Social Work

The mission of social work is to help people who have difficulties in their relationships with other people, or with organizations such as governmental offices or providers of social services. The first aim of the follow-up master’s degree in social work is to gain deeper knowledge and understanding of contemporary approaches through which the mission of social work can be accomplished. The second aim is to support students’ abilities to create conditions in society in which social work's mission might be fulfilled. Therefore, the applicant for the program study must be a graduate of a bachelor's study of social work or another field, which corresponds to one of the other fields mentioned in the section 110 of the Act No. 108/2006. Students can choose to develop their knowledge and skills related to these objectives by studying one of the following specialisations (if the specialisation is offered in the relevant period): 1/ "Universal Social Work", 2/ "Micro Social Work - Counselling", 3/ "Macro Social Work - Community Service Programmes", or 4/ "Macro Social Work - Innovation in Organisations". (For a more detailed explanation and information on the development of the offer of these specialisations, see http://spsp.fss.muni.cz/). The key topic of all study specialization is to employ theories, methods, and research in social work to solve the problems and improve the living situations of people who have various difficulties with the society around them.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• make a complex assessment of the case (living situation, assistance intervention, system of services in a particular locality, organization) corresponding to the selected study specialization;
• plan and implement A) social work intervention appropriate for the situation of the client, the community, or the organization, or B) a change in intervention practice based on evaluations, according to the selected area of specialization;
• evaluate assistance interventions or other interventions relevant to the selected study specialization;
• conduct and apply research as a tool of complex case assessment or as a tool of evaluation of assistance or another relevant type of intervention;
• provide a complex evaluation of a case, assistance intervention, or other type of intervention relevant to the chosen study specialization.
• apply theories and methods relevant to the chosen specialization.
• select and apply relevant theories, research methods or methods of social intervention to the expert solution of the selected problem.

Graduates of the follow-up master’s degree in social work will be qualified to work as social worker specialists, experts in the planning and implementation of social service policy, coordinators of assistance programs or social services, or researchers in governmental, non-governmental or private sector institutions. After gaining additional experience, some of the abilities from a particular study specialization (see "Learning Outcomes") may also be transferred to other segments of social work.

• Social worker

The goal of a supervised internship is to support the graduate's ability to consider the many facets of the job and gain new skills. The minimum length of the required internship is 80 hours + 2 supervisions, which includes writing down impressions and reflecting on personal experiences from the internship, group supervisory meetings, and possibly individual supervision. The performance of the internship is connected with the completion of the courses Professional Practice and Supervision for Master's Studies, which are announced in the autumn and spring semesters, taking into account the possibility of entering the master's studies in both semesters. Based on their profile, students choose an organisation that matches their focus, and consult this choice with the teachers of the Professional Practice and Supervision for Master's Studies.

The master’s thesis is graded based on formal, theoretical, and methodological criteria. Formal criteria are published on the website of the Department of Social Policy and Social Work and on the website of Masaryk University (http://www.is.muni.cz). Theoretical and methodological criteria include the following: a) the thesis is focused on research regarding assistance interventions and their actors; b) the thesis is dedicated to a research question which has not been answered yet; c) the thesis is grounded in a broader review of theoretical approaches to the research question; d) the author pays attention to what is not clear at first sight; e) throughout the thesis, the author consistently follows the explicit research question, and therefore the whole thesis follows a continuous methodological process; f) the author makes clear argumentation; g) the knowledge gained in the thesis can be applied in practice and in the solution of practical problems; h) the author is able to present the research process and results in an academic article.

Graduates from master’s program in social work may continue their studies in a postgraduate doctoral study program in Social Policy and Social Work at the Faculty of Social Studies, MU or in postgraduate doctoral programs of associated fields (social work, social pedagogy, public policy, etc.) at other universities.