• Assessment
Assignment 1 – Critical Agency Study
This assignment should be submitted via Turnitin before 9.30 am on the 7th March 2022.
The purpose of this report-style assignment is to provide critical reflection on social policy that relates to your placement agency setting. You should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the service user group or groups with whom the agency engages.
You should submit a 3,000 word report, which provides a reflective and critical analysis of the work of your placement agency based on your observations, and the knowledge and experience gained, within the agency setting. It is expected that your report will be structured and will use headings, bullet points and diagrams / organisational charts where appropriate.
This report should relate to the learning outcomes for the module that are set out in the MSW handbook. Your report should therefore demonstrate:
1. A succinct account of the national social policy and local organisational policy context(including funding mechanisms) together with any relevant legislative framework that governs the work of the agency.
3. Your ability to describe the characteristics of the service users who use the agency and how the services provided match or mismatch with the services required. Include consideration of relevant theories and methods of social work intervention – either those that are explicitly identified and used within the agency when working with service users and / or those that could be used. How the agency monitors and evaluates its impact. Include some views of service users in this section, such as any feedback you have gained from working with them and/ or from agency service user feedback forms or evaluations.
4. The collaborative relationships that exist between the agency and other groups, teams or organisations, highlighting the social work contribution to partnership and interdisciplinary working.
Your report should also demonstrate your understanding of the social work values of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice. You will therefore need to consider how the construction of social problems and processes impact on the work of the agency including any under-representation of different client groups, stigma, multiple social inequalities and discrimination issues.
Organisational charts and diagrams to illustrate your account must be included as an appendix and do not contribute to the word count.
You must ensure that your report includes references to research literature and other academic sources to support your critical account (and include a reference list).
