Course description
This course offers an overview of the knowledge and skills essential for social work practice in diverse metropolitan areas such as the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Students will explore various issues and services related to working in a metropolitan area, including issues of housing, integration, employment, transportation, recreation, food security, and health. Students will analyze the unique needs of service users in neighbourhoods such as Vancouver's Downtown East Side and urban centers like Vancouver and Surrey. The course focuses on the effects of poverty, the experiences of marginalized populations, and the social determinants of health.
Course content
- The diversity of urban populations and communities in metropolitan contexts
- Racism, oppression, and colonialism in Canada and their implications for urban social work practice
- Indigenous experiences, cultures, and knowledges in urban social work practice
- Social determinants of health and their application in metropolitan social work
- Poverty, income inequality, and access to essential resources in urban areas
- Housing insecurity and homelessness, including policy and service responses
- Urban social service systems, including housing, settlement, employment, and health services
- Roles of public, private, secular, and non-secular organizations in urban service delivery
- Navigation and coordination of community-based resources, including food security, transportation, and recreation
Learning activities
In this course, students engage in a variety of learning activities such as lecture, discussion, group work, case studies, and presentations.
Means of assessment
Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. 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, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline. This is letter-graded course
Typical means of assessment include the following:
- Written papers
- Presentations
- Projects
- Exams
- Participation
- Attendance
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Describe demographic and human geographic trends in metropolitan areas, such as Vancouver, from a social work perspective;
- Apply the social determinants of health framework to marginalized populations;
- Identify how the experiences and cultures of Indigenous Peoples inform social work practice within an urban context;
- Explain the considerations for working with different populations of people (e.g. unhoused, immigrant, and refugee) within an urban context;
- Identify the importance of language, including French, and culturally appropriate supports within social work;
- Demonstrate understanding of social exclusion and its impacts on marginalized groups;
- Describe current housing issues affecting people experiencing homelessness, including provincial, federal, and municipal roles in social policy;
- Describe the nature and impact of different forms and sources of racism and oppression, addressing systemic, structural, and interpersonal factors.
Textbook materials
Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include:
Raphael, D. (current edition). Social determinants of health: Canadian perspectives. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.