PY1003:03
Psychology for Social Welfare Practice
Townsville
Inadmissable Subject Combination: PY1001 PY1002
26 lectures, 26 tutorials. Second semester and flexible delivery.
Available to level 1 BSW and BCW students.
Staff: Ms J Kirkham, Dr B Kennedy.
This subject covers the scientific method in psychology; learning theory and its applications to counselling and behaviour change; motivation; social behaviour and its application to social skills training; lifespan development; individual and socially generated stress and adaptive coping strategies in dealing with stress; personality theory; psychopathology and its treatment.
Learning Objectives:
- to introduce the student to the discipline of psychology, with emphasis on how psychology can be applied to inform and direct practice;
- an understanding of psychological perspectives on learning, lifespan development, personality and stress;
- be encouraged to use psychological theory to provide explanations for client behaviour and to provide an understanding of critical issues typically faced by clients;
- to gain insight into the human response to stressful life transitions and aspects of stress coping useful for crisis intervention;
- to learn about maladaptive behaviour and psychotherapeutic approaches to treatment relevant to social welfare practice;
- to learn about the importance of social psychological processes in forming impressions about clients and in making attributions about client behaviour.
Assessment by written assignment (application of psychological theory and knowledge to a case study) (40%); examination (60%).
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