| Unit name | Children and Social Harm |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOL30079 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Stone |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This interdisciplinary unit will enable students to understand and apply social harm theory to the experiences of children and young people on a global scale. Using a variety of examples, this unit will explore the policies, practices, and social contexts which result in social harm for children and young people and consider how social harms are best responded to. The unit provides an opportunity to develop key skills in relation to critical analysis, independent research, peer feedback, evaluation, and writing.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This third-year optional unit allows students from different programmes to build upon and apply theory learned from earlier units. For students on Criminology programmes this unit will develop understanding of social harm, introducing ideas of how childhood is constructed and harms specific to children and young people. For students on Childhood Studies programmes, this unit will develop understanding of how childhood is constructed, introducing social harm theory and harms specific to children and young people. This unit complements learning from a variety of other units which explore social issues including inequality, social exclusion, poverty, and global challenges.
An overview of content
This unit considers the concept of social harm as it affects children and young people globally. The unit seeks to understand how social relations, policies and practices, discourses, actions and inactions can result in social harm caused to children and young people, either directly or indirectly. The unit uses a range of examples to identify the extent to which children may experience economic/financial, physical, sexual, psychological, environmental and cultural safety harms, and the impact of these harms on their wellbeing.
These examples may be situated within the family (such as the impact of parental neglect and abuse, or homelessness on children’s well-being) or within statutory institutions (such as formal political, penal, justice, educational and/or child welfare systems) or in society more broadly (in relation to climate change, cross-border harms, gun violence, and exploitation). Relevant policy interventions will be analysed to understand how we can develop a safer society that reduces the harms experienced by children and young people and debates about the way different types of harms caused by adults to children are conceptualised and responded to. Please be aware some of the content of this unit covers sensitive and potentially distressing topics. If you are considering taking this unit and would like to discuss unit content in more detail please contact the unit convenor directly.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Students will explore a variety of social harms which impact children. They will learn how vulnerability to specific social harms is increased due to the way childhood is constructed. Students will also examine the effectiveness of policy responses to social harms. Students will develop core skills in critical analysis, evaluation, and writing which will be demonstrated in the unit assessment essay.
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
This unit will draw on a blended learning approach. Students will engage with asynchronous taught content (including, for example, narrated slides and other teaching and research materials) and will be tasked to complete reading and/or activities in preparation for synchronous lectures and seminars to present and discuss ideas and clarify learning.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Students will benefit from a range of formative activities across the course of the unit. This will include the development of a learning journal which students will work on prior to seminars in relation to weekly topics. Relevant sections of the learning journal will be reviewed and discussed during seminars. Students will also have the chance to discuss and develop their summative assessment plans with peers and the unit convenor/seminar instructor.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Essay (3000 words, 100%). This assessment covers all of the ILOs.
When assessment does not go to plan
Subject to the university regulations for taught programmes, unsuccessful students may be offered an opportunity for reassessment. This will comprise a task of the same format as the original assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOL30079).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
