Portfolio

Portfolio activities consist of different types of learning and assessment. They provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate a range of different skills, including different ways of researching, compiling and presenting information and acquired knowledge. The portfolio for DFVP20006 consists of two activities, which are submitted to be separately by 11:45pm on Friday of weeks 5 and 9 respectively. Each activity weighs 30% of the unit total. Submissions are staggered across Term 1 to enable you to obtain feedback on your progress throughout the unit.

Portfolio activities allow you to explore the research, relevant policy documents and practice guidelines underpinning the unit and link it to DFV-related practice. You will be required to write for a variety of audiences and purposes across the different assessment pieces in this unit.

Read each portfolio activity carefully and be aware of its specific requirements in terms of length, format, structure, required referencing, intended audience and purpose. All assessment-related information is also made available on the unit Moodle site under the ‘ASSESSMENT’ block. You will also find a link to a monitored discussion board specifically designed for questions relating to each assessment item on the unit Moodle site. You are encouraged to monitor the unit Moodle site and your student emails for assessment-related information.

Portfolio Activity 1 – presentation of overview of the issue from your service perspective

Worth 30% of your overall unit assessment; due by 11:45pm Friday week 5 (07/04/2017)

For this assignment you will need to prepare a 10 minute presentation that outlines your service delivery model and identifies the biggest challenges for responding to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children in terms of addressing clients’ priority needs in a culturally appropriate way. This presentation can be delivered from any service perspective where victims, perpetrators and/ or children affected by DFV form part of the client contacts. Services may include, but are not limited to, specialist DFV services, general or community health services, law enforcement or child and family welfare services for example. If you currently do not work in an area of practice where you come in contact with victims, perpetrators and/ or children affected by DFV, you may choose a service area that addresses the needs of one or more of these populations. Regardless of the service area you use for your presentation, you should provide a brief introduction to your service model and then focus specifically on the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations for this assessment piece. You will need to tailor your presentation for a mixed audience with practitioners from various practice backgrounds including specialist and mainstream services.

Your presentation will need to address the following questions:

• How do you incorporate the knowledge base around Indigenous victims’ help-seeking into your service framework (e.g. how do you become more accessible and visible as a service)?
• How do you develop a whole-of-community approach around working with women and children affected by DFV (e.g. community education, awareness raising activities)?
• How do you overcome limitations in service provision (e.g. address the role of culturally appropriate referral pathways, partnerships, and integration of responses)?

This assignment should be presented in the form of a recorded video presentation. Your slides should offer a guide through your presentation in the form of succinct dot points. Avoid lengthy sentences or paragraphs on your slides. Overloading your slides with written information is a poor substitute for your own words. There is no word limit but your presentation should not exceed 10 minutes in length and your slides should not be overloaded with written information. You may wish to use some images to bring your presentation to life. You should draw on the academic and grey literature around the intersection of culture (Indigeneity) and DFV to substantiate any claims you make around the nature and extent of the issue (i.e. DFV and Indigenous victims’ barriers to help-seeking), implications for community-based education and interventions as well as culturally appropriate referral pathways and responses to DFV. A minimum of six references should be incorporated. References may include academic publications, government publications and grey literature.

As part of this assignment you will need to upload your PowerPoint slides along with your video recording. Video recordings will need to be uploaded to YouTube or Cloudstor and a link to the recording will need to be emailed to the unit coordinator by the specified due date. Instructions on how to upload videos to YouTube or Cloudstor will be provided via Moodle. For this assignment, you will be marked based content and presentation style reflected in your recording as well as your slides.

Additional notes to students:

For this assignment you will either require a webcam and relevant presentation capturing software or any video recording device if you choose to capture yourself next to a computer with your PowerPoint presentation. I would encourage you to use the webcam and presentation capturing software option as it will help you capture consistent voice, video and slide quality. For this purpose you may wish to use something like Screencast-O-Matic (which you can access free of charge for presentations of up to 15 minutes here) or Camtasia, which also offers free trial access here. These software tools will allow you to share your screen (i.e. your PowerPoint presentation) while talking to the camera (attached to or integrated into your computer) and record your presentation at the same time (similar to the Echo360 lecture recordings you are used to). However, if you are familiar with another software tool or you wish to record yourself using another recording device (e.g. an iPhone) while delivering your presentation next to a computer screen, that is also acceptable. Your choice of recording or software will not affect your mark as long as both your slides and you as the presenter are captured in the recording and video and voice recording quality is adequate.

Activity 2 – Developing a safety plan (1000 words, +/-10%)

Worth 30% of your overall unit assessment; due by 11:45pm Friday week 9 (12/05/2017)

For this assignment you will need to develop a safety plan for a female, adult client accessing your service. Based on the vignette provided below, you will need to identify the level of risk to the client’s (and her children’s) safety along with resources the client can draw on (e.g. informal, formal and tangible support). You will also need to consider external safety mechanisms that need to be put into place (e.g. involvement of other agencies/service sectors).

This is Carol’s story. Carol is currently still living with her abusive partner of six years and has approached a victim support service where you work as a case worker. This is the first time Carol has reached out for formal support. While she is thinking about leaving, she is not ready to move into a refuge. You will need to consider safety measures suitable for someone who continues to reside with the abusive partner, at least temporarily.

Sam and I have been together for six years. He has been beating me up for at least four now. He didn’t touch me to start with, but he used to call me all sorts of names. He made me feel useless, like I was too stupid to do anything on my own. He always pretends to be the caring nice guy when we’re with other people but as soon as it’s just the two of us it’s like he becomes this other person.

The first time he ever slapped me we’d been out with friends, too. I thought we had had a really good night but when we got back home he accused me of hitting on his best mate Darryl. I had no idea what he was talking about – I didn’t even talk much to Darryl. I spent most of the night right by Sam’s side. I told him that I was only interested in him but he looked at me with this coldness in his eyes and hissed at me, “You tart”. Then he slapped me across the face.

After that it got worse but I stuck with him because every time he kicked or punched me he said he was sorry. And he always told me how much he loved me. Last year I got pregnant and it got ten times worse. In the end he kicked me so badly that I lost the baby. Ever since then I felt I needed to get out but I didn’t really know how… I think he knows that I’m thinking about leaving him because recently he’s been telling me he’ll kill me if I ever try to leave him.

For the purpose of this assessment piece, you will need to identify the key risk indicators that emerge from this vignette. You will need to draw on the relevant academic literature around risk assessment, lethality risk indicators and safety planning to identify why Carol is at an increased risk of harm and what mechanisms need to be put in place to maximise her safety. It is recommended you structure your safety plan under the following subheadings:

• Identified risk indicators, substantiated through theoretical and empirical evidence,

• Recommended safety measures for individual client situation (e.g. recommended safety measures need to address clients current living situation and situational circumstances); choice of recommended measures or strategies should be supported by relevant literature and practice guides on safety planning with clients affected by DFV,

• Consideration of other support mechanisms, supported by a rationale (e.g. consideration of a protection order and what this is expected to achieve).

A minimum of six references should be incorporated. References may include academic publications, government publications, grey literature and relevant practice guidelines.

DFVP20006 - Working with Victims/Survivors of Domestic and Family Violence

ASSESSMENT ONE: PORTFOLIO (60% total)

Activity 1: presentation (30%)

Activity 2: Safety plan (30%)

Written Assignment – Essay (2,000 words; +/-10%)

You are required to write an essay which provides you with an opportunity to thoroughly investigate and address a key issue in domestic and family violence practice: the role of service responses in reducing lethality risk.

Best practice in working with victims of domestic and family violence (DFV) – can integrated service responses minimise risk of fatal outcomes?

Integrated responses are seen as best practice models in addressing the needs of victims and perpetrators involved in domestic and family violence. Domestic homicide is located at the extreme end of domestic and family violence and has frequently been described as a preventable crime. This raises the question of whether integrated responses are able to reduce lethality risk in DFV cases.

For this assignment you are required to unpack the factors that make most domestic homicides a preventable crime and whether and how integrated responses can address these factors in order to reduce victims’ lethality risk. The essay needs to address the following aspects:

· Define key characteristics and stakeholders of integrated responses. Briefly identify what makes them best practice.

· Examine lethality risk involved in DFV.

· What do we know about risk indicators?

· What do we know about prior help-seeking from homicide studies?

· Are integrated responses able to reduce extent of / prevent domestic homicide? What are the limitations?

You will need to link the intervention and risk literature to identify potential points for intervention and unpack whether and how they could be effective. Your argument needs to be supported by the research evidence base around the effectiveness of integrated responses and what works with regards to risk assessment and prevention. You will need to incorporate national and international research evidence and policy strategies. You should include at least fifteen references in your essay. At least eight of these should be academic references based on empirical and/ or theoretical examinations of the issues relevant to the essay question. Remaining references can be sourced from the grey literature. Please avoid using website information as a reference unless it links to published reports or practice manuals.

All assessment-related information is also made available on the unit Moodle site under the ‘ASSESSMENT’ block. You will also find a link to a monitored discussion board specifically designed for questions relating to each assessment item on the unit Moodle site. You are encouraged to monitor the unit Moodle site and your student emails for assessment-related information.

DFVP20006 - Working with Victims/Survivors of Domestic and Family Violence

Assessment Two: Written Assessment (40%)

'Best practice in working with victims of domestic and family violence – can integrated service responses minimise risk of fatal outcomes?'