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  2. Working with Vulnerable and Marginalised Communities [CHS2109]

School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Working with Vulnerable and Marginalised Communities

  • Unit Code

    CHS2109

  • Year

    2026

  • Enrolment Period

    1

  • Version

    1

  • Credit Points

    15

  • Full Year Unit

     N

  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online

  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Kwadwo ADUSEI-ASANTE

Description

This unit adopts a strengths-based perspective to understanding and working with vulnerable and marginalised people and groups in a safe, active, and meaningful community participation manner. The groups covered include, but not limited to, gender based violence, people with disability (including neurodiversity), refugees, LGBTQIA+ communities, regional/remote and climate affected communities. Students will learn about the concepts and theories of vulnerability and participation in the context of human rights, and how these are applied in society. With a particular focus on policies and practices that violate these concepts, students will undertake holistic analysis of local and international community participation programs and study the knowledge community and human service workers need to successfully implement programs that enable inclusive and meaningful participation.

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded CHN3101, CHN4116, CSV3109, CSV4109, CSV2109

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Explain the concepts of vulnerability, participation and rights and how these apply to vulnerable people and marginalised communities.
  2. Discuss human rights conventions and how these are interpreted and applied in society in relation to vulnerable people and marginalised communities.
  3. Analyse government policies, strategies, directions in areas related to vulnerable people and marginalised communities.
  4. Explain the impact of current and cultural issues relating to gender-based violence, neglect and rights abuse.
  5. Investigate programs that focus on prevention and reducing the impact of abuse and rights violations.

Unit Content

  1. Concepts of vulnerability, participation and rights theory, interpretation and application.
  2. The conventions focussing on human rights.
  3. Issues in gender-based violence, abuse, neglect and sexual assault.
  4. Government policies and directions in the Western Australian and national context, related to vulnerable and marginalised communities.
  5. Definitions, indicators, consequences and impact of different forms of abuse and neglect within a cultural context.
  6. Contemporary programs for communities; awareness and implementation.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

City CampusJoondalupSouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 1Not Offered13 x 2 hour tutorialNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Additional Learning Experience Information

Guest speakers from the field.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Case StudyVulnerable and Marginalised Community case study40%
ReportContemporary community participation programs60%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
Case StudyVulnerable and Marginalised Community case study40%
ReportContemporary community participation programs60%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

  • Plagiarism: Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).
  • Unauthorised collaboration (collusion): Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).
  • Contract cheating: Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.
  • Cheating in an exam: Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment Procedure - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment Procedure - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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