MSc in Advanced Child Protection Studies

This master's programme in Advanced Child Protection Studies is designed to develop students’ specialist knowledge within the field of child protection and safeguarding.

The programme is designed to appeal to the more experienced professional already engaged in this area of activity – for example in social work, policing, law, education, nursing and health. However, those with an academic interest in the area (for example social policy, law or criminology graduates) are also encouraged to apply, subject to being able to satisfy the requirements of the various modules.

The course is taught by experienced practitioners and experts in the field and will provide you with the opportunity to focus on specific areas of interest. We have pathways for students wanting to focus on UK/English child protection and safeguarding work and students wanting to focus on international child protection work. There are four 30-credit modules which can be taken on a part-time or full-time basis. There is also a dissertation for those taking the MSc.

The programme is a online distance learning programme, which combines innovative learning and teaching techniques with interaction with the tutor and fellow students. Not only are students provided with high quality teaching, but they have the additional benefit of having the flexibility to study anywhere at any time. No specialist knowledge in technology is required, you will just need to have access to the internet and know how to use it. Learning activities are structured to provide simplicity and you will be supported throughout the programme.

To obtain the MSc you will complete four 30 credit modules and a 60 credit dissertation.

• Part time students will take 2 modules in years 1 and 2 and the dissertation module in year 3.
• Full time students will take 4 modules in year one and complete the dissertation component in year 2.

Law, Policy and Inter-agency Working (30 credits)

Year one, semester one part time and full time students

Child protection work necessarily takes place within a defined but often contested, and indeed ever-changing, legal and policy context. Understanding this context is essential if we are to a) understand how child protection services are organised and delivered, and b) ensure that the delivery of these services is ethical, humane and, ultimately, lawful. This module aims to equip you with the necessary up-to-date legal and policy knowledge in order to effectively critique service delivery at all levels within the ‘child protection system’.

International Child Protection (30 Credits) – for international child protection pathway

Year one, semester one part time and full time students

The module aims to develop and advance students’ knowledge of practice and policy in protecting children in an international context. The module explores global perspectives on childhood and focuses on (1) international frameworks for child protection, (2) the individual work of multidisciplinary practitioners, (3) organisational, social, cultural, economic, political, and geopolitical contexts, and (4) contemporary challenges in child protection, including children in complex emergencies, separated children, and migration and displacement. The module will consider and critique the evidence base in the face of the ever-changing contexts involved in international safeguarding work.

Risk, Analysis and Decision Making (30 credits)

Year one semester 2 part time and full time students

Everyone involved with safeguarding or child protection work, be they practitioners, managers, and policy makers will be concerned with the analysis of risk and the decision making that stems from this. This module therefore develops your ability to critically analyse the current processes, methods, and frameworks utilised in contemporary child protection practice, while critically reflecting on your own practice and the practice within the systems that you work in.

Help, Support and Direct Work (30 credits)

Year two semester 1, part time students. Year one semester 1, full time students

Good child protection practice results in children being safe and well cared for. Achieving this, however, is far from straightforward; and everyone involved in child protection work need to be able to identify, support, and promote practice that keeps children safe, while adhering to ethical standards of practice. This module explores the evidence and practice base of, and for, direct practice so that you can develop greater knowledge about how to engage, motivate, and assist (when necessary) people to change, to ensure that children and young people are kept safe.

Organisations, Systems and Leadership (30 credits)

Year two semester 2, part time students. Year one semester 2, full time students.

Child protection practice operates within and across a range of complex organisations and systems. However, we continue to see very similar failures in quality and safety within a range of professional cultures. This module takes a systems view of the child protection field to critically consider the assumptions that underlie many of these policy responses which provide the foundation for contemporary child protection practice. It will critically interrogate how these systems have been designed, and look at how we might design safer systems around a more sophisticated understanding of the relational dynamics within and between different professional groups.

Dissertation (60 credits)

Year three semester 1, part time students. Year two semester 1, full time students

The dissertation module is a key component of the programme which aims to facilitate the development of higher-level critical analysis, and to develop your capacities for knowledge-informed practice and more original thinking in relation to the complex issues that arise in the field of child protection.

All the modules are compulsory and are for students starting in 2024.

The course particularly offers successful candidates the potential to:

• enhance their careers through developing an expert or specialist child protection role in the work place
• develop a research or development role within child protection or safeguarding organisations
• further develop their academic studies in the field of child protection, safeguarding and child welfare

Please note that the programme does not lead to a professional qualification. By this we mean that it does not lead to a qualification in social work, teaching, nursing etc, nor enable you to register with a professional body associated with a profession. Rather it is an academic qualification in child protection from the University of Birmingham.