Course

Theories and Perspectives for Social Work Practice

Faculty
Applied Community Studies
Department
Social Work
Course code
SOWK 3100
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
The course provides students with an overview of essential theories, models and perspectives relevant to generalist social work practice. Students will examine theories important to social work practice such as developmental, bio-psychosocial, systems, anti-oppressive, feminist, strengths-based, social justice, social constructivism and structural. Students will explore the application of theories, models and perspectives to practice and develop a guiding framework for their own practice.
Course content

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

  • Social workers explore the intersection of theory, evidence-based practice, anti-racist approaches and Indigenous worldviews.
  • Human behaviour is highly complex and generalist social workers must have knowledge of a range of theories and perspectives and be able to apply them to guide and evaluate their actions in different situations.
  • Theories, models and perspectives reflect and shape one’s ideas, attitudes and behaviour.
  • Theoretical frameworks inform assessments, interventions and the development of social work as a profession.
Learning activities

Lecture

Discussion

Group work

Presentations

Means of assessment

This course will conform to Douglas College Evaluation Policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Other means of evaluation may include a combination of:

  • Papers
  • Case study analysis
  • Role-play demonstrations
  • Exams

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 Course Outline.

Learning outcomes

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

  1. Explain the significance of theory in shaping social work practices, policies and research.
  2. Analyze a range of social work theories and their practical applications.
  3. Assess evidence-based practice and the integration of theoretical frameworks with empirical research in social work.
  4. Examine potential gaps between theory and real-world complexities, especially in working with diverse and marginalized populations.
  5. Demonstrate critical thinking skills in selecting and applying theories to practice, accounting for the sociopolitical and cultural contexts of clients.
  6. Apply a selection of theories to a situation and describe how each theory guides practice in that situation.
Textbook materials

Texts such as the following, the list to be updated periodically: 

Critical Social Work Praxis. Edited by Sobia Shaheen Shaikh, Brenda A.LeFrançois and Teresa Macías: Fernwood Publishing, 2022 

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 3100
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit

Course Offerings

Fall 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
0
Remaining seats:
35
On waitlist
0
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1004
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
14:20
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1004
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
14:20
Section notes

SOWK 3100 001 is restricted to BSW students.