaviours. Students learn to critically appraise and reflect on the shift from the disease model to approaches that draw on behavioural and social scientific theories.

This subject examines the practice and skills required for case management and program development in the community services sector, by drawing on examples from a range of client groups such as the elderly, people living with disabilities and chronic illness, homeless people, ex-offenders, refugees and migrants with settlement issues. The subject includes an overview of the theory and practice of program planning, development and evaluation using case studies that address the complex and varied needs of clients groups. In addition, attention is also given to the role of carers and the unpaid support given by relatives, friends and neighbours, which often constitute informal management and support to people in need.

Other topics include formative and summative methods of evaluation, insider/outsider debates about evaluation programs, and working with stakeholders to identify the needs and the programs required to address them, and how to evaluate the programs. Various methods of evaluation are examined, including interviews with key informants, client satisfaction surveys and focus groups, and students also learn how evaluation data are analysed and presented.