SO125 Normality and mental health as a psychosocial phenomenon

Faculty of Education
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Michal Černý, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Barbara Strobachová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Barbara Strobachová, Ph.D.
Department of Social Education – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Dana Jakubjanská, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of Social Education – Faculty of Education
Prerequisites
SOUHLAS
Social pedagogy must reflect the role of discourse in the creation of human cognition. Emphasis on his discursive nature leads to the adoption of a constructivist concept of world knowledge, which, on the other hand, does not exclude the physical and biological nature of reality. This fact has a significant impact on the transformation of scientific theories in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. However, the majority principles of knowledge applies only to mentally "healthy / normal" individuals. People mentally ill, however, think differently, cannot be applied onto common ways of communication, do not fulfill social expectations, are less predictable, etc. Social pedagogy must work with the boundary of health and illness (abnormalities / pathology), for it is always tied to the geographical and historical context. Nowadays, at the time of dynamic changes in society, these borders are often shifted and their preservation could lead to deepening of social problems (e.g. homosexuality as a "disease").
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Main objective of the course in terms of learning outcomes and competences is to acquaint students with the discourse of knowledge and to show that even seemingly firmly anchored units of different mental disorders are subject to socio-cultural context.
Learning outcomes
● understand what is meant by everyday knowledge;
● learn how this everyday knowledge influences the general/ scientific knowledge of the world;
● analyze the possible ideological influence of "scientific" knowledge on individuals and analyze the power relationships that allow it;
● understand the socio-cultural pathology; ● study of the full range of mental disorders and illnesses;
● contribute to the destigmatization of mental disorders;
● understand the feelings of others around with mental illness as well as to the feelings of their family members, understanding their perception of reality;
● recognize the symptoms of mental illness in others around and recommend them as well as to their relatives an adequate assistance and/or treatment.
Syllabus
  • 1) Discourse of power - what is understood as pathological / what are the comparing methods;
  • 2) Issues of setting the standards, their forming or adoption, different concepts of standards;
  • 3) Issues in functional discourse analysis, applied methods in defining pathological situations : a) what does science say ?; b) what concealed consequences the desired thinking / negotiation has ?;
  • 4) Etiology of mental illnesses - contributing to nature x nurture. Emphasizing the sociocultural approach with no denying physiological and genetical factors;
  • 5) Organic mental disorder, Alzheimer's disease as a 21st century epidemic. Focus not both the patient and his background (familial, social). ALZ as a socio-cultural phenomenon;
  • 6) Schizophrenia as a serious mental disorder that affecting the individual's personality. Differences between schizophrenia and spiritual emergency (psycho-spiritual crisis);
  • 7) Affective and anxiety disordes: mental illnesses strongly related to the socio-cultural environment;
  • 8) Specific personality disorders: unique features of an individual PD´s - on one hand psychological theory asserts that each person has his unique and unrepeatable personality, on the other hand significant differences and specifics are considered as a mental illness. What criteria do we apply in decision-making whether this is just a "cute uniqueness" or a personality disorder in an early stage?
Literature
  • BANKOVSKÁ MOTLOVÁ, Lucie and Filip ŠPANIEL. Schizofrenie : jak předejít relapsu aneb terapie pro 21. století. 3., přepracované a doplně. Praha: Mladá fronta, 2017, 157 stran. ISBN 9788020442871. info
  • REGNAULT, Mathilde. Alzheimerova choroba : průvodce pro blízké nemocných. Translated by Daniela Šimková. Vyd. 1. Praha: Portál, 2011, 119 s. ISBN 9788026200109. info
  • KUČEROVÁ, Helena. Schizofrenie v kazuistikách. Vyd. 1. Praha: Grada, 2010, 106 s. ISBN 9788024720456. info
  • PRAŠKO, Ján. Poruchy osobnosti. 2. vyd. Praha: Portál, 2009, 359 s. ISBN 9788073675585. URL info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. Archeologie vědění. Praha: Herrmann & synové, 2002, 318 s. info
  • DÖRNER, Klaus and Ursula PLOG. Bláznit je lidské : učebnice psychiatrie a psychoterapie. Translated by Jan Lorenc. Vyd. 1. Praha: Grada, 1999, 353 s. ISBN 8071696285. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. Dějiny sexuality. I, Vůle k vědění : La volonté de savoir : historie de la sexualité. I (Orig.) : Vůle k vědění : dějiny sexuality. I (Variant.). [v Praze]: Herrmann & synové, 1999, 189 s. info
  • BERGER, Peter L. and Thomas LUCKMANN. Sociální konstrukce reality : pojednání o sociologii vědění. Edited by Radim Marada, Translated by Jiří Svoboda. 1. vyd. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 1999, 214 s. ISBN 8085959461. info
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, group projects, presentations by professionals in the sectors, homework, reading, academic essays, sypozium
Assessment methods
seminar work, class discussion - activ participation, academic essay, final sympozium
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 12 hodin.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2024, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2024/SO125