Department of Education, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
ED10347 Childhood, youth and deviance |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Certificate |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: CW100 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: The intention of this unit is to:
* familiarise students with the historical background to notions of deviance with relation to youth and childhood. * introduce students to a broad notion of deviance (including formal and informal forms of deviance). * examine different psychological and sociological approaches to the study of deviance in childhood and youth. * familiarise students with implications of deviance for policies and practices in children's services. Learning Outcomes: In completing this unit students will be expected to: * account for different definitions and interpretations of deviance in relation to children and young people. * explain how deviance evolves in childhood and youth from sociological and psychological perspectives. * recognise and appreciate different theoretical approaches to the study of deviance. * have an increased awareness of the ways in which society responds to deviance through policy and practice. * develop an argument in relation to the appropriateness and relevance of theoretical approaches, policies and practices with regard to a particular form of deviance in childhood and youth in the UK. Skills: * Comprehensive and scholarly written communication (e.g. essays); * Effective oral communication (e.g. seminar presentations); * Ability to select, summarise and synthesis written information from multiple sources; * Ability to apply theory into practice; * Ability to select and use appropriate ideas to produce a coherent response to a pre-set question; * Ability to formulate a research question, then develop and present an original & coherent answer; * Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines; * Ability to work effectively as part of a group or team. Content: * Consideration of the historical change in attitudes to deviance in the UK. * Different definitions and interpretations of deviance in relation to childhood and youth in sociology and psychology (e.g. structural-functionalism, symbolic interactionism, power-conflict theories); consideration of consequences of deviance (formal and informal deviance). * Psychological and sociological approaches to the study of deviance; critique of these approaches. * Dimensions of gender, class, ethnicity and sexuality and how these shape notions of deviance in relation to childhood and youth. * Deviant groups of population among children and young people in the UK. * Policy formation as a response to deviance; forms of societal and organisational practices that serve to prevent deviance; critique of policies and practices. |