Unit rationale, description and aim
In this unit, students will be introduced to a various paradigms for understanding mental illness, and perspectives on the treatment of those suffering from such conditions. If mental illnesses are not simply to be understood as disorders or diseases of the brain, what other perspectives are relevant, and what can this contribute to our understanding of mental health and human flourishing? Issues concerning forensic questions about free will and responsibility are also addressed, as are specific questions concerning respect for the dignity of the mentally ill and their rights in treatment settings.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitLearning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Analyse some of the complexities concerning differ...
Learning Outcome 01
Reflect insightfully on problems concerning the cl...
Learning Outcome 02
Critically assess issues concerning freedom and re...
Learning Outcome 03
Content
Topics chosen from the following broad areas:
- The concept of mental illness, and the problem of its definition:
- Limitations of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders) as a way of categorising mental illness;
- What makes a condition of the mind a medical illness?;
- Medical and social understandings of mental illness;
- Mental illness, free will and responsibility;
- The dignity of the mentally ill patient in treatment contexts, and the problem of power differentials in the provision of care;
- The social stigma around mental illness, the problem of discrimination, and its clinical implications;
- Benefits and limitations of a human rights approach to mental illness;
- Difficulties around finding a balance between promoting autonomy and preventing harm;
- Issues around personal identity, self-understanding, and relationships with others in community.
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment strategy for this unit is designed to facilitate broad engagement across the topics covered, while also requiring deeper engagement with one of the unit topics in particular. The tutorial oral and accompanying short written task requires students to demonstrate skills in attentive and accurate reading of a key text, and to explicate it in clear and concise oral and written formats. The short written task that follows requires students to explicate and analyse another text at greater length. Finally, the research essay task provides students with the opportunity to undertake sustained philosophical reading and research, culminating in an extended piece of formal writing that examines their capacity to develop a coherent argument in response to an important philosophical question.
Overview of assessments
Tutorial oral and associated short written task ...
Tutorial oral and associated short written task
Requires students to demonstrate skills in written and spoken exposition and analysis of a text.
20%
Written analysis task Requires students to demon...
Written analysis task
Requires students to demonstrate understanding of key concepts and debates.
30%
Argumentative/Research Essay Requires students to...
Argumentative/Research Essay
Requires students to critically analyse an important debate in the field and to develop a coherent position.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning. The total includes formally structured learning activities such as lectures, tutorials and online learning. The remaining hours typically involve reading, research, and the preparation of tasks for assessment. The unit has been designed as a blend of a blend of collaborative learning and project-based learning approaches, combined with direct instruction to introduce and draw out new and unfamiliar concepts and theories. The collaborative context of the unit is focused especially on the small group discussion of the weekly readings. The project-based aspect relates to the research project on which students work throughout the second half of the unit, culminating in their research essay.