Bachelor of Social Work

With a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree, you can devote your career to helping solve social justice issues and helping people overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges such as addiction, mental health and domestic violence.A degree in social work gives you the professional skills to develop interventions to solve social and personal problems. Social workers create social change by working with people as the individual, family, group, community, organization and societal levels to enhance health and overall well-being. Social workers can find fulfilling careers in child welfare agencies, departments of Health Sciences and Human Services, hospitals, community mental health agencies, substance abuse and medical clinics and elder care facilities.The purpose of the Bachelor of Social Work degree program at Vancouver Island University is to provide education in generalist anti-oppressive social work practice. The learning outcomes of the program include the capacity to do the following: demonstrate effective social work communication skills within an empowerment approach at the individual, group, and community level.demonstrate professional ethical standards and values at the individual, team, and organizational level.critically reflect on own ideas, behaviours, and practices.identify and address mechanisms of oppression, privilege, resistance, and social change. In addition to a generalist social work practice degree, the Bachelor of Social Work program at Vancouver Island University offers a specialization in child welfare.