|
 Academic Year:
| 2015/6 |
| Owning Department/School:
| Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
| Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
Semester 1 |
| Assessment Summary:
| EX 65%, OT 35% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
Coursework reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites: | |
| Description:
| Aims: * To examine drug and alcohol use, and policy uses from a critical criminological, cultural and human rights perspective * To identify theoretical debates on drug cultures and subcultures, drug use, freedom of choice, social harm and normalisation * To explore questions of identity, consumption, risk, and the relationship between social, cultural and economic factors that influence substance use and drug and alcohol dependency. Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit students will: * Have an understanding of the origins and history of drug policy * Identify theoretical debates in relation to drug and alcohol use and dependency * Be able to critique political and global responses and debates shaping the governance of drug use * Have an awareness of the international drug trade and law enforcement context. Skills: Intellectual Skills At the end of this unit students should be able to: * Understand and critically evaluate the historical and cross cultural use of drugs in a range of social contexts. * Describe and evaluate policy and practice from a range of perspectives. * Interpret drug use and policy responses within criminological, socio-cultural and human rights frameworks. * Demonstrate an awareness of the assumptions underpinning discourses on drug and alcohol policies and the implications for the ongoing development of policy and practice. * Understand the complex factors shaping the governance of use, the international drug trade, the growing market in `legal highs¿ and law enforcement. * Understand the ways in which drug control, treatment, punishment and regulation is conducted along racialised, gendered and class specific lines. * Debate alternatives to drug prohibition and the future of drug policy. Transferable/Key Skills: * To think critically and analytically. * To describe, evaluate, compare and contrast key arguments and debates. * To evaluate existing research. * To critically evaluate and assess policy, health information and a range of qualitative and quantitative evidence. * To gather information, data, research and literature from a number of different sources. * To synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding and develop a clear argument. * Essay research, policy evaluation, assignment preparation and writing skills * Understanding how to apply knowledge and concepts from across various social, political and medical sciences disciplines * Study and Learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing) Content:Lecture 1: Harm, Health and the Social Functions of drug and Alcohol Use. Lecture 2: Drugs, Cultures and Subcultures Lecture 3: The History of Prohibition and the De-criminalisation Debate Lecture 4: Drugs, Alcohol Crime and Criminal Justice Responses. Lecture 5: Global Drug Crime and Trafficking and the Global Politics of the Drug Trade. Lecture 6: Short Assessment briefing, Independent Study and Assessment week- 1500 Word Group Report Preparation Lecture 7: The Representation of Drug and Alcohol Use and Media Policy Lecture 8: A Critical Overview of Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Harm Reduction and Abstinence Based Programmes. This Lecture will include a panel discussion with drug workers and ex addicts. Lecture 9 : Drugs, Social Divisions and the CJS Lecture 10: Efficacy, Enforcement: Policing, Punishment and Drug Seizures Lecture 11: Review of course material, poster session, Class Debate and assessment support for final exam. |
| Programme availability: |
SP30289 is a Generally Available Unit which is available to all students of the University (subject to the usual constraints) to take either as a Director of Studies approved option within their programme of study or as an 'extra' unit which does not count towards a final award.
SP30289 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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