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Individual and Cultural Diversity (PSYC90009)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 6.25On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
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When people develop psychological disorders, whether in childhood, adulthood, or later life, they do not arise in a vacuum, but, rather, in a psychosocial context. Many individual and cultural factors contribute to this context, and the purpose of this subject is to explore some of these influences, and how they interact with each other. Such an understanding provides the context for relating to clients a whole person, rather than merely focusing on symptoms and diagnosis of disorders. Consideration of these factors is also crucial to the processes of formulation and engaging clients in therapy.
Topics covered include diagnoses as psychosocial phenomena, interpersonal bases of psychopathology and implications for psychotherapy; factors in help-seeking and accessing the mental health system; psychosocial aspects/perspectives on specific disorders or areas of interest such as physical health, ethnicity, cultural, gender, aging and family issues. Ethical issues, theoretical perspectives, current clinical practice and evidence from the clinical research literature are emphasised.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Critically examine factors relating to individual and cultural diversity, such as health status, gender, age and culture, including Australian indigenous cultures, and the presentation of psychological problems.
Skills
On completion of this subject students should demonstrate skills in:
- Appraisal of their own knowledge of diversity and reflect on its impact on their clinical effectiveness.
Application of Knowledge and Skills
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Apply knowledge of individual and cultural diversity to their understanding of the presentation of psychological disorders, for example by examining the relationships between culture and mental illness.
- Integrate their understanding of the dimensions of diversity with their knowledge of psychopathology and diagnosis to formulate a rich conceptualisation of presenting issues.
Generic skills
Improved problem solving skills
Improved written, oral and interpersonal communication skills
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Enrolment in one of the following Psychology proessional training programs, 527CL, 527CN, 080CL, 080CN or MC-PSYCHCS
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Completion of undergraduate psychology studies to fourth-year (Honours) level.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
An in-class presentation (20%)
An end-of-semester essay of 1500 words (80%)
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Principal coordinator Christina Bryant Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 1.5 hours per week for 12 weeks Total time commitment 85 hours Teaching period 29 July 2019 to 27 October 2019 Last self-enrol date 9 August 2019 Census date 31 August 2019 Last date to withdraw without fail 27 September 2019 Assessment period ends 22 November 2019 Semester 2 contact information
Time commitment details
85 hours
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
No prescribed text. A series of readings will be available at the beginning of semester.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Last updated: 3 November 2022