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SWK-10034 - Module Specification
School of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

For academic year: 2022/23 Last Updated: 19 January 2023

SWK-10034 - Introduction to Law, Policy and Safeguarding
Coordinator: Cath Holmstrom Room: N/A
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office: 01782 733928

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2022/23

This module will equip you with fundamental knowledge, skills and values that will enable you to understand and apply the law as a throughout your social work degree. You will be able to understand and appreciate why the law is so important to social workers, particularly within the context of safeguarding children and adults. This includes understanding how law is created and developed and the court structure within which the law is applied. You will develop your understanding of the complex relationship between law and social work values and ethics and how these influence decisions you will make as a professional social worker. You will have an opportunity to identify and visit a Court and to reflect on your observations.
The module also seeks to support you to draw upon learning from other modules. Throughout the module you will be introduced to key legislation, such as the Human Rights Act 1998, the Children Act 1989, the Care Act 2014 and how to apply knowledge and values to practice. This module serves as an introduction to later modules examining social work with children and families and adult social work.

Aims
The module aims to increase students' knowledge of law, key policies, and to understand why law is crucial to social work and safeguarding practices. It also seeks to enable students to understand the relationship between law and practice and its complexities when making decisions and demonstrating professional accountability.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/swk-10034/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

discuss the development of law and policy in the context of social work practice: 1
apply the law in the context of safeguarding in social work: 1
identify, and apply relevant case law and legislation to a given social work context: 1
demonstrate engagement with, and understanding of the application of law and policy in practice: 1,2
recognise the need for reflective practice when engaging with the law in practice and the role of social work values: 2

Study hours

Lectures - 20 hours
Workshops - 40 hours
Court visit - 7 hours
Self-directed study - 233 hours - including preparation for taught sessions (50 hours), preparation of and for assignments (60 hours), wider reading and research (123 hours)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Open Book Examination weighted 50%
'take away' examination paper (seen and open book)
The examination is a seen and open book paper. It will consist of a case study involving a family with both adult and children safeguarding issues. This format supports the student to demonstrate both knowledge and application and to justify professional decision-making. The exam format will provide students with the opportunity to engage in a different type of assessment so that they have a a variety of assessments across the programme but will be open book and seen to replicate social work practice contexts. The students will have 5 working days from release of paper/questions to upload their responses. The case studies will be shared in advance (at least one week before the questions).

2: Reflective Analysis weighted 50%
Reflective Analysis of Court Visit
The students will be required to write a reflective analysis of their visit to a Court (by actual or virtual attendance) and of a case (or cases) they observe. 2000 words.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 19 January 2023