SOCIAL WORK    

         Full-Time Undergraduate Studies (BA)

         Part-Time Undergraduate Studies (BA)

Basically, the studies of social work in the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences are carried out within the frameworks of two specialities:

Social Work in Social Care

Social Work for Family Support

All programs of studies are focused on training professional social workers who, upon graduation, will be qualified to:

- analyze and assess the causes of hard and disadvantageous social situation experienced by individuals, groups (including      risk groups) and local communities;

- apply appropriate methods, techniques and means of social intervention;

- evaluate the effectiveness of undertaken action and social measures to address the following social problems:

• disadvantageous families incapable of independent living due to limited means and abilities to provide for everyday needs;
• dysfunctional families incapable of fulfilling their basic function of giving care and providing education;
• disabilities;
• social pathologies and cases of social ill-adjustment;
• refugeeism;
• restoring and maintaining appropriate interactions between individuals and the society, (improving social functioning);
• stimulating initiative and activating individuals, families and local communities towards self-reliance and self-sufficiency;
• managing the sector of social work;
• preparing plans of social action;
• inspiring change and initiating new forms of providing help to individuals and families;
• establishing institutions and centers providing social assistance to the needy, in particular, in the nearest local environment.

 

SPECIALITY: Social Work in Social Care

The aim of this speciality is to train professional social workers qualified to help solve social problems and assist individuals incapable of independent living due to:

- poverty, orphanhood, violence in family, homelessness, unemployment, disability or old age;

- inability to provide proper care and education to dependants (particularly in families with a large number of children and those coping with disabilities);

- alcoholism, addiction to drugs, delinquency (criminality), social adjustment problems following releasing from imprisonment, migrations or refugeeism.

Possibilities of employment: the licentiates will be qualified to seek employment in various types of institutions providing social assistance, in particular, in specific sectors of such institutions, in assisted living facilities and in a variety of educational and rehabilitative centers.

SPECIALITY: Social Work for Family Support

Essentially, the program of this speciality involves working with families at a basic level, and, as such, it is focused on the following issues:

- advantageous factors that help build  strong families and promote their further development;

- disadvantageous factors,  problems and threats that may affect families.

- various challenges and hardships that families experience and cope with, such as:  disabilities, disease, old age, social pathologies;

- inability to provide proper care and education.

Possibilities of employment: the licentiates will be trained to be able to identify some potential threats as well as to diagnose the existing problems experienced by a family. They will also be capable of providing appropriate help as well as counseling in  specialized family centers and other establishments of social assistance, non-governmental organizations or specialized programs designed to support families and promote development of local communities.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After graduating from a BA degree in Social Work the student:

Knowledge

• knows the basic terminology used in social work and understands its source and ways of application within the related disciplines;

• has basic knowledge about the place of social work in the system of science and its connections with other disciplines sciences (in particular the humanities, social sciences, medical sciences) in terms of subject of interest and methodology;

• knows selected concepts of man - the philosophical, psychological, sociological, cultural;

• has basic knowledge of the structures of social life (in the public, private and non-governmental sectors), and the relations occurring between the structures and institutions forming them;

• has a basic knowledge of human development during life cycles, family life and individual development in the family, as well of types of social relationships (family, social, cultural, professional, organizational and territorial waters) and the regularities that govern them;

• has knowledge on how to influence people and knows how to interact with the clients of social work in order to solve their problems;

• has an elementary knowledge about the processes of interpersonal communication with clients of social welfare, their regularities and irregularities;

• is familiar with the methodology of social research at a level that allows conducting and interpreting research in the field of social work ;

• has knowledge of the science of family, psychology, ethics, law, social policy in the context of social work;

• knows the sources and methods of obtaining resources (tangible and intangible ) that are needed to solve social problems;

• has knowledge and understands the diversity of social, cultural and ethnic groups as the risk of social stigmatization of individuals and families;

• knows how to implement statutory guidelines and regulations of the agency, with the principles of confidentiality and availability of social assistance;

• knows how to investigate and recognize the need for social services for individuals, groups and families within local communities;

• knows client’s and social worker’s rights, their scope and methods of enforcement;

• knows and understands the definitions and rules for the application of copyright law and the protection of industrial property;

• knows the rules of establishing and developing individual entrepreneurship;

Skills

• designs solutions for his/ her customers based on the successive stages during the proceedings methodical in social work;

• initiates contacts and develops cooperation with representatives of other professions, institutions, and volunteers;

• communicates effectively verbally and non-verbally - in speech and in writing in Polish;

• suggests actions regarding the client’s interests, taking into account the context of his/ her family and community;

• can apply the results of research into practice;

• has the ability to influence the development of social services through the use of local resources;

• prepares draft of social diagnosis and action plan in relation to socially excluded individuals, families and local communities;

• initiates and contributes to social action projects, supports various activities, shapes the attitudes and relationships;

• represents the interests of clients, groups and the local community;

• uses normative systems and specific standards, including legal norms, which are important from the standpoint of social assistance;

• has foreign language skills in the field of social work at the B2 level;

• when working with an individual, group, family and local community, he/ she applies knowledge of psychology, ethics, law, social policy;

• acquires information using modern technology;

Social competence

• is aware of the level of his/ her knowledge and skills, understands the need for lifelong learning in  professional and personal development;

• remains open to resolve conflicts through mediation and negotiation;

• has the ability to organize and plan professional commitments in an effective and targeted way;

• is concern with his/ her own personal and professional development; performs a self-assessment of his/ her own competence and the effects of his/ her own work, uses help, consultation and supervision;

• is able to cope in situations of conflict and stress;

• prepares for their work in a responsible way, designs and performs in different social environments;

• recognizes the importance of the social sciences for the maintenance and development of decent relations in local environments, and applies this knowledge to designing activities in the field of social work;

• is aware of the resources available in the institution and in the community and of creative ways they can be used;

• manifests empathetic attitude towards other people, especially the clients of social work;

• is ready to communicate with others, including non-specialists in a given field; expresses and defends his/ her views, discusses important social issues;

• is aware of the ethical dimension in social studies and social work.