Unit name | Law and Governance for Mental and Social Well-Being |
---|---|
Unit code | LAWDM0132 |
Credit points | 30 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Professor. Judy Laing |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit aims to provide a firm knowledge and understanding of the relationships between mental health and mental capacity in the context of concerns for different modes of law and governance, and under the broad umbrella of social welfare. The unit approaches these questions through a range of practical, legal, and critical pathways, explaining the relevant legal frameworks, their application, and the basis of empirically-based and theoretically-led challenges to current mental health law and policy. Studies will be related to national and international governance instruments, including those based in human rights, and will incorporate perspectives including individual-based and population approaches, and address concerns about how social responsibility for mental health and well-being is and should be manifested.
The Unit aims to develop an understanding of Mental Health and Mental Capacity Law, considered in a broad social and legal context.
On completion of the Unit, students should be able to:
The Unit will provide thirty contact hours, comprised in eight topic/approach-focused lectures, two lectures focused on feedback and coursework preparation, and ten two-hour seminars incorporating mixed teaching and learning methods.
The summative assessment for this Unit will be in the form of 1 x 2000-word critical, discursive essay, weighted at 33%, and 1 x 4000-word law reform project, weighted at 67% (this will be a research and advocacy project, on whose structure and content students will receive clear guidance). Students’ overall mark will be established by the combined result of the two assignments.
As it is an innovative assessment method, it may be useful to see some further detail on the law reform project:
The subject matter of the assignments will relate to practical points addressed through the learning and teaching, and will assess all of the intended learning outcomes of the Unit. The first assessment will in particular focus on ILOs 1, 3, 4, and 6, and the second will in particular focus on ILOs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7.
The formative assessment will be one 1500-word critical, discursive essay. There will be an opportunity for direct feedback on a separate law reform exercise through student presentations.
Additional opportunities for non-assessed formative work and feedback will be provided through mixed teaching methods and student-led tasks in seminars.
Specific reading lists will be provided within the Unit Guide as updated annually. These will include textbook readings, primary legal and regulatory materials, and secondary materials such as public reports and academic works.
Indicative points of reference: