Course Catalogue

LJMU Partner Taught

1. Demonstrate the contribution sociologists have made to the understanding of health and illness 2. Explore key areas in the sociology of health, focusing on different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches 3. Facilitate an examination and understanding of power and inequality as they relate to medicalisation 4. Obtain the theoretical and analytical skills to deconstruct experiences of the medicalised body using relevant critical theories.

Outline Syllabus:• The social context of health • Sociological perspectives on health and illness • Medicine as social control • Medicalisation of everyday life • Power and patriarchy • Healthism and normalisation

Additional Information:The first section of this module introduces the key areas in the sociology of health and illness, bringing together the contribution of different perspectives and methodological approaches which characterise sociological research in this area. It will allow you to understand the dominance of the biomedical model and how it has come to attempt to define wholly, experiences of health and illness. A sociological orientation will allow you to understand the importance of the social context in shaping the health of the nation. The second section will introduce the concept of medicalisation and use this lens to interrogate the ways in which bodies are ‘othered’, compartmentalized and differently treated. The related field of ‘healthism’ will further be explored and you will be challenged to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of such processes in relation to the perceptions and treatment of certain bodies. We will use case studies of particular embodied experiences which will uncover the relationship some bodies have with nature, technology, society and structures that expose regimes of discipline, regulation, normalisation and surveillance. Students will have the opportunity to build on some of these themes at level 6 in modules Body Politics and Disability Studies.