@HammyMcHamFace
Aww dont say sorry, i will be happy to help!!
How do you find Criminology? I did my BA 2006-2009 so quite a long time ago!! But all i wanted to be was a criminal profiler- like Cracker, or Clarice. So i was left a bit disappointed as the course wasnt what i expected. And now i see you can do degrees such as Criminal Psychology and Forenisc Psychology which would have been so much better for me! But i learnt to enjoy my BA, and it certainly helped me with my MA and my career in a roundabout way!!
With my MA i learnt all about the things you mentioned. Our modules included; Youth Offending, Adult Mental Health, Child Protection (and Children's Service more broadly), Adult living with Disabilities, Substance misuse etc. Then we had 2 placements- the first placement was 3rd sector based and i went to a Domestic Violence shelter for women. My friend was based at a homeless centre, other people on the course went to a drug recovery center and so forth. That placement was for 80 days. The second placement which was 100 days was the statutory placement and i went to the Local Authority Children's services department, and there i learnt how to complete good assessments, smart plans, and was able to work closely with qualified social workers who were undertaking child protection, child in need, and care assessments and direct work. It absolutely prepared me for work. The placements have to completed in order to pass the degree.
I also did my dissertation (15,000 words) in order to get the MA qualification. Some people opted not to complete a dissertation but that meant they only got a postgraduate certificate (or something along those lines), whereas i really wanted to do a dissertation. I actually did my dissertation on the topic on Young Offenders, and looking at the idea of Relationship-Based practice and assessing whether it had an impact on young offenders re offending (it sounds boring i know, but i love that stuff!!haha).
Alongside essays, placements and dissertation, we also had a few exams to do. The MA was 2 years in length, but the idea is MA students have already completed BA degrees so we were already at a decent starting point in terms of learning, writing styles, being able to critical analyse etc (if that makes sense). It was quite intense at times, but i loved it.
I was actually due to start my MA in 2012 however i fell pregnant so i was able to defer a year. My little boy was born in February 2013 and then i started the MA in October 2013. But at the time i was living with my parents as my partner and I were saving for a mortgage deposit. Living with my parents meant i had support and childcare when i needed to go to uni and write essays/do research. I couldnt have done it without their support.
I didnt initially work during it, however i started working for the Domestic Violence womens shelter where i did my first placement at. I did bank work for them. It was good because i already knew everyone-both the staff and clients from my time on placement.
Ironically i then fell pregnant again in December 2014 (talk about good timing!!!hahaha) so throughout my second placement i was also going through my pregnancy; and i finished my placement at the end of July and then my little girl was born at the end of August! But by then the course had finished, we had our grades so in a funny way the timing worked out pretty good. It just meant that while my course mates were applying for and getting 'proper' jobs, i was on "maternity leave". But then i applied for, and got my job with the Local Authority in the summer of 2016 when my little girl was just turning 1.
I dont know if its changed now, or if other universities do it differently, but i went to Lancaster Uni to do my MA social work degree and the application was quite difficult and there was a lot of competition for not many places. We had the standard application form with the personal statement. But then we also had a really intensive interview with both faculty staff and some service users! It was also a requirement that we all had to have experience of working within a health/social care setting. That was a big deal; luckily i did have some experience of working in care and also for a housing association with vulnerable adults.
I am very proud of what i achieved, but sometimes i do wish i had done my mental health nursing instead; but then i change my mind and im glad that i did social work instead.
Sorry for waffling on, i am typing a million miles per hour so i hope i am making a bit of sense
