Change and Development Families: Working From a Family Perspective

Overview

Course description

This course examines families through a range of theoretical perspectives, including the ecological model, family systems theory, and Indigenous and diverse and racialized lived experiences. Students begin by exploring their own family histories, using a variety of frameworks to map, analyze, and reflect on their lived experiences. Through this process, students develop preliminary skills for understanding and working with families in Child and Youth Care practice.

The course also explores the diversity of family structures, relationships, and dynamics, with a focus on how identity, culture, and family function are social constructs in the Canadian context. Students will critically examine the historical, cultural, social, and economic factors that shape and impact family life using CYC perspectives as well as anti-colonial, anti-oppressive and anti-racist lens while keep children and youth at the centre of their learning.

Course content

The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

Conduct primary and personal assessment of their own family experiences to apply insights to future Child and Youth Care (CYC) practice.
Analyze family dynamics and patterns to understand the roles of individuals within families and how these influence overall family functioning, both as a unit and within the broader community context.
Explore collaborative approaches to working with families as CYC professionals, with a focus on supportive and inclusive practice for children, youth, and families.
Evaluate personal awareness of how one's own family background and lived experiences shape professional identity and engagement in CYC practice.

Learning activities

Lectures
Group work and collaborative learning
Experiential classroom activities
Student presentations
Discussions in class and online

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College Evaluation Policy. An evaluation schedule is presented at the begining of the course.

Written assignment
Group presentations and collaborative learning
Exam
Classroom participation
Experiential learning activities in class

This is a letter-graded course.

Instructors may use a student's record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student's graded performance. Where this occurs. expectation and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the course outline.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Conduct primary and personal assessment of their own lived family experiences and apply insights to future Child and Youth Care (CYC) practice.
Analyze family dynamics and patterns to understand the roles of individuals within families and how these influence overall child, youth and family functioning, as well as a unit within the broader community context.
Explore collaborative approaches to working with families and allied professionals, with a focus on supportive and inclusive practice for children, youth, and families.
Understand how the historical and ongoing social construction of families in a Canadian context impacts children, youth and families specifically the barriers faced by many using anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspectives.
Evaluate personal awareness of how one's own family background and lived experiences shape professional identity and engagement in CYC practice.

Textbook materials

Textooks and materials are to be purchased by students. a list of required textbooks and material is provided for students at the begining of the semester.

Requisites

Prerequisites

CYCC 1220 with minimum grade of C+

and

CYCC 2432 with a minimum grade of C+

and

Any four of the following with a minimum grade of C:

[CYCC 1110 or CYCC 1112]
[CYCC 1130 or CFCS 1130]
[CYCC 1141 or CYCC 1142]
CYCC 1150
CYCC 1250
[CYCC 1260 or CFCS 1260]

CYCC 2332 is a one-way substitution for CYCC 2333 in the CYCC program

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

CFCS 2333, SOWK 2333, and CSSW 2333.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

September 2026 (Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution	Transfer details for CYCC 2333
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.