MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
MODULE DETAILS
Module title
Module code
Credit value
Level
Mark the box to the right of the
appropriate level with an ‘X’
Placement (Extended)
SS614
40
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 0(for modules at foundation level)
X
Level 7
Level 8
Entry criteria for registration on this module
Pre-requisites
Normally Level 5 Social Science modules
Specify in terms of module codes or
equivalent
Co-requisite modules
Normally level 6: SS613
Specify in terms of module codes or
equivalent
Module delivery
Mode of delivery
Taught
Other
X
Distance
Pattern of delivery
Weekly
X
Block
When module is delivered
Semester 1
Other
Placement X
Online
Other
Semester 2
Throughout year
X
Brief description of module The focus of this module is the continuing application and
content
development of relationship building skills and the integration and
Overview (max 80 words)
Module team/ author/
coordinator(s)
School
Site/ campus where
delivered
application of core substance misuse-related theory, methods and
research in practice. This module will also develop the students’
skills in the delivery of specific psycho-social interventions
(alongside their core generic substance misuse practice skills).
Students will be supported to identify service user need and
develop, and implement, intervention strategies within the complex
multidisciplinary context which comprises the substance misuse
treatment/intervention sector.
Dee MacDonald
School of Applied Social Science
Falmer
Course(s) for which module is appropriate and status on that course
Course
Status (mandatory/ compulsory/
optional)
BA (Hons) Criminology and Substance Misuse
Interventions
Mandatory
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
MODULE AIMS, ASSESSMENT AND SUPPORT
Aims
Learning outcomes
Content
The aims of the module are:
 To provide students with the opportunity to experience and
support service users through a defined treatment/recovery
journey.
 To provide students with an opportunity to identify service
user needs and identify interventions appropriate to those
needs, within the limitations of a placement.
 To provide students with opportunities to practice in
situations of varying complexity which require application of a
wide range of skills and techniques.
 To develop and apply their practice skills, through direct
practice, with increased autonomy.
 To demonstrate competence in relation to the requirements
of the National Occupational Standards which apply to
Substance Misuse practice.
 To enable students to develop and demonstrate the capacity
to engage with complexity and nuance in the application of
critical reflection to their professional practice.
 To enable students to apply critical reflection skills to the
broader placement setting and develop a ‘sensitive critique’
of the placement setting.
On successful completion of the module the student will be able
to :
1. Apply knowledge and understanding of national and
placement specific policies and legislation in the
treatment/recovery context.
2. Apply knowledge and understanding of core substance
misuse interventions to the placement context to support
service users on their treatment/recovery journey.
3. Demonstrate the ability to identify service user need and
identify interventions appropriate to meet that need.
4. Demonstrate the ability to deliver specified interventions
within the context of a therapeutic relationship/setting.
5. Demonstrate the ability to work within appropriate
boundaries in a safe, ethical and appropriate manner
6. Critically reflect upon, analyse, and evaluate own practice
7. Demonstrate the ability to develop a ‘sensitive critique’ of the
therapeutic context and its implications to the service user’s
experience.
8. Demonstrate an ability to meet established placement
specific occupational standards as agreed/defined by
placement workbook
The overall purpose of the fieldwork placements is to provide
opportunities for students to put identified learning into practice
and so demonstrate professional competence. For students
without experience working in this sector the placements will
also seek to provide a broad introduction to a range of practice
environments and their differing role requirements.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 280 hours in
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
placement. The nature of the placement will vary from agency to
agency. Students are likely to spend their time in one placement
setting although, given the multidisciplinary nature of the sector,
they may spend part of their time in other settings dependent on
the roles and responsibilities of the Placement provider e.g. a
student on Placement with a local outreach team may spend
time with both substance misuse treatment practitioners and the
Police/Probation Services. Whatever the nature of the agency
where the student is placed the students task, with support from
their Workplace Supervisor and the Placement Tutor, is to apply
knowledge and theory of practice and to develop core substance
misuse practice skills, in accordance with the requirements of
the National Occupational Standards.
By the end of the extended placement, successful students are
required to demonstrate evidence of competency in selected
National Occupational Standards; the specific standards may
vary dependent on the placement that the individual student has
undertaken. The specific standards to be completed are agreed
with the placement provider prior to students undertaking the
module.
Learning support
Adams R, Dominelli L and Payne M. 2009 Critical Practice in
Social Work (Second Edition) Basingstoke: Palgrave
Banks S. 2004 Ethics, Accountability and the Social
Professions, Basingstoke, Palgrave
Department of Health. 2010 Signs for Improvement –
Commissioning interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm.
London: DH
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publication
s/DH_102813 [03/2011]
Fitzpatrick, R. and Thorne, L. 2010 A Label For Exclusion:
Support For Alcohol-Misusing Offenders. London: Centre for
Mental Health.
http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/label_for_exclu
sion.pdf [01/2011]
Ghodse, H. 2002. Drugs and Addictive Behaviour: A Guide
to Treatment. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
HM Government. 2010 Drug Strategy 2010: Reducing
Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery: Supporting
people to live a drug free life. London: TSO
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/drugs/drugstrategy/
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
HM Government. 2011 No Health without Mental Health: A
cross-Government mental health outcomes strategy for
people of all ages. London: TSO
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalass
ets/documents/digitalasset/dh_124006.pdf
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. 2006.
Models of Care for Treatment of Adult Drug Misusers:
Update 2006, edited by Department of Health: National
Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse.
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. 2007.
Drug Misuse and Dependence: Guidelines for Clinical
Management. London: National Treatment Agency for
Substance Misuse.
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. 2008.
Good Practice in Harm Reduction, edited by NTA. London:
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse.
Health and Social Care Commissioning Strategy for
Substance Misuse 2011-2014
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/G
LF09/GLFSmoking-DrinkingAmongAdults2009.pdf
Rolfe, G, Jasper, M and Freshwater, D. 2011. Critical
Reflection In Practice Generating Knowledge for Care.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Thompson, S. & N. Thompson. 2008 The Critically Reflective
Practitioner Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Thompson N. 2006 Anti-Discriminatory Practice (Fourth
Edition) Basingstoke: Palgrave
Yates, R., and M.S. Malloch, eds. 2010. Tackling addiction:
Pathways to recovery. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Teaching and learning activities
Details of teaching and
learning activities
Placement modules are closely linked with skills and theory
modules; SS402 Establishing and Maintaining Relationships
within the Substance Misuse Treatment Context; SS503
Substance Misuse Interventions; and SS613 Keyworking and
Care Planning are particularly relevant. Placements provide the
opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and skills
developed in these modules.
Students have allocated Workplace Supervisors. Workplace
Supervisors will be placement staff with appropriate practice
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
experience (two years minimum), or ideally, management /
supervisory responsibility and/or experience in their agency. The
Workplace Supervisor will allocate and supervise work and
placement activities, as specified in the Placement Workbook;
they will also advise and introduce the student to the practices of
the agency. Workplace Supervisors are expected to see the
student briefly each day that the student is in Placement, and to
provide 1.0 hours supervision per four days of Placement
activity. Workplace Supervisors will assess the student’s
competency through direct observation of their practice and
through Supervision Sessions which will discuss Key
Intervention Analyses. The Personal Development Groups that
students attend throughout the course provide a further,
facilitated and confidential, space for students to reflect on their
practice.
Students will also receive individual tutorials, where they can
receive support from a tutor (a qualified/experienced substance
misuse practitioner). Further evaluation of their competency is
undertaken in the relevant, assessed, skills-related modules
delivered at the University.
In SS614 Placement (Extended) students will continue to focus
on integration and application of relationship building skills which
are a core aspect of the therapeutic worker role undertaken by
the substance misuse practitioner. However they will also seek
to deliver, where appropriate and agreed the relevant therapeutic
interventions that are part of their learning on modules SS503
Substance misuse intervention skills and SS613 Keyworking and
Care Planning. They will continue to integrate theory, methods
and research with practice and further develop their core,
generic, substance misuse work skills (engagement,
communication, interviewing, assessment (including in relation to
risk), care planning, monitoring and review). This module will
continue to support the development of the knowledge and
understanding of the scope and roles of the substance misuse
practitioner and the agencies employed to deliver substance
misuse treatment interventions. This development will also
enable students to develop a ‘sensitive critique’ of the Placement
provider with which the student can frame their experiences, and
act as a context for their movement into employment following
the degree.
Allocation of study hours (indicative)
Study hours
Where 10 credits = 100 learning hours
SCHEDULED
This is an indication of the number of hours students can expect to
spend in scheduled teaching activities including lectures, seminars,
tutorials, project supervision, demonstrations, practical classes and
workshops, supervised time in workshops/ studios, fieldwork,
external visits, and work-based learning.
GUIDED INDEPENDENT
STUDY
All students are expected to undertake guided independent study
which includes wider reading/ practice, follow-up work, the
completion of assessment tasks, and revisions.
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
120
The placement is a specific type of learning away from the University
that is not work-based learning or a year abroad.
280
TOTAL STUDY HOURS
Please note this must amount to 200 hours for a 20 credit module
400
PLACEMENT
Assessment tasks
Details of assessment for
this module
Semester 2
1. Successful completion of the Placement Workbook (LO2,
LO3, LO4, LO8) (50%)
The student will submit a workbook containing evidence
supporting successful demonstration of competency against
specified National Occupational Standards
2. Critical Reflective Essay (3000 words) (LO1, LO5, LO6, LO7)
(50%)
The student will submit an essay which critically reflects on
their experience in Placement and on the process of
achieving competency against the specified National
Occupational Standards.
The student must pass both elements of assessment
(Workbook and Critical Reflective Essay) in order to pass
this module.
Types of assessment task1
% weighting
Indicative list of summative assessment tasks which lead to the award of credit or which are required for
progression.
(or indicate if
component is
pass/fail)
WRITTEN
Written exam
COURSEWORK
Written assignment/ essay, report, dissertation, portfolio, project
output, set exercise
PRACTICAL
Oral assessment and presentation, practical skills assessment, set
exercise
100%
EXAMINATION INFORMATION
Area examination board
Applied Social Science UG AEB
Refer to Faculty Office for guidance in completing the following sections
External examiners
Name
Position and institution
Date appointed
Date tenure
ends
Jacqui Merchant
Senior Lecturer
September 2011 September
1Set exercises,which assess the application of knowledge or analytical, problem-solving or evaluative skills, are included under
the type of assessment most appropriate to the particular task.
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
(Subject to approval)
University of Sunderland
2015
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Date of first approval
February 2013
Only complete where this is not the
first version
Date of last revision
Only complete where this is not the
first version
Date of approval for this
version
February 2013
Version number
Modules replaced
Specify codes of modules for which
this is a replacement
Available as free-standing module?
Module descriptor template: updated Aug 2012
Yes
No
X