Social Work with Children and Families as a field has grown considerably in terms of perspective, scope and requirement of professional expertise. Discourses and interventions are ongoing such as child protection, child labour, juvenile justice, community based intervention, vulnerable children and families, girl child and children with disabilities. Economic forces have led to the emergence of new forms of families, changing gender roles and socialization of children requiring renewed attention. Families are not only spaces for holding people together by providing care, nurturance and identity, they are also sites of conflict and violence, particularly for children and other vulnerable members. Thus, the intervention of government and civil society to support families become important to realise the critical need for child rights and child protection.

The M. A. Social Work with Children and Families provides students with a critical understanding of the diversities of childhoods, family as a context for individual development, as well as policies, legislations and macro level developmental processes impacting children and families. The students in this programme will have developed their capacities to undertake rights-based work for ensuring inclusion of children of marginalised communities into the mainstream processes of development. Recognising and working with children as citizens and rights holders is the focus of this programme. Thus, the students will have improved capabilities to translate theory into practice. They will reflectively work with children and families in addressing particular problem situations and vulnerabilities such as children on the streets, abandoned and destitute children, child labour, children of sex workers, children with disabilities, children in conflict with law and other children and families in difficult circumstances. Graduates of the present programme have a lot of scope to find employment in government projects, educational institutions, and in many local and international NGOs. Students could also find suitable job prospects in directly working with children and youth across settings such as school , children’s instituions, Juvenile Justice system and community based organisations. Students can also get opportunities in research based organisations, networks and civil society initiatives and international organisations.