PgDip - Advanced Social Work Children, Young People & Families

Queen's University Belfast

The aim of the Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Social Work with Children, Young People and Families is to enable child and family social work practitioners working in a range of social care settings in both the statutory and voluntary sectors, to develop advanced knowledge and skills to enhance their practice within their current work setting. Through a mixture of lectures, small group teaching, skills workshops and practice related assessment methods, the programme emphasises the translation of learning into effective practice through a clear focus on critical thinking and skills development linked to the student’s practice context. Teaching in Year 1 will enable students to critically evaluate theoretical perspectives and research evidence in relation to child development, the factors that affect parenting capacity, family dynamics and relationships, the aetiology of child maltreatment, and the environmental and structural issues that contribute to child and family wellbeing. Students will develop their understanding of how to effectively talk to children and parents about their experiences, as well as develop their engagement and relationship building skills through the use of the use of mapping techniques such as genograms, ecomaps, timelines. They will also have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in supporting children, young people, and families at all stages of the social care pathway including those living at home with parents and those in foster, kinship, adoptive and residential care. In Year 2, students will have an opportunity to build on the learning from Year 1 to developed advanced knowledge and skills in relation to the core principles of systemic practice and practice skills. They will also engage in advanced learning with regard to risk assessment and decision in complex family situations. This will entail making links between evidence-based practice and the identification of risk, theoretical perspectives and principle involved in risk assessment, and the application of assessment models/tools to assist with decision making in relation to specific practice issues and service user groups. Year 2 will also focus on developing practitioners’ knowledge and skills in relation to evidence-based planning and intervention, providing opportunities to critically examine the international and national evidence base for interventions that address core child and family social work issues across child and family social care pathways and encouraging practitioners to engage with the wider concept of service development.