Adaptation, health and well-being from the socio-cultural perspective 3500-FAKL-AZD
The course examines health and well-being from a socio-cultural perspective, drawing on examples from Polish, European, and non-European contexts. This seminar aims to provide participants with a space for discussing selected contemporary issues related to well-being and health. The sessions will focus on key topics concerning transformations and adaptive challenges in the face of the complexity and fluidity of the modern world, individualization and reflexivity, as well as increasing diversity and mobility.
Discussions will cover concepts and phenomena such as adaptation and adaptive mechanisms, mental health problems and crises from a socio-cultural perspective, and the conditions and socio-cultural responses to the challenges of contemporary life (e.g., the concept of resilience, therapeutic culture, and the popularity of mindfulness). The course will also explore the differences between the sociology and anthropology of health and medicine, as well as fundamental concepts such as the distinction between disease and illness.
Additionally, the course will analyze issues related to the digitalization of health, including the role of online support groups, telemedicine, and the challenges and opportunities associated with the digital transformation of healthcare systems.
Another key area of focus will be the ways in which people experience and narrate their illness, as well as the impact of these narratives on treatment processes and social functioning. A significant part of the course will involve examining health inequalities resulting from factors such as race, socio-economic status, gender, and migration, with a particular emphasis on the health situation of migrants in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The cultural determinants of health will also be discussed, including culture-bound syndromes, traditional medical systems in Poland and around the world, and specific cultural perceptions of health and mental disorders, such as those found in Java, Indonesia.
Participants will be introduced to research methods used in the sociology and anthropology of health, such as qualitative research, narrative analysis, and ethnographic studies. Special attention will be given to ethical aspects of health and well-being research, including confidentiality, researcher responsibility, the relationship between researchers and study participants, and broader issues related to studying vulnerable groups.
The course will consist of short introductions to key topics, group and general discussions based on selected readings, audiovisual materials, and case studies.
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Is aware of social differentiation and existing social inequalities, as well as their impact on the life of individuals and the functioning of social groups
Has basic knowledge of methods used in research on cultural diversity
Can use basic sociological terms and categories to analyze societies, particularly contemporary Polish society
Can independently form simple judgments on the causes of selected social processes and phenomena
Can use basic theoretical categories to describe social changes in modern societies
Can form judgments on the motives of human behavior and predict its social consequences
Can describe the role of culture in the life of the individual and society
Can comprehend a scientific text and identify its main theses and the author’s arguments, as well as discuss them
Can participate in a discussion
Can argue a thesis
Assessment criteria
Final test at the end of the course, activity during the course
Permissible number of excused absences: 2
Rules for retakes: the same as in the first term
Bibliography
Bracken P, Thomas P. Postpsychiatry: a new direction for mental health BMJ 2001; 322 :724 doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7288.724
Broch, H. (2001). The Villagers’ Reactions Towards Craziness: An Indonesian Example, “Transcultural Psychiatry” 38.3 (2001): 275-305.
Brodniak W., (2000), Choroba psychiczna w świadomości społecznej, Warszawa: Oficyna Naukowa (fragmenty)
Craciun, M. Time, Knowledge, and Power in Psychotherapy: A Comparison of Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioral Practices. Qual Sociol 40, 165–190 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-017-9355-x
Fletcher D., Sarkar M. (2013). „Psychological resilience: A review and critique of definitions, concepts and theory, European Psychologist 18(1), 12.
Frank, A. (1997). The wounded storyteller (fragmenty)
Kleinman A., (1980), Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture. An Exploration of the Borderland Between Anthropology, Medicine and Psychiatry, Berkley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
Kleinman, A. (1988). The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition (fragmenty)
Kobierzycki T., (2011), Humanistyczne wymiary zdrowia i choroby, “Humanistyka i przyrodoznawstwo”, issue 17.
Rakowski, T. (2008). Medycyna humanistyczna. Nowe wyzwania w praktyce lekarskiej, „Medycyna po dyplomie”, nr 10.
Rathod, S. Contemporary Psychotherapy and Cultural Adaptations. J Contemp Psychother 47, 61–63 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-016-9344-5
Scott, D.A., Valley, B. & Simecka, B.A. Mental Health Concerns in the Digital Age. Int J Ment Health Addiction 15, 604–613 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-016-9684-0
Sime, D. (2014). ‘I think that Polish doctors are better’: Newly arrived migrant children and their parents' experiences and views of health services in Scotland, “Health & place” 30 (2014): 86-93.
Wierciński, H. (2001). Stosowana antropologia medyczna, czyli co antropolog może dać lekarzowi [W:] Ząbek M (red.). Antropologia stosowana. Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej UW, Warszawa (2001): 337-354.
Wright K (2008). „Theorizing therapeutic culture: past influences, future directions”, Journal of Sociology 44(4).
Ziebald, S., Wyke, S. (2012). Health and Illness in a Connected World: How Might Sharing Experiences on the Internet Affect People’s Health?, “The Milbank Quarterly, Vol. 90, No. 2, 2012 (pp. 219–249)”.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: