Course Outlines
Unit 3: Understanding Culture
Suggested Scheme of Work for Option 2: Health
Week 1:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Definition of health and illness
Content:
Social construction of health and illness
Cross-cultural and historical variations
Concepts required or to be developed:
- Understanding of definitions of health, illness and disease
- Awareness of cultural relativity of definitions of health and illness
Week 2/3:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Bio-medical model of health
Content:
Biomedical model of health
The rise of the biomedical model to prominence and medicalisation of natural human conditions such as pregnancy, childbirth, ageing, dying and unhappiness
Criticisms of biomedical model: Marxist, Feminist, Postmodernist and the idea of iatrogenesis
Alternative models of medicine
Concepts required or to be developed:
- An understanding of definitions of medical model, medicalisation and iatrogenesis
- Awareness of how the bio-medical model became the accepted model in Britain
- Awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of different models
Week 4:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
The Sick Role
Content:
Social control and the sick role; Parson’s approach
Criticisms of the idea of the sick role
Concepts required or to be developed:
- Understanding of definition of the sick role
- Awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the Functionalist approach
Week 5:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Patterns and trends in health and illness by class
Content:
- Measurement of social class
- Patterns and trends in health and illness in different social classes
- Problems of measuring differences in morbidity
Concepts required or to be developed:
- Understanding of definitions of mortality and mortality rates, morbidity and morbidity rates, infant mortality rate, the illness iceberg
- Ability to analyse government statistics such as Black Report, Our Healthier Nation Report etc.
- Awareness of social construction of statistics
- Awareness of Marxist approach and strengths and weaknesses
Week 6:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Explanations of social class differentials in health
Content:
Explanations of social class differentials in health:
-artefact
-social selection
-cultural/behavioural
-material/structural
-inequality in health care provision
Concepts required or to be developed:
- understanding of definition of risk behaviour
- awareness of strengths and weaknesses of different explanations
Week 7:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Patterns and trends in health and illness by gender and locality
Content:
Patterns and trends in health and illness by gender
Explanations of differences
-genetic/biological
-cultural/behavioural
-material/structural
-inequality of treatment by health services
Patterns and trends in health and illness by locality such as North/South divide, variation within region
Explanation of differences
Concepts required or to be developed:
- Awareness of strengths and weaknesses of different explanations for gender patterns in health and illness
- Awareness of strengths and weaknesses of different explanations for patterns in health and illness by locality
Week 8:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Patterns and trends in health and illness by ethnicity and age
Content:
Patterns and trends in health and illness by ethnicity
Explanations of differences in patterns and trends
oGenetic/biological factors
oIndividual behaviour/cultural factors
oMaterial/structural
oMigration and racism
oInequality in treatment by health service
oArtefact
Patterns and trends in health and illness by age groups
Explanations of difference in patterns and trends by age groups
Concepts required or to be developed:
- Awareness of strengths and weaknesses of explanations for differences in health and illness by ethnicity
- Awareness of different attitudes towards treatment of different age groups
Week 9/10:
Lesson Content and Skills Development
Social Action Approach
Content:
Effect of labelling and societal reaction on identity with reference to particular examples such as mental illness, disability, Aids
Concepts required or to be developed:
Understanding of definition of stigma
Awareness of strengths and weaknesses of Social Action approach