Lecture: 4 hours/week
Lecture
Student presentations
Small group discussion
Guest speakers
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 policy decisions are related to the protection and affirmation of human rights. Public sentiment influences those who are safeguarded by legislation and the consequences for those who are oppressed.
- Individual problems are related to larger socio-economic political issues. This includes the need for both personal and social change, the need to explore and reflect on one's own social location and the structural context of society (class, gender, race, age, government institutions).
- Poverty is an issue of equity. Although all people face some risk of being poor, people who are marginalized face significantly higher risk.
- Understanding societal attitudes, the political process, relevant legislation and the social welfare delivery system and policy are prerequisites for providing direct service and for advocating on behalf of service users.
- Models of change need to be appropriate for diverse populations depending on factors such as history, culture and power within the legal, political and social structures of society.
- The delivery of social welfare is not an inert enterprise and at both the practical and theoretical level the social worker adopts an active role to advocate on behalf of service users within formal and informal mechanisms of providing help.
- All social workers need to be aware of their own values, political agendas and the potential biases within their role as professionals.
- The impacts of neoliberal principles continue to erode the universal delivery of social welfare across Canada and the notion of equal access for all is under threat.
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the relationship between economics, politics and the formation of Canadian social policy over time.
- Describe the social, psychological, and economic impact of poverty.
- Critically analyze the relationship between marginalized/oppressed groups and policy structures which can limit access to services.
- Describe the process of income assistance delivery in British Columbia, including basic legislation and client eligibility.
- Define “relative” and “absolute” concepts of poverty.
- Develop knowledge and skills to identify positive/negative or equitable/inequitable policies based on their implications and outcomes, particularly for Indigenous peoples and members of equity seeking groups.
- Identify and develop the skills to contribute to the development and implementation of new and more equitable social welfare policies.
- Understand the different social welfare policies aimed to support women, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, refugees, children, seniors and Francophone individuals in Canada.
- Describe political influence on social policy, including on political agendas.
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 assessment may include some or all of the following:
Written papers
Exams
Presentations (individual or group)
Participation
Attendance
Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required and textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include:
Hick, S., & Stokes, J. (Current edition). Social Welfare in Canada: Inclusion, Equity, Social Justice. Thompson Educational Publishing.
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