Year
2019
Units
4.5
Contact
1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly
Prerequisites
1 SOAD1008 - Reasons for Social Work
1a SOAD1004 - Introduction to Social Work
Must Satisfy: ((1 or 1a))
1a SOAD1004 - Introduction to Social Work
Must Satisfy: ((1 or 1a))
Enrolment not permitted
SOAD4006 has been successfully completed
Course context
Bachelor of Social Work
Topic description
This topic has been designed to help social work students understand more about addiction, particularly addictions that threaten people's health, livelihoods and family lives, such as those relating to drug abuse, gambling and over-consumption. Consideration will be given to the Stages of Change Model, Motivational Interviewing and the use of a Recovery Approach. The topic will be taught critically, with questions raised not just about how we constitute addictions and addictive behaviour, but also how social workers, might participate in activities that address the problems that 'addicts' and others believe stem from 'bad habits' or addictions.
Educational aims
- Conceptualising addiction:
- We look at how ideas of addiction help shape understandings of what it means to be a proper citizen and a proper gendered subject in Western liberal societies.
- Understanding different addictions:
- We consider how and why some addictions are treated differently in Australian society, with some that are legal and encouraged, and others that are actively scorned.
- Responding to addictions:
- We investigate the main responses in Western liberal democracies to three types of addiction: drug abuse, gambling and over-consumption. We will examine the implications of treating addiction as crime but also an illness. We will also consider the Stages of Change Model, as it is applied in accordance with the principles of abstinence and harm minimisation.
Expected learning outcomes
On successful completion of this topic, students will be able to:
- Conceptualise addictions and associated concepts (such as abstinence, harm minimisation and zero tolerance) as they are understood in Australia and beyond.
- Critically analyse different public perceptons of different addictions and explicatehow social locations affect our understanding of addictions in western liberal democracies.
- Articulate ways in which social workers might respond to people presenting with problems of addiction.
Key dates and timetable
Timetable details for 2019 are no longer published.
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
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