Module Code - Title:
SO4168
-
THE SOCIOLOGY OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ILLNESS
Year Last Offered:
2024/5
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
Introduce students to a range of classical modern and contemporary theories on the contested meaning of mental illness.
Develop students' understanding of the how the meaning of mental illness and the social organisation of mental health systems reflect changing social, political and intellectual contexts.
Demonstrate how different elements of a social model (and sociological critiques) of mental health and illness are articulated in different knowledge disciplines and philosophical models within mental health care, and in mental health service users' narratives and survivor politics.
Syllabus:
This module aims to engage students with the sociology of mental health and illness. It introduces them to a selection of classical modern theories on the contested meaning of mental illness and the impact of psychiatric ideas and practices on the social organisation of mental health care. It also introduces them to contemporary theories on the challenges to psychiatric power, on the one hand, and the emergence of a therapeutic culture, on the other. Students are also introduced to key ideas within the philosophy and politics of psychiatry, which have a strong resonance with different sociological critiques including those of anti-psychiatry, social psychiatry, critical and post psychiatry. The challenges posed by the mental health service/survivor movement are also addressed, as well as sociological accounts of the challenges facing this new and emerging social movement.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
By the end of this course students should be able to:
Describe a selection of classical modern and contemporary sociological theories in the field of mental health and illness.
Evaluate these theories in terms of their distinct contribution (and limits) to understanding different aspects about the social organisation and impact of mental healthcare.
Identify the key historical shifts in the meaning of mental illness and its social organisation.
Identify the different philosophical ideas within psychiatric theories or survivor/user discourse that draw on different aspects of a social model of mental health and illness.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
Develop critical thinking as well as analytical skills.
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
N/A
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Rogers, A. and D. Pilgrim (2005)
A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness (3rd Edition
, Berkshire: Open University Press
Crossley, N (2006)
Contesting Psychiatry: Social Movements in Mental Health
, London and New York: Routledge
Rose, N. (1990)
Governing the Soul
, London: Routledge
Other Relevant Texts:
Bracken, P. and P. Thomas (2005)
Post Psychiatry
, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Tew, J. (ed.) (2005)
Social Perspectives in Mental Health
, London: Jessica Kingsley
Double, D.B. (2006)
Critical Psychiatry: The Limits of Madness
, New York and Basingstoke,
UK: Palgrave
Cohen, C.L. and S. Timimi. (2008)
Liberatory Psychiatry: Philosophy, Politics, and Mental Health
, Cambridge University Press
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Module Leader:
Generic PRS