Sociology with Counselling Skills BSc (Hons)

The following list is only indicative and will be annually updated according to changing requirements.

• What is theory
• Whose knowledge counts?
• What role did modernity and colonialism play in the development of sociology 
• Conflict theories
• Functionalism
• Bureaucracy, rationalisation and McDonaldisation
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Individualisation and Risk Society
• Theorising inequalities
• Postmodernity 

Rationale: The module is designed to provide an introduction to some of the key theoretical and methodological perspectives central to Sociology. The analysis of these perspectives will be related to contemporary times and events and explored to develop an understanding of the practical utility of “Sociological Imagination” to approach the study of society. The emphasis throughout will be on how “Sociological Imagination” provides a critical and analytical tool to interpret social phenomena and challenge dominant or conventional understanding of them.

Aims:

1. To provide a basic understanding of the perspectives which are central to contemporary sociology.

2.  To facilitate application of these perspectives to the study of the social structure of the contemporary world.

3. To make evident the role of modernity and colonialism in the development of sociology as a discipline and how this legacy is dealt with in sociology today.

The module provides students with a grounding in basic concepts in sociology and demonstrates the breadth of sociological investigation in contemporary society. These content-oriented elements are combined with the simultaneous development of the necessary practical and academic skills in order that students can themselves engage with the sociological understanding of the relationship between self and society.

Block 1 Introductory themes

• What is Social Science?
• What does social science do, and how does it do it?
• Social identities - individual and collective
• Social divisions - diversity and inequality

  Block 2 Thematic Applications of Social Science (illustrative content only)

• Education
• Work and Leisure
• Consumption
• Body, Health and Medicine
• Culture, Knowledge and Belief
• Impairment, normalcy and disability
• Cities and Communities
• Sociology and Sustainability debates
• Power and protest

  The following study skills sessions are embedded within the module, commencing at week 1

• Study skills audit
• Reading
• Information retrieval
• Note taking
• Essay planning
• Essay writing
• Referencing

The module is designed to give students a broad thematic introduction to key problems and issues in understanding contemporary society, whilst simultaneously building the study skills necessary for HE. Thus it provides a necessary basis for moving on to levels five and six. The content corresponds to the thematic and topical approaches within the subject benchmarking and introduces students to the potential breadth of the discipline, whilst providing an understanding of the particular qualities of the programme. Practical study skills sessions are embedded within the lecture series. The module provides a platform for all Social Science students to build upon and to understand the application of social scientific principles to particular cases, concepts and events, anticipating the development of more independent analysis, particularly in relation to third year dissertations.

Block 1: Origins and underpinning ideas

• Emergence of Industrial Society
• Political Discourse
• Welfare and Inequality
• Components of Welfare: Housing, Health, Education and Labour
• Liberal Solutions
• Public health, Private concerns
• Women, Children and Work
• Philanthropy
• The War Economy and Welfare
• The Beginnings of State Intervention

Block 2: Late 20th century

• Formation of the Welfare State 
• Welfare state and limitations of State provision
• Breakdown of consensus
• Privatisation and Free Market solutions
• The search for a 'third way'

[N.b. these themes are broadly indicative of module lecture content]

This module is a core module in the Sociology programme. It provides an historical background to the development of the welfare state, including its foundation and subsequent development under the market rationale. The module introduces a broad-based theoretical framework, which prepares students for more specialised study in subsequent years of the course.

• To locate the development of social policy within the context of major social, economic and political changes occurring during the nineteenth, twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. 
• To introduce the main traditions of sociological thought influencing the development of social policy during this period. 
• To develop a basic understanding of a range of theoretical perspectives drawn from sociology and politics. 
• To apply these theoretical perspectives in the critical analysis of historical welfare policy developments.
• To examine the changing role of the state in welfare policy and provision.

This module introduces students to the complex interrelationships between media, representation and society. As Stuart Hall argues, mediated forms of representation are not simply depictions of reality, they are constitutive of social meaning and reality. The module offers students:

• An introduction to academic theories and concepts of representation;
• An introduction to the relationship between media representation and power, and an understanding of the role that media representation plays in shaping social issues and inequalities;
• A consideration of how media shapes social identities, perceptions and realities in ways that go beyond simplistic models of media ‘effects’.

The module offers case studies of representations generated across a range of media sites, including television, film, literature, advertising, online news and magazines, YouTube, and social media. Students are given the opportunity to analyse the role of representation in relation to a range of contemporary social issues. The module also encourages students in the development of key study skills commensurate with Level 4, such as critical skills, independent research skills and academic writing skills. 

Indicative content

Part one of the module focuses on key academic works by media theorists such as Stuart Hall, Richard Dyer, bell hooks, Rosalind Gill, Andy Medhurst, Imogen Tyler, and Roger Silverstone. Indicative topics covered include:

• What is representation?
• Why does it matter?
• Audiences
• Othering
• Stereotypes and comedy
• Objectification and commodification
• Representing ‘reality’
• Self-representation.

The second half of the module explores in detail the role of media representation in shaping social issues, examining how media representation can be used to construct, heighten, or potentially resist forms of social inequality. Indicative topics may include:

• Welfare and poverty
• Body image
• Screen violence 
• Immigration
• Sex and relationships

The module aims to:

1. Introduce the complex interrelationships between media, representation and society;
2. Explain academic theories, concepts and contemporary debates related to media, representation and society;
3. Enable understanding and appropriate employment of specialist academic terminology;
4. Facilitate independent analysis of the role of representation in relation to a range of contemporary social issues.
5. Develop awareness of how specific representations are located within frameworks of power and social inequality.

This module provides an introduction to the basic principles, key concepts and key theories that underpin the use of counselling skills. Students are introduced to the 'Core Values' and facilitated in their development of an understanding of how these create and sustain the helping process.  Students learn how to develop reflective skills and to relate concepts to models of the helping process.

• Basic principles of counselling skills
• Key concepts of counselling skills
• Key theories underpinning counselling skills
• The core values of counselling skills
• Study Skills including academic writing, referencing and library search
• Development of reflective skills

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce students to the basic principles, key concepts and key theories that underpin the use of counselling skills
• To familiarise students with the main approaches and models that inform the use of counselling skills
• To introduce students to study skills
• To introduce students to reflective development

The main purpose of this module is to introduce counselling skills in a helping relationship context.  Students develop understanding of these skills as embedded within a helping relationship and as distinct from other forms of helping. Students are encouraged to examine their own beliefs, attitudes, values and assumptions about human nature and human interaction and how these might influence their capacity to offer a climate of acceptance, empathy and congruence. The module aims to build a facilitative learning environment which encourages student development, thus promoting their understanding of and ability to work effectively with others in varying contexts. 

Part A:      

Preparation for Experiential Overseas Learning will take place at the university of Chester during level 5 and will include:  

• The multiple facets of Global citizenship
• Ethical engagement and practice
• Cross-cultural issues and sensitivity
• Intercultural communication

Theories, models and strategies of learning

• Theories and models Intercultural competence
• Theories and models of Integration and Multiculturalism

• Critical thinking skills and models of Reflection
• Experiential learning models
• Self-directed experiential learning

Personal and placement-related skills

• Enhanced independence
• Improved command of multicultural behaviour
• Increased knowledge and confidence in their individual facets of personal identity
• Effective time management and organisational skills
• Project management – working away from University and independent study
• Self-management and personal development
• Team building and team work

Part B:            Overseas

Students will engage in experiential learning activities overseas for at least 150 hours 

The purpose of this module is to enhance students’ prospects of completing an overseas placement to the best of their ability consequently it aims to:

• To equip participants with appropriate knowledge and skills to study or work in a different cultural, linguistic and/or social environment; enhancing ethical, cultural and intercultural awareness.
• To enhance students understanding of the ethical issues related to living and working abroad.
• To increase students Global Citizenship skills
• To provide an opportunity for students to reflect critically on their experience of living and learning within an unfamiliar culture, to their 'home' culture or ethnic group.

To challenge students to learn about themselves as global citizens in terms of life skills, career choices and academic development outside the classroom.

Preparation for the year abroad will take place in Chester during level 5 and will include:

• Cross-cultural issues and sensitivity
• Host-country orientation, study methods– economic, political and social reality of the country
• Orientation specific to exchange – health, education, gender issues
• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• Practical matters relating to living and studying in the wider world

Theories, models and strategies of learning

• Critical thinking skills, experiential learning       and models of reflection

Personal and placement-related transversal skills

• Effective self-motivation and independent resourcefulness
• Effective time management and organisational skills
• Project management – working away from University and independent study
• Self-management and personal development

Whilst abroad:

Students will undertake study at one of UoC’s partner universities; it is expected that students will choose a series of modules at the university abroad, which equal a full-time study load. This must be agreed by the host institution and the International Tutor. Students must supply details of their courses/modules on a learning agreement within 4 weeks of arrival at the host university, note students who fail to supply this within 4 weeks may have the opportunity withdrawn.

1. To experience academic life in country outside of the EU, enhancing cultural and intercultural awareness and increasing transversal skills.
2. To reflect on the impact of the experience in their destination on one’s own personal, academic and professional development.
3. To engage with the experience of study at a partner university to gain extensive first-hand knowledge and understanding of the relevant society from the perspective of the resident.
4. To further develop independent learning techniques.
5. To foster critical evaluation.

• Foundations of research - ontology, epistemology, methodology
• Philosophy of the Social Sciences - Positivist, Interpretivist and Critical Philosophy.
• Methodology of the Social Sciences - Qualitative, Quantitative and Participatory Action methodologies.
• Ethics of the Social Sciences.
• Research Design in the Social Sciences - developing research questions; objectives, aims and hypotheses, literature review, sampling, correlation.
• Research Methods in the Social Sciences - archives, documents, surveys, observation, focus groups, interviews, ethnography, visual methods, evaluation research, PAR, dialogue.
• Analysis - statistics; contextual, content, narrative and discourse analysis; triangulation; implementation.
• Writing and dissemination of research.

This module is designed:

• To introduce students in the Social and Political Sciences to the foundations of social scientific enquiry.
• To enable such students to distinguish between, and to apply, a variety of ontological, epistemological and methodological approaches.
• To enable students to assess the strengths, weaknesses and 'fitness for purpose' of research methodologies and methods.
• To enable students to understand the significance of, and to choose between, the methods of the social sciences in a variety of contexts.
• To make students aware of the significance of ethical practice when planning and conducting research.
• To enable students to choose between different forms of research analysis.
• To enable students to critique research and to select different forms of research design.

This module equips students with the theoretical tools to critically analyse the political, social and cultural construction of the body. Focusing on the body as both a product of culture, and a material, lived reality, the module gives students the tools to apply sociological theories of embodiment to a range of contemporary bodily experiences and practices.

The module gives students an understanding of how bodies are understood, categorised and regulated in contemporary Western societies, and how power operates through such processes. It begins by putting Western constructions of the body in context, with reference to classical philosophical ideas of embodiment, and their influence on the biomedical model of health. The module then illuminates the emergence of the body as an object of increasing sociological study and debate since the late 20^th Century, particularly the notion of the body as a social and cultural construct. This provides the theoretical foundations for critically interrogating the categorisation and regulation of bodies, with reference to literature and topics including gendered, racialised and disabled bodies. This enables an understanding of how power operates through processes of bodily regulation and categorisation.

The second term focuses more specifically on various contemporary bodily practices and experiences in our neoliberal consumer culture, and how ‘ideal’ bodies/ bodily practices are produced (and/or resisted) through digital and media culture. This includes exploration of topics such as diet and fitness culture, the beauty industry, cosmetic surgery, reproductive bodies and sex education. In doing so, the module encourages students to critically interrogate notions of bodily autonomy, agency and self-discipline, using theory. For each topic covered, students are encouraged to apply key concepts from the academic literature to their own relevant examples and analyses of contemporary representations and discourses of the body. The module enables students to critically engage with issues that are relevant to their own embodied experiences, and to the lived realities of bodies in society today.

• To give an overview of how the body has been understood and debated as a social construct in classical and contemporary sociological theory.
• To explore the many ways in which power is enacted in and through bodies through forms of social regulation and categorisation.
• To critically interrogate notions of bodily choice, agency, self-discipline.
• To examine the ways in which bodily autonomy and self-determination are unequally distributed according to power, and to understand feminist approaches to sexual and reproductive rights and justice.

This module builds upon knowledge and understanding about sociological theory obtained to date. Key to the module is theoretically informed debate on contemporary social issues, applying theory to 'real life' situations. 

The approach to theory in this module is explicitly anti-canonical, which means it aims to encourage thinking theoretically and working with concepts/problems, rather than learning theologically about sociological thinkers, even if they are made a little more diverse than before. Theory here is understood as

1) a language for making sense of social reality that has some rules and procedures (but which are not fixed).

2) Theory is also a practice: it is about engaging with the concepts in the language of theory and applying them to 'real life' situations.

Indicative content includes:

Block One: theoretical and applied groundings

• What is Social Theory
• Ways of using theory
• Applied theories
• Critical theory

Block two: Theorising contemporary social issues

Themes explored may include topical issues such as:

• Mobilities
• Globalisation
• Status and social class
• Decolonisation

To provide an overview of debates within social theory and how they relate to wider social issues beyond the sociology classroom, in order to prepare students for a wide variety of roles after graduation.

To develop the students' capacity for critical thinking, to be able to articulate such thinking and to reflect critically on real world issues.

To enable students to understand how theory relates to research and to be able to apply and develop theories within their own research.

This module will develop knowledge and understanding of counselling theories and processes. It will address issues relating to an individual's experience during the life span, drawing on theories such as those of loss, attachment, adversity as well opportunity and change
etc. to make sense of practice.

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce students to further counselling theories and processes
• To ensure students fully explore a variety of counselling and therapeutic perspectives
• To develop in students a lifespan perspective
• To enable an understanding of development, transition and change throughout the lifecycle.
• To provide students with additional study skills support and input
• To offer students the opportunity of personal development and learning

The main purpose of this module is to further develop counselling skills in a helping relationship context.  Students develop understanding of these skills as embedded within a helping relationship and as distinct from other forms of helping. Students are encouraged to examine their own beliefs, attitudes, values and assumptions about human nature and human interaction and how these might influence their capacity to offer a climate of acceptance, empathy and congruence. The module aims to build a facilitative learning environment which encourages student development, thus promoting their understanding of and ability to work effectively with others in varying contexts.  

The aims of this module are: 

• To develop students' practice of counselling skills
• To enable students to develop and demonstrate enhanced understanding of counselling skills
• To enable students to evaluate a range of skills in practice 
• To enable students to evaluate the processes involved in establishing the helping relationship
• To encourage students to critically reflect on the relationship between theory and practice

Pre-placement:

• Structured approaches to researching, selecting and securing a suitable work placement relevant to the student’s interests and career aspirations*.
• Writing an effective CV. Constructing a letter of application.*
• Interview skills.*

 *Note: Students are required to undertake these pre-placement tasks during term 1 level 5, as part of the placement acquisition process and will be supported by the Work Based Learning team and the Careers and Employability department.

 Induction Programme and Placement:

• The organisational context: research-informed analysis of the placement organisation’s aims, structure, culture.
• Self- assessment of needs: identification of the range of transferable skills, competencies and attitudes employees need and employers expect graduates to possess. (Employability Skills: e.g. verbal and written communication, analytical / problem solving capabilities; self-management; team working behaviours; negotiation skills; influencing people; positive attitude, resilience, building rapport).
• Devising a strategy for integrating into the workplace and work based teams
• Completion of online assignment tasks covering sourcing and obtaining placement; health and safety procedures in general; general workplace integrity; placement requirements. 

During and post-placement: Learning effectively in and from the workplace:- 

• Devising and implementing strategies to improve own approach and performance
• Critical analysis/evaluation of approach to skill development and performance in the workplace;
• Influencing the Placement Provider’s appraisal;
• Devising an action plan to develop gaps in transferable skills based on the placement experiences;

This module aims to enhance students’ prospects of gaining graduate level employment through engagement with a University approved work placement**, which will enable them to:

• Develop their understanding of workplace practice and lifelong learning;
• Enhance their work readiness and employability prospects through development of transferable skills;
• Take responsibility for their own learning and acquisition of workplace employability skills;
• Articulate, in writing, their employability skills.

This module is designed to enable students to identify and critically evaluate the nature of sociological knowledge and facilitates informed debate around what and why Sociologists do what they do. It builds upon knowledge and understanding about sociological theory obtained to date and further explores the concepts of epistemology and ontology.  Theoretically informed debate on key contemporary social issues will be facilitated. Illustrative content includes:

Block One: theoretical and philosophical groundings

• What is Social Theory
• Philosophical underpinnings
• Development of social theories
• Critical theory

Block two: Contemporary social issues

Themes explored may include:

• Mobilities
• Globalisation
• Health Inequalities

Advanced Social Theory will primarily explore the competing philosophical assumptions about society and the social world that underpin the different approaches to social scientific knowledge. The material throughout will allow the opportunity to reflect upon what we are doing as sociologists, and how that relates to the wider concerns we might have as citizens of the societies we study. The module will end by examining a selection of key contemporary sociological issues. 

• To investigate the scientific status of social science
• To provide an overview of major debates within social theory and how they relate to wider social issues and debates about the possibilities for a public sociology.
• To enable an understanding in detail of selected key sociological theories and an appreciation of the issues and tensions surrounding these theories
• To develop the students' capacity for critical thinking and to be able to articulate such thinking

This module explores the role that social scientists can play in communicating and raising awareness of key contemporary sociological, criminological and zemiological issues to the wider public. Students are encouraged to consider the role of social science beyond the university, and its potential to engage the public and contribute to social change.  

Attention is given to the role of power in how claim-makers can influence the framing of social issues as legitimate or illegitimate, and the differential levels of importance ascribed to issues pertaining to social and criminal (in)justice. This will be explored by considering narratives, debates and responses to key contemporary social issues. 

Within the module, students will also engage in discussion regarding the challenges associated with a move towards a more ‘public social science’ and will consider the arguments for making social science research more accessible to those outside of academia. They explore perspectives on social scientists’ social and political responsibilities to engage with, co-learn and educate wider communities. Students will critically consider their own roles and responsibilities as potentially informed advocates for progressive change on key social and political issues, on behalf of and in collaboration with marginalised groups. Through formative activities and summative assessments, they enhance their skills in communicating knowledge and alternative ideas to a range of audiences in an accessible way. 

The module is designed to develop students’ key skills as they assess contemporary and future aspects of sociology and criminology. The module will also help to develop students' critical thinking, as it will encourage them to consider complex and nuanced issues and debates, implications for social justice, and the potential for positive social change. Communication skills are also integral to the module, as students will be required to present academic ideas to different audiences.  

• To encourage understanding of ‘public social science’ and its potential value in engaging with wider audiences to inform public narratives and promote positive social change. 
• To help students develop a critical understanding of the role of power in determining how contemporary and emerging social issues and inequalities are framed and responded to within policy, media and public discourse. 
• To encourage an appreciation of the interdisciplinary relationship between sociological and criminological issues. 
• Explore the future of ‘public social science’ and the role that social science can have in engaging with wider audiences to inform and promote social justice narratives

Content will vary according to individual dissertation proposals

The Dissertation is designed to provide an opportunity for sustained and independent study in the final year of social science programmes. It intends to develop knowledge of, and critical insight into, a topic of the student's choice within the subject area under study. Students are enabled to undertake first-hand enquiry and encouraged to develop an analytical and reflective approach to the subject identified for study. The module aims to encourage the articulation of a critically informed perspective on the subject being studied. It also intends to enable the production of a coherent document of rigorous academic standards.

The content of the module will examine:

 Organisational dynamics and culture and how these affect the use of counselling skills.

• Counselling needs within organisations and how these are addressed.
• The use of embedded counselling skills.
• Difference between the use of counselling skills and being a professional counsellor within a workplace setting.
• External factors, such as legal and political influences, which affect the use of counselling skills.
• Diverse counselling workplace settings, including health, education, third sector and private practice.
• Consideration of ethical issues and professional standards in relation to workplace settings (with specific reference to the BACP ethical framework for the counselling professions (2018))
• Diversity and equality issues
• Critical reflective practice, with the ‘use of self’ in a workplace context.

• To gain a clear understanding of the difference between being a professional counsellor and using embedded counselling skills in the workplace.
• To look at the wider use of counselling skills across a range of workplace settings. 
• To evaluate the impact of external influences on the use of counselling skills in the workplace, for example social, political and legal.
• To evaluate the impact of internal influences on the use of counselling skills in the workplace, such as organisational cultures.
• To consider ethical factors in a workplace context, with reference to the BACP ethical framework for the counselling professions (2018), as well as other literature on ethics and /or standards.
• To reflect on own use of counselling skills in the workplace and consider future career choices.

It is important to have a critical understanding and theoretical background in the wider social, political and cultural issues which both challenge and inform the helping relationship.  This increased understanding will enable students to consider the implications for the helping relationship,  leading to a greater awareness of the issues which inform and shape both the helper and the helpee.  The module will cover:

• Theories underpinning multiculturalism
• Contemporary social, political and cultural issues
• Concepts such as social justice, equality, fairness, discrimination and diversity
• The links with the helping relationship
• Case studies evidencing the issues raised by multiculturalism
• Analysis of sources guiding the helping relationship in the context of multiculturalism
• Critical evaluation and reflection on the issues raised

The aims of this module are to facilitate students to

• Evaluate the role of multiculturalism
• Critically understand the social, political and cultural environment
• Critically analyse the theoretical concepts relating to multiculturalism and diversity
• Analyse the relevance of the context to the helping relationship
• Enable critical evaluation and reflection