Community Work Approach to Supporting Families

This module will seek to explore and explain the development of the community's role in supporting families in Ireland and how the state has supported this. Ths will involve an examination of the concept of 'family' , which has been contested and developing within Ireland especially since the 1990's and the influence of international organisations and global trends.  Varying forms of community work have been in operation in Ireland that vary in structural or agency emphasis which will be explored. The theoretical basis of family support operating in Ireland will be explained and the institutionalising of this through the development of the Child and Family Agency. It will then be examined how a community work approach to supporting families in an Irish context has been in operation looking in particular at the Family Resource Centre Programme and a comparison of other state funded programmes. It will then be finally critically examined to see the differences and complementarities between a community work approach to supporting families and a family support approach looking in particular at models of practice in Ireland and specifically in Mayo. 

1. Critically examine the varying theoretical approaches in community work

2. Explain the changing nature of the concept of family in Ireland

3. Critically examine family support theory and its application in Ireland

4. Construct a community work and family support approach to supporting families