School of Sociology and Criminology  
 
 
SOC-30034 Sex, Death, Desire: Psychoanalysis in Social Context  
Co-ordinator: Dr Mark Featherstone    Room: CBC0.014, Tel:34179  
Teaching Team: Ms Deborah  Tagg, Dr Andy  Zieleniec, Miss Jo-Anne  Watts,  Garry  Crawford  
Lecture Time: See Timetable...  
Level: 3 Credits: 15 Study Hours: 150  
School Office:
 
 
 
Programme/Approved Electives for
Sociology Dual Honours (Level 3)
Sociology Major (Level 3)
Sociology Minor (Level 3)
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Yes
Barred Combinations
none

Prerequisites
none

Description

This module will enable students to explore psychological theories of society and social relations. Following an introduction, which links psychoanalysis to the history of sociology and in particular ideas of alienation, disenchantment, and anomie, the module looks the key principles of Freudian psychoanalysis and core texts in the Freudian tradition.

The core purpose of the module is to show how psychoanalysis can be seen to contain a general meta-psychology of universal human behaviour that might be used to understand social phenomenon through what Freud saw as the fundamental human concerns: sex, death, and desire. Throughout the module we seek to think through the possible application of key psychoanalytic concepts - repression, projection, anxiety, perversion, sadism, thanatos or the death drive, paranoia and so on - to concrete social examples in order to illuminate a new dimension of socio-psychoanalytic explanation.
Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.

http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/soc-30034/lists
Aims
  • To provide students with a historical survey of psychoanalysis through a consideration of key texts in the Freudian tradition
  • To teach students about the methodology of psychoanalysis and show them that key theoretical principles can be abstracted from the analytic session and employed as concepts for the general analysis of human behaviour in society
  • To enable students to understand how psychoanalysis can be useful for the study of society through a discussion of particular exemplary texts
  • To allow students to understand how psychoanalysis can explain both particular and universal human behaviors in social context
Intended Learning Outcomes
  • critically assess the sociological value of psychoanalytic theory informed by works at the forefront of the subject
  • apply key concepts in sociology through psychological interpretations of primary source material on the relationship between self and society
  • make independent judgments about the strengths and weaknesses of psychological theories of society based on a consideration of practical examples
  • develop sociological interpretations of psychological theory
  • apply psychological theory to social questions in order to generate psycho-social answers
Study hours
20 hours contact - 10 lectures / 10 tutorials
40 hours tutorial preparation
30 hours independent study
60 hours assessment preparation
TOTAL 150 HOURS
Description of Module Assessment
01: Essay weighted 75%
Essay - 3500 words
Students write a 3500 word essay on a title of their own choosing.
02: Presentation weighted 25%
Presentation Report - 1000 words
Students give a 20 minute in class presentation on a key aspect of the module and then develop this in their essay.
Version: (1.06B) Updated: 03/Mar/2013

This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.