SOSV3210 Substance abuse and addiction Course description

The use of drugs and alcohol and different forms of addiction create social and health-related problems and is an area that applies to users in contact with most support services in the health and social care sector. This course is based on national and international research and experience-based knowledge from a broad field of practice. Models of understanding and explanatory models are significant to how users are received and what kind of measures they are offered. 

This course gives students a more in-depth understanding of social work based on practical training. The course focuses on knowledge, understanding and skills as regards the link between the students’ own professional practice and social and organisational levels.  

Students must have completed and passed the second year of the Bachelor’s Programme in Social Work.  

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge  

The student:  

• has broad knowledge of relevant theories and models for interaction and communication  
• has broad knowledge of marginalisation and exclusion mechanisms that impact the client groups at the practical training establishment  
• has broad knowledge of interprofessional cooperation at different levels  
• has knowledge of how political and organisational matters (management, organisational culture, resources) affect professional practice  
• has broad knowledge of how social problems arise and develop in a changing society  
• has broad knowledge of how to critically reflect on their own practice  

 Skills  

The student:  

• can apply different communication skills in interaction with individuals and groups  
• can critically apply different theoretical perspectives and methods in relation to the practical training establishment  
• can apply theoretical perspectives to interdisciplinary cooperation  
• can discuss the importance of organisation and management to the practice of social work  
• can discuss the links between social development, knowledge development and research  
• can reflect on how a professional identity is formed in various organisational contexts  
• can reflect on their own scope of action in various organisations  

General competence  

The student:  

• has insight into relevant academic and professional ethical issues  
• has insight into and can reflect critically on their own professional role in encounters with institutional and political requirements in their service provision  
• has insight into how judgement can be exercised in situations with inadequate and/or contrasting information, and how to identify possibilities in various professional and institutional contexts  
• has insight into how their own professional practice promotes or inhibits equality, inclusion and mastery for different individuals and groups in society  
• has insight into and a critical understanding of digital communication in professional practice and interaction  

Various teaching methods are used in this course, including practice in the professional field, supervision and flipped classroom. The flipped classroom method is a process-based approach that comprises three phases that build on each other; the students’ own preparations, seminars at the university and follow-up work in groups or individually. The practical training takes place over around 12 weeks. The period of practical training also includes study days. 

An individual written in-depth paper on a topic chosen by the student. The students will work on the assignment throughout the course. The answer paper must have a scope of 8-10 pages. Font and font size: Calibri 12 point. Line spacing: 1.5.The approved citation style APA for assignments must be complied with.  

A selection of self-chosen readings, which comprises of 300 pages must be attached in the assignment.

Students who were absent for a valid reason or who fail the exam may take a resit/rescheduled exam in the same format as the ordinary exam. If the student fails the exam, they will be given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the assignment for assessment.  

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.  

Pass/fail.  

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner. A student’s contact lecturer cannot be their examiner.  

Ragnhild Fugletveit og Ida Merete Solvang