SWK-7045B Professional Judgement and Decision-making

This module can be taken as a stand-alone module, or the credits can be put towards the MA in Advanced Social Work. It is possible to exit from the MA in Advanced Social Work with a Post Graduate Certificate (60 credits) or Post Graduate Diploma (120 credits). This module is aimed at social workers and social work managers at all levels and in all areas of practice.

The way that professional judgements and decisions are reached in social work is complex and involves the interaction of individual, social, and macro factors. However, social workers do not routinely have opportunities to reflect on and learn from their decision-making practices, even though research suggests that opportunities for reflection, regular feedback loops, and learning from decision-making are central to developing expertise in professional judgement. This module aims to offer social workers and social work managers the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the complex processes that underpin decision-making and judgement.

In doing so, the module also offers the chance for practitioners to develop their capacity to unpick, reflect on, and analyse their own decision-making and judgement. This objective of this module is to provide students with in-depth knowledge of theories and models of professional judgement and decision-making, and, through tailored learning activities and the module assignments, to support students to develop confidence and skill in decision-making and judgemen