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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Sociology, Health & Illness
Module Code NS280 (ITS) / SOC1010 (Banner)
Faculty Science & Health School Nursing, PsyT & Comm Health
Module Co-ordinatorSabina Stan
Module Teachers-
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
None
Description

The module aims to introduce students to a critically informed sociological perspective on health and illness. It overviews the manners in which social arrangements influence health outcomes and the impact contemporary social processes have on health and illness. The module addresses topics such as the sick role and medicalisation; the factors behind class, gender, ethnic, and age health inequalities; the health consequences of globalisation, neoliberalism and the Anthropocene, and global health inequalities.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the relevance of sociology in the understanding of health and illness
2. Understand the major concepts and theoretical approaches in the sociology of health and illness
3. Explore the distribution of health outcomes along class, gender, class, ethnicity and age in a changing Ireland and the factors behind health inequalities along these lines
4. Explore the health consequences of globalisation and neoliberalism, as well as global health inequalities and the main factors behind them



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture24No Description
Independent Study101No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Sociology, health and healthcare

Being sick

Medicalisation

Ethnicity and health

Gender and health

Social class and health

Globalisation and its health consequences

Global health inequalities

Neoliberalism, healh risks and responsibility

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment60% Examination Weight40%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Essayn/a60%n/a
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Hyde, Abbey, Maria Lohan and Orla McDonnell (eds.): 2004, Sociology for Health Professionals in Ireland, IPA, Dublin,
  • Turner, Bryan: 1995, Medical Power and Social Knowledge, Sage, London,
  • Petersen, Alan & Deborah Lupton: 1997, The New Public Health: Health and Self in the Age of Risk, Sage, London,
  • O’Sullivan, Sara (ed.): 2007, Contemporary Ireland. A Sociological Map, UCD Press, Dublin,
  • Conrad, P.: 2007, The Medicalisation of Society. On the Transformation of Human Conditions in Treatable Disorders, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore,
  • Graham, H.: 2007, Unequal Lives. Health and Socioeconomic Inequalities, Open University Press, Bergshire,
  • Harvey, D.: 2005, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Other Resources

None

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