Youth StudiesBSc (Hons)

Cultures, Identity and Difference

This module examines the changing pattern of households and family life, work and employment, with a particular emphasis on differences in cultures and identities and how these interlink with social divisions. It addresses causes and patterns of inequality, and the opportunities and challenges of living in a super diverse society.

The module includes significant elements of study skills development, orientation to the university and the expectations of the university and course. The study skills element is embedded in the provision of the module.

The module is taught over 30 weeks and is assessed by workbooks and an essay.

Aims of the module

This module aims to:

1. Introduce students to university life and to the expectations of the course and academic life.

2. Identify changing patterns of households, family life, work and employment.

3. Explain differing patterns on inequality and the socio-political perspectives to issues of community, culture, multiculturalism, social exclusion and social cohesion.

4. Develop student skills in retrieving information, academic writing and presenting information to a range of audiences

Introduction to Working with Young People

This module provides the opportunity for students to develop an understanding of the principles and practice of working with young people and their position in society. Students will learn about youth work policies and frameworks that help shape professional practice; and, issues and social structures that may contribute in shaping the lives of young people and their communities.

Throughout the module, students are encouraged to take into account diversity and anti-oppressive practice, as well as key issues affecting young people and the impact such issues have on youth identities and future youth work practice. Thus, combined with the ethics, values and philosophy underpinning professional practice and students own experiences and knowledge base, this module aims to provide a firm foundation for understanding the ‘youth stage’ and professional practice of working with young people.

The core module aims are to enable students:

• to explore key concepts of values, ethics, theory, policy, principles and practice in relation to youth work;
• to introduce students to the sector’s professional occupational standards and the notion of an informed reflective practitioner;
• to examine youth identities and diverse representations of young people in society;
• to gain an understanding of how partnership and collaborative working can improve youth work practice and the lives of young people, and provide examples of such collaborative partnership work;
• to develop skills in self-management, group work, oral presentation and academic writing; and,
• to critically analyse issues of discrimination and oppression and the effect that these issues have on young people’s lives.

Introduction to communities

Introduction to Communities engages students in the environment within which community work takes place, and to the policy context, particularly in relation to regeneration. This module is a building block for community work skills and knowledge. It introduces students to definitions of community work, its origins and development. The module explores the principles of community development work, drawing on the National Occupational Standards for Community Development. It aims to explore the concepts of Social Justice, Self Determination, Working and Learning together, Sustainable Communities, Participation and Reflective Practice. It is taught over 30 weeks and is assessed through an essay, reflective writing piece and an evaluative report.

This module aims to:

1. Introduce students to the principles of community work, drawing on national occupational standards;

2. Explain the history of community work and the current policy context;

3. Outline the opportunities and challenges of regenerating communities and areas;

4. Explain key concepts such as empowerment, participation, social justice and sustainability; and

5. Enable students to critically reflect on their own work practice.

The anti-oppressive practitioner

This module will embrace the notion of social justice, compassion, and inclusion. This is key to our Education for Social Justice Framework at London Metropolitan University

Rationale:
The rationale of this module is to provide students with an outline of the historical and contemporary approaches to the concepts of race, class, gender, sexuality, disability and other forms of oppressions and how power and the impact on notions of difference, identity, positionality and community has an affect. It will also explore how and when oppression became institutionalised and where it hasn’t been embedded in society supported by a unique philosophy.
It aims to:
● To explore and analyse the impact of the position that ideologies in relation to; race, class, gender, sexualities, age and disabilities etc. are socially and politically constructed with reference to difference, culture / distinction and community.
● Familiarise students with key issues that have practical importance in the lives of young people today, and assist students to reflect upon differences from a local to an international context and of the systems used by different societies to maintain people in a hierarchy.
● To analyse how power is maintained and implemented through normalising issues of compulsory heterosexuality, whiteness, religion and ‘ableism’. It will also explore, compare and contrast cultures where power has not been abused.

Development and Social Enterprise

This module invites students to consider the opportunities and challenges that social enterprise and entrepreneurship offer to communities and community development leaders and practitioners. Students will be required to participate in the planning, initiation and development of a real-world live project, culminating in the presentation of a project proposal. Lectures and workshops will introduce students to theories of project management, including financial planning, and teamworking and enable them to apply this in practice. Throughout the module there is a strong emphasis on reflective practice. Students will be required to critically review their proposal both in terms of internal consistency and external opportunities and challenges (reflection in action). They will also reflect on their contribution to effective teamworking in the development of the project and skills acquired on this module (reflection post-action).

The aims of this module are to:

• Critically understand the role of social enterprise, its strengths and limitations, in relation to community work.
• Identify key benefits and challenges of partnership and collaborative working
• Work with others to research and develop a viable proposal for a social enterprise, demonstrating potential social impact and financial sustainability
• Identify ways in which success / failure can be measured in the context of community action and ethical concerns
• Enhance their employability, particularly within the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors.
• Reflect critically on issues of diversity, equality and social justice in relation to development and social enterprise.

Principles and Practice of Youth Work

This module provides the student with an overview of contemporary issues that young people are facing and allows students to critically discuss these issues whilst relating them to the principles and practice of youth work. Students will draw on the ethics of youth work and anti-oppressive approaches to link high-quality youth work practice to a range of relevant scenarios found in youth and community work settings. In this respect, the module embraces the notions of social justice, anti-discriminatory practice, compassion and inclusion. This is key to the University’s Education for Social Justice Framework.

The module aims:

1. to introduce students to the professional principles and practice of youth work, where a strong emphasis on the National Occupational Standards for Youth Work (NOS) will be made;
2. to develop students’ skills in establishing relationships with young people in a variety of settings in order to facilitate an environment where young people can make sense of their situation, express their aspirations and plan to meet their needs realistically;
3. to enable students to consider the work with young people in ways that promote equality of opportunity, participation, and anti-discriminatory behaviour;
4. to encourage the students to take a firm stand against discrimination, prejudice, and oppressive behaviour through their practice;
5. to critically look at institutional discrimination and organisational policies and procedures relating to discrimination and oppression;
6. to critically examine their own values belief systems and attitudes and how these impact on their work;
7. to gain an understanding of how partnership and collaborative working can improve youth work practice and the lives of young people, and provide examples of such collaborative partnership work;
8. to explore a range of issues that young people face, as well as factors that exclude young people and barriers to participation;
9. to identify opportunities for students to engage with critical enquiry into and active learning of the experiences of disadvantaged and marginalised groups will make a major contribution to student learning; and,
10. to facilitate and support the student’s growth by encouraging their educational development in informal and planned situations and interventions with young people.

Researching Youth and Community Issues

This module will introduce research and specially applied research to students from Community Development and Leadership, Youth Studies, Youth Work and Youth Work Apprenticeship areas. Students will be introduced to the research process and research knowledge and skills relevant to professional and academic development. These research principles will provide a foundation for understanding approaches to social research, community profiling and evidence-based practice and research design. It will introduce research methods and the basics of preparing a research proposal on themes related directly to community and youth work. Reflective writing is a core component of this module. It will further focus on how to decide the appropriateness of different research approaches in a variety of environments.

Aims of the module

You will

1. develop a strong foundation for understanding approaches to social and community research and evidence-based practice;
2. develop research skills and knowledge for professional and academic purposes with a focus on community and youth work;
3. develop a practical understanding of doing primary social research and understanding their underlying philosophies;
4. explore the design and organisation of research approaches;
5. critically analyse research reports encompassing different aspects of it;
6. sharpen your reflective skills in the context of research.

The reflexive and reflective practitioner

This module will embrace the notion of social justice, compassion, and inclusion. This is key to our Education for Social Justice Framework at London Metropolitan University

Rationale:
This module highlights how to use reflexivity and reflective skills on the YW programme and incorporates it with action research to enhance professional practice. It demonstrates the importance and necessity of raising issues and the role of emotions in transformative learning. The content underpins the development of students as reflexive practitioners and reflective thinkers. This module consequently links with the dissertation module and addresses anti-oppressive practice and social justice which is the core feature of the programme through the medium of group work , and will use globalisation and decolonisation as the basis of learning.
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It aims to:
To introduce the concepts of reflexivity, reflectivity and action research in a professional context through the lens of globalisation and decolonisation.
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● To develop students’ understandings of their own value base and to reflect upon their experiences, thoughts and feelings in a group work context
● To explore the importance of anti-oppressive practice, and understand how principles and practice interlink to enhance their professional practice.

Counselling in youth and community settings

This module will embrace the notion of social justice, compassion, and inclusion. This is key to our Education for Social Justice Framework at London Metropolitan University

Rationale:

To introduce and familiarise students with key concepts of counselling in Youth and community settings and their implications in different professional contexts. This module requires students to explore and develop the basic skills needed for counselling and recognise the difference between listening to others as friends, parents, youth and community work practitioners or as counsellors. Due to the experiential nature of the course there is scope for personal development. Many of the exercises will focus on practising skills necessary for counselling and there will be theoretical inputs on the main influences in this area. The aim of the module is for students’ to be introduced to key concepts of counselling and provide a world perspective. The module will involve the students in active group learning, sharing some of their own experiences with other group members. The course will be very practical with the learning being conducted in the large group, small groups, triads and pairs. Emphasis will be placed on learning basic listening skills, finding out what counselling is, how it relates to the student in youth and community work settings, and recognising the importance of developing self-awareness.

In total there are three counselling modules, one at each level. It is envisaged that they correspond to the L1, L2 & L3 of the training structure that prospective counsellors have to undertake with regards to the hours and assessment strategies prior to attending the L4 Diploma in Counselling.

The successful completion of one module is the equivalent of L1.

The successful completion of two modules is the equivalent of L2.

The successful completion of three modules is the equivalent of the L3 qualification.

The module at L5 is an optional module for all the students in the University programmes and will be very much focused on developing counselling skills in working with young people in a variety of youth and community settings ranging from work in formal settings e.g schools, through to informal settings including detached work.

The modules at L5 & L6 will be optional modules. As such there will be an opportunity for all students to cover some of the basic skills in particular settings and working in groups respectively. For those with more experience it will enable them to develop their personal journey at a much deeper level and this will be reflected in the quality of their journal submissions, the depth of the essay question and the enhanced quality of their practical counselling intervention skills.

The assessment processes will be the same to reflect the methods of assessments used on the pre Diploma courses.

It aims to:

• Evaluate concepts of counselling in a world perspective and its role in youth and community work settings and analyse key approaches, core conditions and models of counselling.
• Develop an awareness of their own self-development and how they are able to use counselling skills to help develop others.
• Identify, examine and analyse diversity issues while working with people from different gender, race and sexualities and power dynamics and the importance of anti-oppressive practice.

Creative, critical reflective approaches to practice

This module will help you consider the ways that Social Workers, Youth and Community Workers can be creative in the use of ‘self’, reflection and in exploring imaginative new ways of working with people. You explore and learn about a range of creative approaches to enable the development of critical reflective dialogue and support individuals, groups and communities to analyse their circumstances and that issues affecting them, and to search for possible solutions that support growth and change.

Social Workers, Youth and Community Workers who work alongside marginalised individuals, families and communities are required to make difficult decisions and to intervene to support change and improve the circumstances of people’s lives. The social professions require professionals who have a high level of personal commitment, are open-minded and prepared to examine and even change their own attitudes and possible prejudices.

Each encounter with a vulnerable individual, family or community is unique and requires creative thinking about solutions that are specific to that individual, family or community. Ultimately a social professional’s creativity is motivated by and directed to understanding and improving the lives and conditions of marginalised people within society who are in need of support, advocacy and protection. Networking, supporting and championing new ways of meeting need are all creative endeavours, as is the ability to reflect both personally and with others.

Module aims:

• You will develop an understanding of concepts and underlying principles in fostering critical and reflective dialogue
• You will be able to use a range of creative approaches to support individuals, groups and communities to analyse their circumstances and explore potential solutions to issues affecting their lives.
• You will learn how to gather and use the feedback and insights of others to critically reflect on and further develop your own practice.
• You will develop a critical understanding of power and structural oppression and how this understanding can be used to challenge and disrupt inequality in practice

Crime and the Media

This module examines the relationship between the media, crime and criminal justice. It examines the way crime and the law – and our understandings of them – are produced, reproduced and challenged in and through the contemporary media. The module considers how crime and criminals have been portrayed by the media over time, and assesses the different theoretical perspectives applied to media representations of crime and criminality. It examines the various ways the media actively work to construct crime as a news story, analysing the way the media sift and select crime stories, prioritizing some and excluding others, editing words and pictures and selecting particular tones and styles in their reports to create particular interpretations and viewpoints. The module also considers media portrayals of crime, criminals, victims and criminal justice agencies in a range of fictional and factual representations across TV, film and popular fiction. The social and cultural impact of these media representations is also discussed, with attention is given to the ways they may contribute to escalating fears of crime and how far they may contribute, themselves, to violence and criminal behaviour. Focusing on cultural, critical, and qualitative understandings of the relationships between crime and the media, the module draws on ideas and theories developed not only in the field of Criminology, but also the disciplines of in Sociology, Media, Communications and Cultural Studies.

This module aims to:

1. Examine the relation between media portrayals of crime and their broader social, economic and political context.
2. Examine historical shifts in the way the media represent crime and criminal behaviour.
3. Familiarise students with theoretical debates about the media’s effects on crime and criminal behaviour.
4. Examine the connections between media portrayals of crime and criminal justice policy.

Disability and Inclusion

The module aims to focus on the competing nature of the concept of “disability” and the implications it has on community development, social policies and practice. It examines disability as a new social movement that informs much of the social policy and welfare provisions and community practice today. The module considers the radical transformation of the ways in which disability is understood - informed by the Disability Rights Movements of the 70s and 80s in the UK, and enables students to engage in a culture of debates and reflection that are critical required for effective community work.

Module aims

The module aims to:

• Provide students with a foundation for understanding and analysing disability in the context of current welfare policies and practices.
• Enable students to grasp the principles of the social model of disability and its implications for social inclusion and community development.
• Provide students with an understanding of how the experience of disability is shaped by its interaction with gender, ethnicity and social class.

Extension of Knowledge Module

See modules in XK0000

Resistance, Creativity and Joy in the Capital

This module will explore the relationship between London and the people of Africa and the Caribbean, unpacking the socio-economic and political factors that shaped the lives and subcultures often ‘hidden’ within London.
In doing so, it seeks to develop an understanding of the complexities in the lives of those in and around the capital from the African and Caribbean diaspora, whilst also embracing the joys of Blackness that are often undocumented and under narrated which include topics such as music, resistance, migration, and LGBTQIA+ lives.

Students will:
1. Explore how Black British history is woven into the cultural, economic, political and social life of the Capital City.

2. Examine how social, historical and political factors have shaped the experiences of African and Caribbean people in London.

3. Begin constructing their decolonial and critical thinking skills

4. Explore the contemporary cultural production, creativity, resistance, and joy in first, second and third generation African and Caribbean lives in and around London.

Sustainability and Environmental Justice

In this module you will have a broad introduction to sustainability, while:

1. Investigating environmental threats including the climate crisis, pollution, and the global biodiversity crisis;

2. Exploring political, social, technological and economic solutions to these problems;

3. Considering systemic environmental inequality along the lines of social class, race/ethnicity, gender and Intergenerationally.

Transnational communities

The module enables the students to develop an understanding of global migration and economic, political structures and socio-cultural impact on diverse communities in Britain. It examines some of the rapidly changing migratory patterns and emergence of new refugee and migrant communities. The main focus of the module is an examination of transnational communities in the UK and their hybrid identity of belonging to at least to two nationalities, cultures, economies and politics (‘being here and there’). The module tackles topics of citizenship and diaspora and whether and how it is possible to develop a sense of belonging in a culturally diverse society. It enables the students to develop a critical understanding of the emerging cultures and communities in Britain and examine some of the changes which have taken place as a result of the global migration and technological innovation. This module will also enable the students to carry out secondary research on their chosen transnational community.

Module aims:

1. To provide students with the opportunity to explore and critically analyse the current migratory changes in contemporary Britain.
2. To familiarise students with debates on transnationalism, diasporic communities and citizenship
3. To enable students to identify a transnational community and explore their range of transnational links and activities regarding their settlement and origin country in the context of challenges posed by societal change and diversity for integration, social cohesion and community development in contemporary Britain.
4. To enable the learners to critically reflect on their learning and relate the wider socio-economic and cultural contexts to their everyday experience and community development work.

Youth Culture and the Media

This module explores the important relationships between the media and young people’s cultural experiences and expressions. The media are a ubiquitous presence in the lives of contemporary youth - the television shows they watch, the music they listen to, the video games they play, and the websites they visit all play a major part in young people’s lives, offering them a stream of different experiences, ideas and knowledge. This module considers the broad body of interdisciplinary scholarship that analyses youth’s relationship with media, and the nature of media texts aimed at young people. Attention is given to the way the media represent youth and target young people as a specific market for goods and entertainment, and also to the development of particular media forms aimed at young audiences – for example, specific kinds of advertising, distinctive film genres and TV formats, and particular kinds of social networking websites. Consideration is also given to the possible influence of the media on youth’s behaviour, and to the ways young people actively engage with the media and make it meaningful in their lives. Here, particular attention is given to issues of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and social class, and the role they play in patterns of young people’s media usage and their practices of cultural expression.

This module aims to:

1. Examine the historical development of media forms geared to the youth market.
2. Critically consider key theoretical perspectives developed in relation to the analysis of young people’s engagement with the media.
3. Examine the nature, significance and impact of media representations of young people.
4. Familiarise students with theoretical debates about the media’s effects on young people’s behaviour.

Youth in Modern Society: Consumers, Deviants and Rebels

In the current period a plethora of youth resistance actions, movements and subcultures
have developed in response to socio-economic deprivation on a global scale. From
youth riots to graffiti writers in the UK to the politicised Latin Kings and Queens gang in New York, young people are developing cultural, political and deviant responses to their dispossession and exclusion. In this module we will focus on case-studies and theories of youth social, cultural and deviant resistance over time. Questions of race/ethnicity, class, gender and age will be addressed as we explore the e meanings and representations of youth reactions to industrial and post-industrial societies.

This is a an interdisciplinary module which combines the perspectives from sociology, ciminology and cultural studies to address contemporary youth experience.

Youth, Crime and Violence

Academic authors have shown that for centuries adults have expressed concerns about the anti-social and criminal behaviour of young people. In recent times, this concern has centred on rising levels of violent crime by young people and the burgeoning ‘gang, gun and knife crime culture’ in the UK. You will critically examine young people’s involvement in crime and violence.

This module examines key theories for understanding violence by the young and explores the connection between violent behaviour and a variety of social issues such as peer pressure, gender, ‘race’ and ethnicity, and alcohol and substance misuse. This highlights the impact of changing economic, political and cultural contexts from the global to local.

Module aims:

1. Familiarise you with the theoretical perspectives that have shaped criminological thought on violence by young people.
2. Encourage you to develop a critical overview of young people’s engagement in violent crime.
3. Develop your ability to research, analyse and communicate critical and informed arguments relating to the theory, policy and practice underpinning youth involvement in violent crime.

Community and youth dissertation

This module develops students’ research skills further and involves the design, completion and write-up of a supervised, independent research project. This module expects students to carry out small-scale primary research as well as secondary research. It incorporates an on-going self -evaluation written up as a reflective research log and demands considerable time management abilities as well as the deployment of academic skills. In Parallel with the Placement module, the research can be carried out at the same organisation where the Work Placement is carried out. Students also have the choice of a completely different topic.

Aims of the module, you will

1. develop, refine and apply research skills and critical capacities, building on the core research skills developed through the Intermediate level module Researching Community and Youth Issues;
2. undertake independent research in an area of your choice;
3. explore an issue affecting community or youth organisations or communities and carry out a small-scale project using primarily primary research as well as secondary research;
4. explore complex issues which are of importance to communities and /or community organisations and offer your analysis of the findings;

Throughout the above process, you will receive structured supervision and support.

Management and Supervision in Youth and Community Work Settings

This module has been designed for students preparing to work in the voluntary and Statutory Sector in areas such as Youth and Community Work. The content and curriculum has been aligned to our Education for Social Justice Framework, and will examine and critically analyse the notion of power, equality and discrimination. Management and Supervision models, theories and interpersonal skills will enable you to critically think about your approach to management.

This module is designed to aid your professional development with a particular emphasis on the Youth/Community development sector. You will explore identified key skills underpinned by key theories, concepts and ideas, in order to be an effective practitioner thus increasing your employability in the sector. There will be opportunities for you to improve your current skill set and critically reflect in order to enhance development.

Managing innovative projects and /or established programmes and organisations is a highly skilled profession. In this module you will critically analyse the varying management styles as well as exploring the role of a leader. Equally important is to engage effectively with your staff team. Enabling them to succeed and to identify learning requirements to enhance their practice. Understanding supervision and the role it plays in supporting staff is key to a learning environment.

The module aims are to:

• Analyse how key sociological/psychological concepts and theories of youth and community work interact with employment skills
• Provide insight into theoretical learning while linking to previous or potential practical experiences.
• Incorporate experiential learning techniques to critically examine learning theory and promoting self-reflection to aid students’ understanding of knowledge and skills needed in employability.
• Gain an understanding of how partnership and collaborative working can improve youth work practice and the lives of young people, and provide examples of such collaborative partnership work;
• Introduce students to the sector’s professional occupational standards and theoretical frameworks for critical reflective practice
• develop students’ self-confidence as effective practitioners through the understanding of relevant theoretical knowledge and how they relate to the development of identified key skills such as project management, communication and presentation skills and supervision

Community activism and digital campaigning

The module aims to provide students with an understanding of:

1. The relationship between community and youth activism
2. The concept of citizenship in action
3. Practical approaches to supporting lobbying, single issue and political campaigning including use of social media

The aim of the course is to develop a critical understanding of the role of activism in changing policy, meeting local needs and improving people’s lives.

Counselling in groups

This module will embrace the notion of social justice, compassion, and inclusion. This is key to our Education for Social Justice Framework at London Metropolitan University

Rationale:

To introduce and familiarise students with key concepts of counselling in groups and their implications in different professional contexts. This module requires students to explore and develop the basic skills needed for counselling and group work and recognise the difference between listening to others as friends, parents, youth and community work practitioners or as counsellors. Due to the experiential nature of the course there is scope for personal development. Many of the exercises will focus on practising skills necessary for counselling in groups and there will be theoretical inputs on the main influences in this area. The aim of the module is for students’ to be introduced to key concepts of counselling and provide a world perspective on group work counselling. The module will involve the students in active group learning, sharing some of their own experiences with other group members. The course will be very practical with the learning being conducted in the large group, small groups, triads and pairs. Emphasis will be placed on learning basic listening skills, finding out what counselling is, how it relates to the student in youth and community work settings, and recognising the importance of developing self-awareness.

In total there are three counselling modules, one at each level. It is envisaged that they correspond to the L1, L2 & L3 of the training structure that prospective counsellors have to undertake with regards to the hours and assessment strategies prior to attending the L4 Diploma in Counselling.

The successful completion of one module is the equivalent of L1.

The successful completion of two modules is the equivalent of L2.

The successful completion of three modules is the equivalent of the L3 qualification.

The module at L6 is an optional module for all the students in the University programmes and will be very much focused on developing counselling skills in working with young people in a group setting in formal and informal groups.

The modules at L5 & L6 will be optional modules. As such there will be an opportunity for all students to cover some of the basic skills in particular settings and working in groups respectively. For those with more experience it will enable them to develop their personal journey at a much deeper level and this will be reflected in the quality of their journal submissions, the depth of the essay question and the enhanced quality of their practical counselling intervention skills.

The assessment processes will be the same to reflect the methods of assessments used on the pre Diploma courses.

It aims to:

• Critically examine what is counselling groups in a world perspective and its role in youth and community work settings and analyse key approaches, core conditions and models of counselling.
• Develop a critical awareness of their own self-development and how they are able to use counselling skills to help develop others within groups.
• Critically examine diversity issues while working with people from different gender, race and sexualities and power dynamics and the importance of anti-oppressive practice especially in group settings.

Extension of Knowledge Module

See modules in XK0000

Homelessness and Housing Policy

In this module, you will look at one of the most pressing social issues in the UK today – that of the cost and shortage of housing and of the shortage of affordable housing in particular. Living in a safe, comfortable and secure home is a human right, essential to our wellbeing. However, it is widely agreed that we have a housing crisis in the UK. This crisis is perhaps especially acute in London but it is a crisis which affects much of the country. Over the past ten years, the cost of housing, including rents in the private rented sector have spiralled while the number of social rented homes has continued to fall and the numbers of people who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation has risen. In this module, you will look at the scale and at the underlying causes of the housing crisis in the UK. You will look at the shortage of affordable housing, the growth of the private rented sector and at the collapse of social rented housing. You will also look at how access to housing and the housing market reflects wider social divisions in terms of class, ethnicity and gender. The module places housing and housing policy at the core of our understanding of society, social divisions and social policy.

The module focuses on housing policy and on social housing, looking at the history of social housing in the UK and at changes in housing policy since the 1980s. The module also looks at the growth of homelessness and at the underlying causes of the growing level of homelessness. You will look at homelessness policy, at good practice models of how to tackle homelessness and at the link between housing and poverty and the importance of both housing and welfare policy as instruments of poverty reduction.

The aims of the module are to:

• understand what the housing market is and how it works
• develop an understanding of the problems in accessing decent housing in the UK, how widespread the problems are, which groups suffer most and why these problems appear to have worsened over recent years
• develop data handling and data analysis skills to collect and analyse relevant data on housing and the housing crisis in the UK
• develop and demonstrate an understanding of housing policy and housing policy changes in the UK
• develop policy analysis and policy evaluation skills
• understand how the housing market reflects the different economic and political ideologies which shape housing policy

Housing Issues and Housing Solutions

Housing Issues and Housing Solutions outlines the key issues that face people working in housing, residents and community workers. It will focus on a practical approach to dealing with community-related & housing issues, their causes and solutions. It will examine the rights and obligations of residents and identify good practice in key management areas such as resident involvement, dealing with anti-social behaviour and disrepair. Combined with other modules in the faculty, such as ‘Housing and Homelessness’, this module provides a housing pathway for students wishing to develop or further their careers in this area.

The module aims to:

1. Place changes in housing management in the context of wider social, economic and organisational changes; (A01)
2. Introduce the key practical issues facing housing professionals, and good practice in addressing these issues; (A02)
3. Identify ways in which housing service users and community workers can challenge poor performance and get involved in service improvement; (A03)
4. Examine the benefits and challenges of partnership working in dealing with housing issues; (A04)
5. Explain current discussions on the balance of rights and responsibilities for social housing tenants and other local residents. (A05)

International relationship-based practice for social change

This module introduces a range of relationship-based approaches to social work practice that aim to affect societal change through working with the individual. These approaches share a common underlying philosophy of seeing people as inherently valuable and full of potential. Rather than taking a deficit-oriented view of the individual, they go beyond individual cases by attempting to understand the systemic factors that influence people’s lives. In this module you will develop an in-depth understanding of social pedagogy, critical pedagogy, radical social work, poverty aware social work, and Ubuntu philosophy. Their origins and implementation across different countries and over time will be explored, along with newer applications in Britain.

The approaches presented are contrary to the Anglo-American individual casework tradition that emphasises people’s deficits. Through engagement with key reading, discussion, and reflection you will develop an understanding of the social pedagogical concept of Haltung (inner attitude, ethos) as the foundation for meaningful, relationship-based practice. The concepts and tools taught in this module are a powerful antidote to managerialised, target driven practice, allowing practitioners to effectively use discretion to connect with service users and effect change even in practice settings governed by neoliberal policies.

You will practice a range of communication and engagement tools that can be used across practice settings to work with children, young people, adults, and groups. These include active and creative methods, and making use of, and sharing your interests and experiences.

This module provides opportunities for you to:

• Develop an in-depth and critical knowledge base on how relationship-based approaches can be used to effect social change and promote social justice.
• Gain a deeper understanding of your professional values and role and how these can be used for advocacy.
• Develop practical communication and engagement skills to apply this way of working in any setting.
• Explore how to use your skills, interests, and personality to make connections whilst respecting professional boundaries.

Social Control, Drugs and Organised Crime

This module aims to exploit specialism’s residing within the criminology team in London met so that students can apply theories to exciting and relevant areas of criminology

The module aims to:

1. Introduce students to theories and debates on the nature of crime control in the modern state
2. Provide an overview of the major traditions of thinking within Criminology regarding the issue of illegal drugs their use and distribution
3. Examine the way the attempts to control crime and deviance are examples of broader debates over social control
4. Sensitise students to the ethical and social consequences that flow from the way in which contemporary society elects to punish offenders and prevent crime

Work Placement for professional development

This module is designed to help students to develop employability skills and through exposure to work experiences related to their discipline through either voluntary or paid work. Students may wish to explore setting up their own enterprise and start up projects. Key aspects of the modules will include gaining first-hand experience of work and the ability to develop and showcase skills to potential employers. The module will include employability skills such as interview skills, job applications and role plays

The aims of the module are to:

• Enable students undertake a work-based placement appropriate to their academic level
• Enable students develop the skills and competences for tackling real life problems in the workplace as they build on and apply current academic skills
• Provide students with the opportunity to reflect critically on their practice-based experience of the working environment
• Become aware of the culture and structure of a working environment and develop new skills.
• Enable students to understand the changing culture, nature and structure of organisations and evaluate implications for effective inter-professional working within a theoretical and practice-based framework.

Students will be contacted prior to the semester to provide support in securing work based activity in good time. Students are responsible for applying for opportunities and to engage with the Module and Work Based Learning teams to assist them. The suitability of any opportunities will be assessed by the Module Team/Work Based Learning Team and all roles must meet the Health and Safety requirements for Higher Education Work Placements. Those studying on a Student Visa will be required to submit weekly timesheets for the hours undertaken for the work-based learning activity to meet Visa requirements. These will need to be signed by their line manager/supervisor.