School Of PsychologyCritical Debates in PsychologyWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 100030.1
Discipline: PSYCHOLOGY
Student Contribution Band: 1
Level: 4
Credit Points: 10
About this Unit
This unit is the first of two that introduce students to the critical debates in psychology over the last thirty years that have led to the emerging field of critical psychology. It will explore these from an historical, political, a theoretical, and a methodological standpoint. This unit is intended to cover the historical development and current status of the different strands of psychological theory and research which have now come together as 'critical psychology'. This aim is to give students a grounding in the various approaches to the study of psychology which emerged during the late twentieth century in a range of disciplines and to provide an understanding of the academic and cultural context in which critical psychology emerged. This includes an examination of mainstream psychology as a focus of critical analysis; the development of critical psychology theorising in the nineteenth and twentieth century; and the foundations of current trends in critical psychology, including subjectivity and critiques of the self and identity; critical perspectives in clinical psychology; critical theories of sexuality and sex therapy; critical analysis in cognitive psychology; the crisis in social psychology; deconstructing developmental psychology; and foundations of critical theories in related disciplines.