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Unit of Study CLST5001 - Australian Society and Disadvantage (2025)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Unit type

    PG Coursework Unit

  • Credit points

    12

  • Faculty/College

    Faculty of Health

  • Placement

    No

  • Enrolment information

    N/A

Unit description

This unit introduces key sociological concepts and theories to develop an understanding of contemporary Australian society. These are applied to an analysis of power, marginalisation, and disadvantage in common fields of practice within social work.  

Unit content

  1. The sociological imagination: private lives and public issues
  2. Sociological theories of power and disadvantage
  3. Poverty and inequality in Australian Society
  4. Racism in Australia
  5. Sociological perspectives on domestic and family violence
  6. Sociological perspectives on community

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Gold Coast
Term5
Term5
Online
Term5
Term5

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

reflect on and evaluate the concept of the sociological imagination as it applies to oneself and social work

critically analyse sociological theories of power, disadvantage and marginalisation

analyse and articulate how sociological perspectives can inform social work responses to complex social issues in Australia

apply academic standards and writing, including use of academic literature, vocabulary and grammatical structures, appropriate for postgraduate study

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • Available freely at the SCU Library - https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/pgODCvl18Qixvg3rSQfgHQVb_q?domain=scu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com: Petray, T & Osbaldiston, N, 2023, Exploring Sociology in the Antipodes: Introduction to Sociology, 1st Edn.
Prescribed Resources/Equipment
  • No prescribed resources/equipment.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.