PSY-40085 - Module Specification
School of Psychology
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2023/24

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None.

Barred Combinations

None.

Description for 2023/24

In approaches to Critical Health, Social and Political Psychology we expose you to a psychology that pursues social justice through the topics studied and the methods used. We ask you to challenge your understanding of what psychology is and what it can and should achieve. In this module, we ask for you to engage not only with the research literature but with your own assumptions and values. We want you to reflect on your own thinking as well as the thinking and actions of various social actors involved in determining what is fact and what is `fake news¿. Through sessions on methods such as discourse analysis and social representation theory and issues such as LGBTQ+ inclusion, ageing, loneliness and infant-feeding practices we will illustrate an alternative to mainstream psychology. We invite you to join us in questioning how we can strive towards an active avoidance of hierarchy and break down barriers that may exclude individuals and groups from full participation in society.

This module aims to orient students to a critical approach to psychology. Students will be introduced to core tenets, principles and empirical research in critical social and health psychology, both of which share a history and practice of challenging the notion that psychology can and should study individuals in isolation of their environment and social context. The module aims to engage students in discussions of liberation, community, societal and discursive psychologies in order to challenge their understanding of what psychology is and how it can function.

Intended Learning Outcomes

critically reflect upon and communicate their own values and assumptions and how these help and/or hinder research in psychology: 1
identify, synthesise and critically evaluate research literature pertaining to a social, political or health issue: 1
critically discuss how psychology has helped and hindered research on a social, political or health issue, and how such issues have helped and hindered the progress of psychology: 1

Study hours

11 x 2 hour seminars which comprise of staff delivered content and student-led discussion of class content and key readings
22 hours x asynchronous material engagement: reading set papers and preparing notes for discussion in class
50 hours assessment preparation
56 hours independent study: predominantly engaging in literature

School Rules

None.

Description of Module Assessment