Sociology of Mental Health & Illness

Pre-requisites: Familiarity with material from social anthropology, sociology of family, social psychology, and especially knowledge of sociology of mental illness.

Course objectives: Gaining knowledge on the subject of the social nature of mental illnesses, particularly in relation to social factors, or demographic factors and social change at a median level in relation to the appearance and treatment of psychic disorders.

Course description: Through lectures, students will be introduced to relevant issues in Sociology of Mental Health and Illness: influence of demographic factors, culture, religion, family history, stress, natural and social catastrophes and examining the clinical perspective, distribution, prevention and treatment of psychological illnesses. Through seminar work, students will deepen and expand their knowledge of theory and the empirical nature of particular problems in the sociology of mental health and illness.

Learning Outcomes: Insight into the nature and effects of social factors on particular social phenomena(especially families with a history mental illness, migration, war, catastrophe and similar), on phenomenology, prevalence and treatment of psychological disorders.

Literature/Reading:

• Opalić P. (2008): Psihijatrijska sociologija, Zavod za udžbenike, Beograd
• Eaton W. (2001): The Sociology og Mental Dissorders, Praeger, Wespot
• Gallager B. (2002): The Sociology of Mental Illness, Prentice Hall, New Jersey
• Strotzka . (1972): Einfuehrung in die Sozialpsychiatrie, Rowohlt Taschenbuch V., Reinbeck bei Hamburg
• Munjiza M. (2007): Psihijatrija na pragu HHI veka, Panevropski Univerzitet Aperion, Banja Luka