Anthropological Perspectives (700L7)
Anthropological Perspectives on Mind, Madness and Mental Health
Module 700L7
Module details for 2024/25.
30 credits
FHEQ Level 7 (Masters)
Module Outline
Anthropology makes a rich contribution to contemporary work on mental health. For example, anthropologists have been closely involved in current discussions over efforts by the Movement for Global Mental Health to ‘scale up’ mental health provision across the globe; they have entered into long-standing dialogue with other disciplines over the construction of psychiatry in countries of the Global North; and they helped to ensure that the latest edition (2013) of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual recognises culture to the greatest extent yet. Anthropology’s engagement with questions of the mind and mental disorder dates back well over a century and has developed into an extensive field of knowledge and debate.
In dialogue with work in psychiatry, psychology and sociology, this module explores sociocultural perspectives on the shaping of selfhood, emotions, distress and madness. It will draw on anthropological research informed by fieldwork carried out in both the Global North and Global South: in communities, psychiatric clinics, marketing campaigns for psycho-pharmaceutical medications, religious settings, humanitarian interventions, and the international circuit of neuropsychiatric conferences and knowledge production. Among the key topics covered will be:
• Constructing self, psyche and disorder
• Culture, affect and emotions
• Classifying and managing madness
• Life-course perspectives, culture and mental health
• Addiction: desires, reward and regulation
• Medicating mind: the anthropology of psycho-pharmaceuticals
• Globalising mental health
• Medical pluralism and mental health
• Institutions, community and recovery
The module aims to:
- provide a critical introduction to the principal theoretical and ethnographic approaches that anthropology has brought to bear on mind, madness and mental health;
- generate understanding of social, cultural, historical and political influences on mental health issues and how they are framed;
- equip students with understanding of how anthropological approaches might be applied both to critique and contribute to mental health interventions and services across a range of contexts ;
- develop awareness and discussion of how anthropology and other relevant disciplines can engage ethically, sensitively and practically with the experiences and challenges encountered in relation to mental health, mental disorder and madness.
Module learning outcomes
demonstrate critical understanding of the distinctive contribution that anthropological theories and approaches make to debates around mind, mental health and madness, in interaction with perspectives from other relevant disciplines, such as psychiatry, psychology, social work, and/or sociology
recognise and assess the ethical implications of anthropological knowledge claims about mind, mental health and madness
appraise interpretation and methods within specific examples of ethnographic work focusing on mind, mental health and madness
critically discuss whether and how anthropological insights and data might inform improved mental health and/or well-being in relation to specific groups and people
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Essay (5000 words) | Semester 2 Assessment Week 1 Thu 16:00 | 100.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Semester | Seminar | 3 hours | 11111111111 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Dr David Orr
Assess convenor, Convenor
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