Global Public Health

At a global level, there are significant health inequalities across different population groups. Different countries have adopted a range of 'mixed economies of health systems', depending on historical growth and contemporary political and economic imperatives, with consequent variations in what a ‘complete state of health’ means globally.

It is crucial that students taking this unit come away with an awareness of a sense of social justice around why such variations persist and how best to advocate for an ethos of ‘good health for all and not some’. This unit therefore particularly explores how wide ranging determinants of health at a global level inform the quality of life and overall health outcomes of different population groups; including children, adolescents and young people, women, LGBT groups and a range of vulnerable and marginalised population groups across the world. Determinants including but not limited to national, political and economic histories, social determinants of health, environmental factors, war and conflict, human rights violations and ideological influences as they influence the health of populations and health systems, will be explored throughout the unit. 

The unit content provides a foundation of theories and perspectives informing how global health policy have been shaped by a variety of international  organisations (such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), bilateral organisations, multilateral organisations, non-Governmental organisations, private and public partnerships, foundations and other advocacy groups who play a role in determining the  health of regional populations. 

A wide range of international case studies on a nation-theme basis; connecting theoretical positions, historical developments and recent global events are used throughout the unit to engage students in understanding the nature of the contemporary and varied burden of global health issues 

The content of the unit aims to equip students wanting to work in public health and related careers area both with an understanding of  the nature of current policies both nationally and internationally as well as an introduction to exploring and interpreting health data sets that inform global public health.  There is also a strong focus on equipping students with social marketing skills relevant to promoting public health messages and students will learn how to use digital tools to create a poster that persuades a group to  change a relevant health behaviour. All of this  will also aid in preparing students on this unit for the Level Six Independent Project; its issues and case studies providing sound foundations and drivers for individual research and the Health Services planning and management unit. 

Sociology Of Health And Illness

The Sociology of Health and Illness studies the interaction between society, individuals, health, and illness. The unit is designed to allow you to study substantive topics such as end-of-life care, genetics and bioethics, biomedical and professional power, experiences of chronic illness, health consumerism and managerialism, and main concepts such as the sick role and the insanity role, stigma and labelling, medicalisation, biomedicalisation, pharmaceuticalisation, amongst others. These topics and theoretical frameworks will be studied in detail.

Patterns of global change in healthcare systems make it more imperative than ever to research and comprehend the sociology of health and illness; with the continuing changes in demographics, economy, politics, therapy, and technology, studying how these changes impact the way communities and societies view and respond to the health needs of individuals is important. The changes in healthcare provision and understanding causes of health and illness within social life have proven to be dynamic in definition and therefore debating and advancing information is vital; as patterns evolve, the study of the sociology of health and illness constantly needs to be updated and studied. 

This unit takes a global approach because the influence of societal factors varies throughout the world. In this unit, you will learn how to develop your sociological thinking/imagination in order to promote social change and justice and sustain equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Comparative Welfare State Politics

The unit aims to answer the question: who provides support, welfare and care to differing groups both in the UK and other countries?  

This unit is designed to serve as an introduction to the identification and analysis of ideologies, concepts and theoretical perspectives surrounding the mixed economy of welfare and the role of the state in capitalist and developing societies. By focusing on the concrete examples of ‘poverty’ and ‘need’, the unit explores the process of the ideological, historical and social construction of social problems and policy responses to them. The unit draws on your level four learning on units such as Introduction to Sociology of Health; Introduction to Research and Social Enquiry and Social Change with Communities. It will provide you with an overview of past, present and possible future welfare responses to meeting individual and group needs and the ideologies that inform them, both in the UK and internationally.

This unit seeks to equip you with an understanding of key comparative models and debates. It will also give you the opportunity to develop and practise the skill of comparative analysis. A case study approach is adopted to illustrate the application of theory to practice. The ability to compare welfare systems temporally and spatially is a marker for graduateness in Social Policy.

Mental Health And Society

This unit will introduce students to the main sociological and psychiatric perspectives on mental health and illness.  The role of the mental health professions and the changing role of psychiatry will be studied. Students will also study the social patterning of mental health and illness, and consider variations according to age, gender, social class and ethnicity.  Attention will also be paid to those experiencing mental illness, and the role and influence of representative user groups. The unit aims to show how our knowledge and understanding of mental illness have changed over time, as well as indicate the problematic nature of the definition of mental illness.
Attention will also be paid to the experiences of sufferers of mental illness, and the influence of user groups on mental health policy and legislation will be critically analysed. The unit will also focus on treatment and recovery and mental illness and differing social groups, for example, people with a serious mental illness, young people, prisoners, and people with a dual diagnosis.

The Social Sciences At Work

The graduate job market is a highly competitive arena. As such, it is essential for students preparing for graduate employment to have a realistic awareness of, the ways in which the professional work place operates and the skills, knowledge and experiences that are expected and desirable for their passport and successful transition into graduate level employment. This unit builds upon the Level 4 unit which requires students to have begun their thinking about their intended graduate destination and undertaken a level of career development planning at the end of their first year. 

During this unit, students will undertake work based opportunities with an organisation or service that is appropriate to their degree subject.  The expected length of time for this placement is a minimum of 15 hours.

Students will engage with personal development planning, to reflect on their own development as a professional and to gain insight into the breadth and complexity of graduate professional roles. They will be encouraged to complete the Bedfordshire for Success award as they progress through the unit by engaging with the Careers and Employability Service in the development of their individual career readiness.

Addictions And Society

The unit is designed to provide you with an introduction to a range of (co)addictive behaviours, such as gambling, gaming, substance misuse, sex and pornography, food, medicines and pharmaceuticals, relationships, consumerism, among many other, analysing the similarities and the differences between them. Additionally, it will provide you with a foundation knowledge of a range of theoretical perspectives on addiction and addiction language. It aims to develop a contextual understanding of addictive behaviours, within a political, social, cultural and historical framework, crucial when engaging with service users and the human services in contemporary society.

Research 1: Collecting Data

The unit will equip you with the key skills to be an independent researcher in the social sciences. You will develop an understanding of qualitative and quantitative data, different methods of collecting data and sources of collected data. This unit builds on the Level 4 Introduction to Research and Social Inquiry, which introduced some methodological debates and social theories, which inform and underpin social investigation.

You will learn about the different methods of collecting data and the importance of choosing a suitable method for data collection in social research. These aspects will be covered during lectures and workshops where you will have the opportunity to practice this knowledge.

The skills you will acquire from this unit are transferable and will be a useful asset to have for another Level 5 research unit, Research: Exploring data.

This unit will prepare you for the final year independent project unit at Level 6 as it allows you to familiarise yourself with the different methods for collecting data using both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.

Research 2: Exploring Data

The unit will equip you with the key research skills for social scientists relating to data interpretation and analysis. You will learn about different ways of exploring and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data during the lectures and gain practical experience of carrying out data analysis during the workshops.

  Building on the level four unit ‘Introduction to Research and Social Inquiry’, you will also enhance your knowledge and understanding of the entire process of a research project and individual steps involved in conducting research. You will be encouraged to consider why and how we analyse data and how the stage of data analysis fits within the whole research process. This unit is designed also to help you understand the use of theory in research and gives the opportunity to be involved in the exercise of identifying appropriate theories that can be utilised when creating your own research project.

This unit will prepare you for the final year project unit at level six. You will have developed the skills and knowledge required for you to confidently take forward your research idea, develop your proposal, carry out your chosen research methodology and create a worthwhile, structured and academically sound final year project.

Interprofessional Working In Health And Social Care

This unit enables students to develop their knowledge and skills of inter-professional working as a requirement across health and social care provider services to people on an individual and organisational level. The unit supports students to understand the complex life systems that result in the need for inter-professional working in order to support the life chances of children and young people, families and adults in need.

Students will be supported to critically evaluate and analyse the process of inter-professional working and its effectiveness through teaching and learning activities and research activities. These activities facilitate the opportunity for students to develop personal and professional skills such as evidence-based decision making, managing potential barriers to inter-professional working, the importance of inclusion of the service user in discussion and decision making, and promoting social justice.

Students will learn about current legislation and policy initiatives that prioritise joint working and partnership practice. This unit also considers the historical roots of inter-professional working.

To summarize, the unit fosters students’ critical appreciation of the legislative, policy and operational environment of the human services in order to develop their professional employability. 

Law, Society And Controversy

The unit has a principle aim to provide a broad introduction and foundational knowledge to the legal system, its institutions and practices, in the UK and internationally. The learning on the unit will consider the relevance of the law and how it impacts on society and orders social life. These frameworks will enable a range of current controversies to be examined and integrate controversy with regards to key issues and legal cases into the syllabus of the unit.

The syllabus is based on research addressing many of the key issues and debates at the centre of the law and society both within the UK and internationally. These lie at the heart of all the undergraduate courses taking this unit. The relevance of the unit is also evident in the many links between the law and the human services; the unit explores these links in terms of the practical application of knowledge and research by different
practitioners in the human services with regards to children and families, the police, health care professionals and social workers.

Introduction To Research And Social Enquiry

The unit will prepare you for degree level study by promoting your understanding of how and why we carry out research in the social sciences. The unit seeks to introduce you to some of the methodological debates and social theories which inform and underpin social investigation and to link those debates to different approaches in social research. You will consider topics such as ‘the nature of society’, its essential characteristics, and on that basis how best to go about investigating social life. Firstly, we will consider the issue of social investigation and science Secondly, we will examine specific areas of social life, such as crime/education/immigration/health status- in order to illustrate how answers to the questions raised in part one will tend to shape approaches to social research. We will also discuss relevant research procedures, in particular those associated with "positivism" and with "anti-positivism" or ethnography.  We will introduce alternative views - those of critical theory and post-modernism - which have a bearing on social enquiry. Thirdly you will gain an understanding of quantitative and qualitative research procedures and their methodological implications.

Whilst studying the above topics you will be developing your academic writing skills, learning how to construct your written work and learn how to source and correctly reference relevant research/academic material such as; journal articles, policy papers, official statistics and books. This will be excellent preparatory work for all your assessments and especially the level 5 Research Approaches unit.

The assessment strategies are designed to help you to develop the academic skills required of higher education and to further develop your understanding of what it means to ‘study society’.

Career Planning For Social Scientists

This unit recognises the investment made by SASS students in coming to university to study a degree and is designed to begin the conversation about possible graduate destinations. It will also provide a lens through which the opportunities within your degree can contribute to your aspiration and the achievement of your graduate goal and by embedding Personal Development Planning as integral  to your future success

Within a student’s career journey, it is important to undertake activities that allow for the understanding of personal values, strengths, and developing a realistic vocational or employment self-concept. This unit will introduce these frameworks and enable you to consider your career planning in an informative and structured approach as you continue through your studies by recognising and most importantly, valuing, your lived experience. 

This unit aims to:

·       To give  students an opportunity to begin plotting their personal development journey over their three year degree course 

·       Provide career development  interventions to assist students’ ability to identify their transferrable skills and articulate their experience, skills and attributes in a confident, meaningful and positive manner.

Childhoods In A Global Context

As practitioners we work with children and families from a range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This unit will encourage you to critically reflect on the nature of experience and practice in the UK and internationally with a view to improving services for vulnerable children, young people and families. You will be introduced to a framework of Global Childhoods, locating aspects such as care, education, health, support and well-being  as constructed within particular social, political, economic and cultural contexts, and consider the different theoretical models and approaches through which this diversity can be examined.  The unit teaching will make clear links with underpinning research and theoretical knowledge, to the study of childhoods, through international research, policy and practice.  

This unit will encourage you to investigate and analyse a range of approaches, and reflect on the relevance and significance of these for your own future practice in the UK and/or internationally. Throughout the unit you will be actively encouraged to examine  diversity and inequalities in childhoods. You will also be encouraged to reflect on your own experience and knowledge of childhoods in connection with the global and local childhoods you have explored. 

Care Of Older People: Health And Social Care In An Ageing Society

This unit aims to develop students’ understanding of key challenges surrounding an ageing population and introduce students to salient issues relating to the care of older people, including the health and social care divide, personalisation in social care, safeguarding, prioritising and meeting complex needs and the funding of long-term care.

The unit also seeks to help students familiarise with social theories of ageing and major gerontological approaches, including the structured dependency theory and the life course perspective on ageing.

By the end of the unit, students will have developed a critical understanding of key health and social care reforms and how health and social care interacts with other social services and benefits. Students will have also gained skills relating to critical policy analysis and evaluation.

Health Services Planning And Management

The focus of this unit is to lead students to become interested in exploring contemporary issues that affect the planning and commissioning of health care services in the UK. It will encourage students to understand the way services are resourced and organised to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse user group, workforce expectations and qualitative health outcomes. 

The unit is particularly relevant at a time when resources to maintain and deliver qualitative and efficient health care services, both in the context of the UK and in international settings, are stretched.  

As a final unit offered on the BA Health and Social Care course, the unit has a strong employability context that is aimed at equipping learners to advance into pathways in management and leadership positions in community health services, primary care services and other specialist health services.

The unit will also equip students with skills in gathering, reporting and presenting health information for a range of stakeholders, understanding the role of evaluation, quality assurance, and basic project management skills.

Health Issues In Gender, Age And Ethnicity

The unit will allow students interested in issues related to inequalities and health and healthcare to study and develop further concepts of health and disease from differing perspectives. It builds on the knowledge you gained on core units at Level four and five with regard to critical perspectives on health and illness and the social causes and social patterning of disease. Using a case study approach, and drawing on key research in the area of discrimination within health and health care, the unit will provide you with a critical understanding of health and care as it relates to gender, age, sexuality and ethnicity in the UK. It examines the conceptual and theoretical debates within the areas of gender, age, sexuality and race and their implications for understanding health inequalities and challenging the problems of sexism, ageism, heterosexism and racism in modern Britain. The unit also critically analyses historical and contemporary policy and its impact on differing groups in society.

Sass Change Maker Project Dissertation

This capstone experience provides students with an opportunity to join a community-based organisation and deliver a project that will encourage students to be reflexive about their role in social worlds relevant to their discipline.  They will develop skills through relevant partner training as well as project management, research and presentation skills which will make a positive impact to service users or the organisation/community more widely. In particular, the intention will be to create change and address inequality by responding to identified needs and promoting social justice.

By undertaking this unit you will have an opportunity to negotiate, plan, execute and evaluate your work, whilst monitoring your personal development against an agreed Personal Development Plan (PDP) in order to hone your employability skills. 

In order to complete this unit successfully, students will need to have presented a Project Proposal which receives approval as assessment 1 before the project is undertaken. Alongside this, the Student-Sponsor Agreement (including the agreed final method of assessment and evidencing a clear risk mitigation strategy) and the Personal Development plan are required at the end of the first 6 weeks. 

Sass Change Maker Research Dissertation

The aim of the unit is to consolidate and apply the knowledge gained from the previous years by demonstrating the ability to make sense of potentially complex and possibly contradictory findings and apply them to an area or issue related to your subject discipline. The Research Dissertation will allow you to examine contemporary social contexts and issues by applying subject-specific knowledge, theory and appropriate methodologies to the analysis of your chosen topic and consider how your work can contribute to the promotion of social justice. This requires the capability to inquire into complex issues systematically and critically and thus allows you to move from critical acceptance of knowledge to the critical constructor of that very knowledge and its broader application in society.

The Research Dissertation gives you an opportunity to develop a research proposal, consider the ethical implications of your project and to undertake an in-depth focused research enquiry relevant to your course and to your individual personal and professional interests and career intentions. It will take the form of either of the following: 

·       Primary research

·       Substantive literature review

·       Desktop research - secondary analysis project that addresses a proposition you wish to analyse in-depth

·       Content Analysis of policy documents, print media, social media, TV and/or film 

·       A Discourse Analysis 

The unit is additionally designed in part fulfilment of the University’s requirements for all award courses to provide opportunities for you to develop your personal development planning skills and evidence your abilities in independent learning. The predominant aim is to offer you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to complete a sustained piece of individual research on an appropriate topic in ways that also enhance your personal and professional development skills and that can be relatable to your future employment. 

In order to complete this unit successfully, students will need to have presented a Research Proposal which receives approval as assessment 1, before any research commences.

You will undertake this project under supervision in order to maximise the opportunity to fulfil your potential in these areas.   

Safeguarding Children, Young People And Adults

Safeguarding remains a relevant and core part of statutory and nonstatutory human and social care services that work with children, young people, and Adults. Policy and practice in safeguarding is constantly evolving. It is important that anyone working in the numerous settings which could involve safeguarding responsibilities understands the processes by which safeguarding concerns are dealt with, what informs
decision making and considers the evidence surrounding a range of interventions in this field of work.

The unit aims to provide you with:

An historical overview of the development of safeguarding policy and practice for both vulnerable adults and children

A critical understanding of current practice issues in safeguarding including distinctions between responses to adults and children

An opportunity to develop skills in research and critical evaluation

Enhanced employment prospects by equipping you with a thorough grounding in safeguarding which can be utilised in job applications

Understanding safeguarding within the context of Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Diversity

English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Introducing Academic Skills

Constructive oral and written communication, and the effective and ethical management and presentation of knowledge and information, are essential for both academic work at degree level and your professional practice. This unit will enable you to develop your understanding of the skills and conventions of academic study in higher education and within your discipline, and recognise their transferability to and relevance for your work with service users and professional colleagues. You will be encouraged to identify your own academic strengths, areas for development, and strategies to support your academic growth.

By the end of the unit the students will have gained an understanding of key academic skills such as assessment planning, how to effectively use BREO, searching for and sourcing academic material, learning to reference and how to construct essays, presentations and consideration of the differences between academic work and professional report writing.

Introduction To Health And Social Care

This unit is designed to provide you with an introduction to the history of health and social care services in the UK and the different models of health and social care. Additionally, it will provide you with a foundation knowledge and understanding of a range of different skills, values and ethical issues involved in working with vulnerable service-users in the health and social care sector. The first part of the unit begins by tracing the development of health and social care in the UK and introduces conceptual frameworks relating to the provision of health and social care.  In the second part of the unit the focus will be on the skills needed for working in the health and/or social care sector. For example, one-to-one work, group work and planning of work, professional ethics and boundaries, professionalism, etc. The main themes and issues discussed within this unit will be explored in greater detail at level five and six and so should be considered as a starting point to your study of health and social care.

Introduction To Sociology Of Health

The Introduction to Sociology of Health unit is designed to provide you with an introduction to a range of social factors influencing health status – from socio-economic factors to gender, age, race and ethnicity, disability, amongst others –, and to a range of social determinants of health – such as unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, lack of social support and social cohesion, poor housing, and sexual health. In addition, the unit also introduces you to sociological approaches to the doctor-patient relationship, the medicalised model of health and its alternative/complementary models, and the impact of technology in healthcare. Finally, concepts of trust and uncertainty will be studied in the context of epidemics and risk society.

Within societies, individuals' chances of good health and care vary according to social position and exposure to specific social factors and determinants mentioned above. It is crucial that you as a Health and Social Care student are equipped and empowered with a foundation sociological knowledge of health and illness and an awareness of the social patterning and causes of ill health. In addition, this unit will provide you with the confidence and competence to understand and critically examine such social factors and determinants impacting on equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Disability In Society

The unit aims to introduce students to the study of disability from sociological and psychological perspectives. These sociological and psychological perspectives, with other understandings of disability, will be examined to equip students with an understanding and knowledge of how these frame social policy, education, employment, and social care provision. The unit will expose students to issues faced by disabled children, young people, and adults in a global society. This will involve examining how impairment/ disability is interconnected with other variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, class, stigma, social exclusion, social movements, and globalisation. The contributions of disabled people in society are important, and so students will have the opportunity to read and explore materials that are practical and political in addition to the academic literature. Students will engage in cultural and cross-cultural comparisons in the context of disabled people in the Global South.

Refugees, Displacement And The Politics Of Migration

Voluntary and forced migration of people across the globe is an enduring theme of human history. International migration is also a key dynamic of contemporary globalisation. Some authors have suggested that we now live in an ‘age of migration’ and that this is a defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. This unit addresses fundamental questions about the voluntary or forced contexts of contemporary migration. The unit focusses on the forced displacement and migration of people across the globe. It will look at why the protection of forced migrants is critical in the twenty- first century; what are the legal, policy-based and human rights issues involved; where are the world’s forced migrants; and how do forced migrants find belonging and recreate their worlds in the face of increasingly restrictive policy and practice. Throughout the unit, contemporary forced migration is examined and students are introduced to the complexities involved. This will include looking at protection available for internally displaced people, the international system for refugee protection, human trafficking, the shrinking space for asylum in the UK and what happens to separated children seeking sanctuary in the UK. The unit is theoretically and empirically grounded, necessarily focussing on inter- disciplinary research that is topical and relevant. The unit also addresses the practical and ethical implications of working with displaced populations.

Work And Welfare In The 21St Century

Why do we have to work? What is the relationship between the work we do and the social benefits we receive? Who is included in welfare systems and who is excluded? Why? How will work and welfare change in the 21st Century? 

These questions inform the key themes of this unit which explores the relationship between work, welfare and our daily lives. Covering all of the main areas of welfare: health and social care, education, housing and pensions, students are asked to think about the relationship between the (global) economy and their own lives. The unit draws together themes which students will be familiar with from Levels 4 and 5, especially welfare, migration and inequality, but asks students to think about these in new and different ways with a particular emphasis on identifying and explaining structural causes.

Human Rights And Global Governance

The aim of this module is to introduce students to what is an emerging field in sociology. Human rights within the disciplines of law, politics and philosophy are well-established. There is, however, far less on human rights explicitly in the field of sociology. This module examines the role for sociology in understanding human rights and the role of sociology within the inter-disciplinary field of human rights and human rights theory and practice.   The growing interest in the idea of human rights within sociology is a reflection of the increasing prominence of human rights in political discourse in recent years as well as the need for inter-disciplinarity to address global and local challenges within a human rights frame. Yet, the idea of human rights has a long pre-history, even if that pre-history is much debated within human rights scholarship as a continuous or discontinuous enterprise. 

This unit aims to develop students’ critical knowledge of the origins, development and future of the international human rights framework. It further aims to critically engage students in contemporary political and theoretical sociological knowledge, such as globalisation, citizenship, global capitalism, nationhood, statehood, borders and identities, post-colonialism, etc, to deepen their understanding of human rights abuses and solutions. The unit further engages with sociology to reflect on the relationship between human rights and social structures / processes, and in this respect whether human rights are the solution or the problem amidst global and local human suffering.  

Using thematic case studies, the unit will introduce students to some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time and students will be asked to reflect on the value of human rights, human rights institutions,  NGO networks and domestic constitutions and processes for the redress of abuses. 

Overall, the unit will encourage students to reflect on the complex identity of human rights and human rights practices and fields, and all their promises and problems. The unit will draw on current literature and research, teaching from people with first-hand experience of human rights violations and human rights redress and activism across different global contexts, and It will also draw from the international research that characterises the research institutes in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences.  

Individuals And Society

The aim of this unit is to examine the particular perspective of sociology; how sociologists view the relationship between the individual and society. To do this we first need to establish what is meant by 'society' and how it affects and is affected by the construction of identity. This will help you to understand the relative influence of social, political, economic and cultural factors on the formation of social structures and social identities.

By studying this unit you will be able to understand the different social Issues, practices and institutions within society and the impact that they have on individuals. It will also build your knowledge and understanding of how sociologists explain, resolve and debate sociological issues within social practices and institutions.

Skills For Work And Personal Development

This unit will concentrate on the skills that develop your Graduate employment prospects, alongside developing the skills needed for success in the workplace. The unit offers you opportunities to learn these skills through a variety of workshop exercises that are linked to developing your employability and personal skills.

To achieve this you will build on and develop further your knowledge and understanding of the skills and abilities required for study at Higher Education and those required in the work place. You will draw upon the learning and development of essential academic skills learnt in the semester one unit Skills for Higher education. To demonstrate your skills development you will build a portfolio of evidence which will allow you to transition into level 4 with both the knowledge and evidence of those areas for improvement and those of success. 

The unit will help you to develop those soft employability skills and to begin to build your aspirations for graduate employment once you have completed your degree. It will help you to develop self-confidence and you will have the chance to work on practical skills that relate to the world of work.

Skills For Higher Education

Good study skills can increase your confidence, competence, and self-esteem. Study skills are skills all students use to study effectively, whatever their subject area. All students have them; it’s really about recognising them, developing them, refining them and using them more effectively.

This unit is designed to provide you with an array of practical skills in order to support your journey through the degree. 

The Unit aims to:

• Support students in identifying what skills, attributes and experiences they are bringing to higher education and what skills are required when taking a social sciences degree 
• It will introduce you to a range of practical skills that will enable you to produce a portfolio of work which will provide evidence of your skills development and preparations for level 4 study. 

Contemporary Society

This unit aims to highlight contemporary social issues which impact communities and the wider society.  A contemporary issue refers to an issue that is currently affecting people or places and that is unresolved.

The unit builds on the sociological theories learnt in semester one unit Individuals and Society. You will be studying topics that are current and topical and will gain a good grounding in identifying and understanding those issues that those in society. These issues will reflect both national and international social issues. This unit will provide a foundation of knowledge for those students doing social studies degrees at level 4.

Professional Practice Year (Applied Social Studies)

Increasingly, employers look for graduates who can evidence experience in work settings of relevance to the industry/organisations they want to join. This year-long unit aims to provide you with the opportunity to gain formally recognised and appropriate work based learning. It will allow you to develop your employability skills and reflect on your personal and professional development as part of a four-year degree course. The experience of work that you gain can be applied in your final year of study and will enable you to plan appropriately for a suitable graduate destination