Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
SP20097 Sociology of health and illness |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: EX 100% |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044 |
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Aims: This option is intended to introduce students to the way in which sociologists have thought about health and illness. A central theme of this unit is the social construction of more subjectively defined 'ill health' and the central role that health plays in contemporary social consciousness.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the unit students should: 1. be familiar with sociological issues around health and illness; 2. question the role of medicine in the modern world and problematise the concepts of 'health' and 'illness'; 3. be aware of inequalities in health, particularly in relation to social class, gender, age and ethnicity. Skills: * To think creatively and analytically; * To communicate an argument; * To evaluate others' arguments and research; * To learn independently and be able to assess own learning needs (i.e. identify strengths and improve weaknesses in methods of learning and studying); * To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information; * To gather information, data, research and literature from a number of different sources (i.e. library, web-based, archives etc.); * To select appropriate and relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge; * To analyse and evaluate innovative practices in students' relevant degree discipline; * To explore a variety of relationships and environments relevant to learning and practising within the context of the students' degree discipline; * To effectively and efficiently apply principles of sociological/social policy analysis within a variety of environments; * To develop study & learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing); * To develop inter-personal and communication skills; * To develop revision and examination skills; * Time-management and administrative skills; * Presentation skills and verbal communication (i.e. seminar and tutorial contributions); * To lead others confidently and competently; * To solve problems in a variety of situations; * To prioritise workloads, and utilise long- and short-term planning skills. Content: Definitions of health and illness; the medicalisation of everyday life; Progress, medicine and its critique; Social and global inequalities; Alternative medicine and the organic; Syndromes; Shaping the body; Ageing; Tragedy and the 'meaning' of death; Public health in an age of anxious individualism. |