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SOCS235 Sociology of Health and Illness

10 cp
Prerequisites 10 cp from 100-level units in Sociology
Incompatible SOCI235 Sociology of Health and Illness
Teaching Organisation A variety of formats will be used, including lectures, workshops, seminars, film analysis, visual analysis, group work, and outside visits where appropriate.

This unit critically examines how the medical profession, medical knowledge, medical technology and the individuals experience of health and illness are socially constructed and organised. The unit begins with a critical insight into the ideas of the body; the links between those theories espousing the body as an important location of self determination and identify those that focus on the management and regulation of the body. Central to this understanding is Foucaults explicit discussion of the body as central to social control, especially self-control and self-surveillance. The unit then continues with an analysis of the medical profession followed by a consideration of the social experience of health and illness. Finally, the social, political and cultural implications of technological and scientific developments in medicine will be examined.

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