Course

Metropolitan Social Work Practice

Faculty
Applied Community Studies
Department
Social Work
Course code
SOWK 2400
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

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 neighborhoods 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

Course content will be guided by research, empirical knowledge and best practice. The following values and principles, consistent with professional standards, inform course content:

  • Social work practice in metropolitan area requires an understanding of the diversity of the population and communities.
  • An understanding of racism, oppression and the multi-generational legacy of colonialism on Indigenous peoples in Canada is essential to urban social work practice.
  • Social workers best serve their clients when they are familiar with the network of services available including those provided by public, private, secular and non-secular organizations.
  • Social workers apply their knowledge of the social determinants of health to best respond to issues.
  • Poverty and housing concerns are important areas of social work intervention.
Learning activities

Lecture
Group exercises
Student presentations

 

Means of assessment

Evaluations will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College Evaluation Policy and will include both formative and summative components. 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’s course outline. Typical means of evaluation would include a combination of any of the following:

  • Examinations
  • Research papers
  • Project work
  • Individual and/or group presentations
  • Participation
Learning outcomes

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

  1. Describe demographic and human geographic trends in metropolitan areas, such as Vancouver, from a social work perspective.

  2. Apply the social determinants of health framework to marginalized populations.

  3. Explain the considerations for working with different populations of people (Indigenous, unhoused, immigrant and refugee) within an urban context.

  4. Identify the importance of language, including French and culturally appropriate support within social work.

  5. Demonstrate understanding of social exclusion and its impact on marginalized groups.

  6. Describe current housing issues for people experiencing homelessness, including provincial, federal and municipal roles in this area of social policy.

  7. Describe different forms and sources of racism and oppression including systemic, structural, interpersonal, etc; and their impact on communities.

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.

 

 

Requisites

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

None

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.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for SOWK 2400
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit

Course Offerings

There are no course offerings this semester.