SOAD3017 Identity, Self and Agency

2019

4.5

1 x 1-hour lecture weekly
1 x 1-hour tutorial weekly

1 of SOCI1001, SOCI1010

SOAD2008 has been successfully completed

Students are expected to have completed all first year topics in the Bachelor of Social Work and Social Planning; Bachelor of Social Work

Bachelor of Social Work

Identity, Self and Agency introduces scholarship in which social and subjective life in late modernity is considered. Students are encouraged to critically engage with debates relating to the tensions between structural and subjective life through the examination of a range of relevant theoretical positions. Social theories in which identity in contemporary social life is considered will be examined alongside key contributions in which agency and structure are theorised. Encouraging debate and critical thinking, this topic will assist students to relate broader concepts relating to the self and the social to professional helping roles.

The aim of this topic is to provide students with the opportunity to critically examine theories relating to identity in late modernity, as well as self and agency, and explore how tensions between these concepts may be played out in professional helping roles.

Students successfully completing this topic will be able to:

• Define and critically evaluate the concepts of agency and structure
• Identify some of the key theories relating to identity in late modern life
• Relate the significance of tensionsbetween agency and structure to subjective and social life as well as describe the implications these tensions have for professional helping roles