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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
Assignment 2 – Instructions and Case Studies (45%)
Due Dates
Part A- Oral Presentation (15%): Conducted in Weeks 6 –
Week 9
Part B – Written Report (30%): Sunday of Week 10
Due date for uploading the presentation slides into Moodle is Week 6 (3 May 2023,
9:00a.m. – 9 May 2023, 11:55p.m.).
The presentation slides should be uploaded in Moodle by every member in the group prior
to the group’s presentation.
Make sure that you save the presentation slides on a USB stick to use in class for your
presentation.
This document will help you prepare your Assignment 2; it includes:
• Instructions for preparing both Parts A and B of Assignment 2.
• Six case studies – you are to choose one.
• The marking criteria for both parts of the assignment
Group Assignment: you will work as a group of four (4) students, unless instructed otherwise by your
tutor. Your group will remain the same for all tutorial activities and for both Part A and Part B of this
assignment.
• Early in the term, students will be asked to form a group with 4 members from the same tutorial class.
• Groups must be formed in week one (1) of the term. Students who do not self-select by then will be
placed in a group by their tutor.
• •
The group must select one case study to work on from the list provided.
• Both A2 – Part A (oral presentation) and A2 – Part B (the written report) must be on the same case
studyselected by the group
• Groups must begin preparing their presentations as early as possible; the first presentations will be
held in class during week 6. All students are to submit their presentations unto Moodle in week
6. The presentation slides submission end date is 9 July 2023 at 11:55p.m. Students who have
not submitted their presentation slides by the due date will not be allowed to present. Doing so
will result in a similarity report of 100%, nevertheless, the Similarity Report for this assessment
(in both Part A and Part B) are to be ignored, due to it being group work.
• Ensure that you have saved your presentation slides on a USB stick to use in class for your
presentation.
• Your oral presentation (Part A) counts for 15% of your grade, while your written report (Part B)
counts for 30% of your final grade.
All students in the group have the responsibility of submitting into Moodle (both Part A and Part B). Please note
that every student has joint responsibility for preparing the slides and report, and for submitting the assignments
on time. Ensure you all work together and in a timely manner.
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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
• Students will not be able to select the week they wish to present in. Your tutor will timetable all
presentations for week 6 – week 9 inclusive.
• Groups will then complete a written Report on the case study they presented and each member
in the group should submit the report in Moodle by Sunday of week 10 (6 August 2023 at
11:55p.m.).
• Once groups are formed, they cannot be changed.
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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
PART 2A – Oral Presentation (15%)
NOTE! Group Power Point Slides must be submitted on the day of your presentation.
The oral presentations will be conducted in class, during lectures and/or tutorials from week 6 to week 9.
Every group will need to be ready to deliver their presentation when called on the day your tutor has
scheduled your presentation.
Please note not turning up for the presentation will result in a zero mark for the individual student who is
missing from the group.
Oral Presentation Preparation
• Once the group has selected the case study, you must share and allocate tasks relating to the case
study to each member, and each member is to prepare a reasonable number (3-5) of PowerPoint
slides to show their segment of the assignment during class presentation.
• Each member of the group must present for 5 minutes, for a total of 20 minutes per group*
• Please check the marking criteria below to see how you will be assessed during the presentation.
• Regardless of who prepared which slides, the power-point presentation will be assessed as a whole,
not by individual student contribution; this means it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the entire
power-point presentation is coherent, neat, accurate, and follows all the marking guidelines.
• All sources must be referenced using APA 7 – any academic misconduct will result in penalty for
the entire group.
• All the students in the group will be given a mark in Moodle.
• The oral presentation will be marked as a whole project.
*Group size can vary depending on student numbers at the time of allocation. The 5-minute presentation
remains the same as it is for each student in the group. If a group is smaller than 4, please check with your
tutor regarding adjustments to the content of the presentation.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANALYSING THE CASE STUDY
The group is to select one of the six case studies that feature an ethical dilemma for a community service
worker in a professional context. The analysis of the case study will require you to:
• Outline the facts of the case.
• Identify and discuss the relevant ethical issue/s relating to the case.
• Identify, name and explain the ethical and legal concepts pertinent to the case (e.g., dual roles,
professional boundaries, duty of care, mandatory reporting requirements, as applicable) (Note!
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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
these are examples; you are to identify those that are pertinent to your case study, NOT every
concept we have covered in the unit are applicable to every case study!)
• Demonstrate a clear ethical decision-making process drawing on one of the decision-making models
covered in this unit. Ensure you name the model, explain it, and apply it to the particularities of the case
study.
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the possible implications of the decisions the case worker
can make to address the case study. Implications need to include the benefits and potential harms
or drawbacks for the various stakeholders as applicable to each case study.
| Criteria for group oral presentation | Weight |
| Identification of ethical issue/s • Shows understanding of what constitutes an ethical issue in community/human services. • Clearly explains why the case presents ethical issues. and/or tensions for the case worker • Identifies the stakeholders to consider in the case study |
20 |
| Clarity of ethical and legal concepts as applicable • Identifies, names correctly and explains ethical and legal concepts relevant to the case study |
20 |
| Decision-making Process • Names and explains briefly a decision-making model covered in the unit resources. • Draws on the model to identify the possible options and/or considerations the worker needs to make to address the case study. • Identifies the benefits and potential drawbacks or harms to the stakeholders of the decisions that could be made by the worker |
20 |
| Structure and Presentation of Materials • Power point presentation is coherent with clear title page, Introduction, discussion slides, conclusion and references using APA 7. • Power point slides are informative and neat |
20 |
| Individual Presentation skills • Addresses the audience and speaks clearly. • Uses/refers to the slides to inform the presentation. • Discusses the case with confidence demonstrating understanding & knowledge. • Keeps to allocated time of 5 mins per student |
20 |
| Total | /100% |
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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
PART 2B – Group Report (30%)
Due Date: Due date Submissions of Part B (Written Report) commence on Sunday of Week 10
Word Count: 800 words per student contribution; as an indication/example, the total word count for a
4-person group* would be 3200 words excluding references. Note: word count is an academic
issue/requirement and is assessable. Do not go below or exceed the word limit past 10%.
The group must complete a written report on your chosen case study, following the work you completed
for the oral presentation.
Structuring the Report
While an oral presentation with power point slides is necessarily brief, sufficient only to capture the critical
aspects of the case, in the Report you must expand on these. You cannot use bullet points in the Report as
you would do in the slides; instead, the Report must be written in full sentence and paragraph structure,
following the report writing conventions for academic work.
The Report must therefore follow the correct structure and organization of text including:
• Cover page – all student names and ID numbers
• Title page: case study number and title
• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Several paragraphs constituting the ‘body’ of the assignment in which you conduct your analysis and
discussion as per instructions above. NOTE: please do not call this ‘body’! Instead organize your
paragraphs using sub-headings to group the content of your assignment in a coherent way.
• Conclusion, summarizing the suggested recommendations.
• Reflection: each student must include their individual reflection.
• List of references: This must combine the references from all students which will be collated into
a single list, following the APA 7th edition referencing style.
• Minutes of your meetings: The Minutes must be brief but informative to clearly show who did what in
the assignment.
A note on sub-headings: For each section noted above, please use sub-headings to flag to the reader
where you are at; for example, Introduction and Conclusion are two such sub-headings. Other examples of
sub-headings in the body of the assignment might be ‘Implications for the client’ or ‘Ethical DecisionMaking Model (include the name of the model used), or ethical principles. What you use for sub-headings
is up to you, but they need to reflect your analysis, concepts you use, etc.
Content of the Report
1. Briefly outline the facts of the case- do not reproduce/re-write the case study in your report but state
the question title and number at the start of your report and give a brief overview.
2. Identify and analyze the relevant ethical issues, explaining the tensions that arise from the case
for a community worker in Australia (e.g., conflict of interest, suspected child abuse, requests
byclient that cannot be accommodated, etc.)
3. Apply the relevant ethical principles and concepts (e.g., self-determination/autonomy,
privacy/confidentiality, social justice, dual roles, etc. as applicable) to the case, drawing out their
significance.
4. If/where relevant, cite appropriate legislation – if it is state-specific, ensure you cite the
legislation pertinent to the Australian state for the campus you are in.
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5. Name and explain a decision-making model and outline a clear ethical decision-making process.
6. Discuss the benefits and potential harms or drawbacks of the decision or actions the case worker
could/would take.
7. For the Reflection, consider briefly your own role in the process of preparing Assignment 2:
preparing and delivering the oral presentation, the process of working as a group, and what you believe
to have learned about ethics in community services through this process.
8. Include the full reference list at the end!
9. Copy and paste the Minutes for your meetings (see separate document with instructions on how to
prepare the Minutes)
Literature and Referencing
• Your written report should include 8 – 12 (combined) sources of literature. As a group, you must
determine what is needed to support your discussion.
• All sources/references must be justified or shown to be relevant or significant to your
discussion. Do not simply make a list of statements with references at the end of a sentence,
without showing why/how the reference is relevant. Long lists of references that are not clearly
shown to be relevant will not attract better marks!
• All the sources/literature must be legitimate and credible. Thus, you should include a mix of
scholarly (academic) peer reviewed journal articles and your textbook chapters, as well as
regulatory literature as relevant to your case study. Examples of regulatory literature are
legislation (Federal and/or state/territory), policy (particularly government policy, federal or
state/territory), codes of ethics/codes of conduct, etc. All of these can be found on the Internet,
but ensure you locate the correct authoring organization/department and cite according to their
suggestion.
• All regulatory documents must be Australian, and if you draw on state-specific regulation, it
must be relevant to your state.
• If you use international sources for peer reviewed journal articles (i.e., academic articles and
research articles), you must show the relevance to the Australian context.
You must use APA 7th edition referencing style. As an upper level (2nd year) unit for senior
students, there can be no justification for not knowing how to use APA 7 correctly, nor is there
any justification for any form of academic misconduct.
Do NOT utilize sources such as www.tutor2u.com and other such web materials as these DO NOT
constitute academic references for the purpose of your assignments. If you rely on such sources for
theoretical support, you WOULD NOT HAVE MET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS ASSESSMENT.
| Criteria | Weighting 100% |
| Identification and explanation of ethical issues from the case study |
20% |
| Identification and explanations of ethical and legal concepts pertinent to the case study |
20% |
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A2-T1-2023 V3-JAN 2023 Revised: R. Leontini
| Discussion of decision-making process, potential benefits and drawbacks of decisions by worker |
20% |
| Use and depth of research, quality of references and referencing |
15% |
| Evidence of effective group work and Minutes |
10% |
| Individual mark: reflection on group work and learning about ethics in community work |
15% |
| TOTAL | /100% |
The Case Studies
Choose one from the six cases listed below. You must complete both Part A and Part B of this assignment.
on the same case study.
Case Study 1
You work as a case worker in a drop-in women’s Centre. Your client Jenny (aged 28) has been using the
service to access food and other welfare services. You are aware that Jenny is married and has a 6-yearold son. Over the last few weeks, you have noticed that Jenny has brought her son to the women’s Centre.
When you sit and try to talk to Jenny you notice that she does not introduce her son to you. He appears to
be quiet, withdrawn and does not make any eye contact with you. You also notice several severe bruises
on her son’s arms and legs, which Jenny says are due to rough play with other children in school. Jenny
discloses that they are in financial difficulty now but hope that situation will change when her husband
finds a new job. You also learn that her husband lost his old job due to significant drug use. As a case
worker, what ethical issue/s does this scenario present and how would you address it/them?
Case Study 2
You work as a youth worker in a residential center. Your client George (aged 18) has mental health and
substance addiction issues. You have formed a good working relationship with George, and he has been
very honest with you. Over the last few weeks, you notice that George seems increasingly paranoid towards
both staff and other clients of the residential center. Whenever George interacts with them, he accuses
them of persecuting him and withdraws into his room. In a meeting, George discloses to you that he has
plans to take revenge on your colleagues and other clients of the center. When you explore this further,
George discloses that he has not been taking his medications and he has been hearing strong voices all the
time. He asks you to keep the information confidential. As a case worker, what ethical issue/s does this
scenario present and how would you address it/them?
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Case Study 3
Kristina is a client with a community housing organization who has been supported by her case worker
John. She and John are of similar ages, and through conversations they have in their professional
interactions, it seems that Kristina and John share several interests including similar taste in food. John
can find an independent community accommodation for Kristina and soon she will no longer be a client
of the community housing organization. A few weeks later, Kristina visits John in his office. During that
meeting, Kristina mentions that she has also found work in an entertainment company. In her work, she
receives many free expensive vouchers to restaurants. She invites John as a date to an upcoming opening
of a new restaurant because she remembered that she and John have similar tastes in food. She states
that as she is no longer a client of the organization, seeing each other socially or casually should not be a
problem. As a case worker, what ethical issue/s does this scenario present and how would John
examine it/them?
Case Study 4
You work as a youth case worker in a Youth Refuge. Cleo, a 16-year-old Aboriginal man who has
experienced significant family loss and displacement, has come to your organization for refuge. During
your interactions, you notice Cleo is very intelligent, talented and skilled. You encourage his skills and
work with him providing ongoing case support. After working together for well over a year, Cleo can join an
apprentice program and a distant relative has taken Cleo under his wing. A few months after his
departure from the refuge, Cleo visits you and thanks you for your support as a case worker during his
time in the refuge and hands over a small wood carving which he sculpted as a gift. As a case worker,
what ethical issue/s does this scenario present and how would you address it/them?
Case Study 5
You work as a case worker in a local community mental health service. For the past six months, you have
been helping your client Maree in supporting her with her mental health issues. You have arranged
counselling and specialist care for Maree. You are also aware that Maree recently left her partner due to
domestic violence, moved into independent accommodation and launched divorce proceedings against
her partner. You receive a subpoena to provide case records of all your contacts with Maree and to
provide a testimony to the court in relation to the divorce proceedings. You are asked to disclose
information about your professional interactions with Maree. When you discuss the subpoena with
Maree, she asks you to keep the information confidential and not to disclose anything to the court. As a
case worker, what ethical issue/s does this scenario present and how would you address it/them?
Case Study 6
You work for an organization which provides support services to clients under NDIS. Jack, a 26-year-old
client for the last six years, has run out of his NDIS funding for the year. Jack is a talented painter and
offers to paint the interior of your house for free provided you find him some additional funding through
other organizations. Your house interior is in desperate need of painting and Jack assures you that he will
keep it a secret. As a case worker, what ethical issue/s does this scenario present and how would you
address it/them?