Further Information
For further details about this course and to apply please contact the MOdule Leader:
Brian Pereira
b.pereiraucs.ac.uk|
Dates
Thursday 19 January 2012
Thursday 26 January 2012
Thursday 9 February 2012
Thursday 1 March 2012
Thursday 15 March 2012
Thursday 29 March 2012
Student Hours
200 total student hours:
24 contact hours
24 hours online (inclusive of academic tutorials)
152 hours self directed study
Rationale
This module provides an opportunity and an ‘open door’ to students from diverse backgrounds to gain a deeper and more systematic understanding of the key ethical and legal issues in their respective fields of work.
By focusing on specific ethical and legal challenges the module will aim to deepen the students understanding of the legal and ethical bases of good practice and additionally enhance their ability to think systematically about ways to tackle these challenges. The characteristic method of ethics, and the law, is argument – the development and reasoned criticism of positions and perspectives on particular issues.
The module will have a penchant for health and other ‘service sector’ related ethics and law. In a changing moral and legal climate, conflicts about the allocation of scarce resources, polemics about the boundaries of the market in health care provision, debates about the foetus and the concept of ‘personhood’, controversies about the role of new technologies in medicine and the perennially challenging questions about psychiatry, amongst a host of issues will feature prominently in classroom debates and discussions.
The implications and ramifications of The Human Rights Act (1998), The Mental Capacity Act (2005) as well as the relationship between law and morality and the nature of moral and legal rights will form the groundwork of the module.
Aims of the Module
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To develop a critical understanding of a range of ethical and legal principles.
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To apply different conceptions of ethical and legal principles to decision making.
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To gain a critical awareness of the connections and the interrelatedness of the law and ethics.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the module the student will be able to:
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Critically appraise and evaluate ethical theories that impact on their work/practice.
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Critically examine and appraise legal and professional principles, processes, frameworks and requirements.
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Effectively apply legal and ethical reasoning to practice, demonstrating a critical understanding and appreciation of the key ethical perspectives and legal principles that inform and influence practice.
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Evaluate critically the relationship between morality and law.
Assessment
Formative
An ethical debate that is student centred. Students will be expected to participate in an ethical / legal debate that would occur at the mid-point of the module. Students will be offered a choice of topics from a list provided by the module leader or they can select their own. The topic will be relevant to current issues and students will have guidance and support during the module to plan the debate.
The debate will have a quasi-formal structure, i.e. a chairperson, speakers ‘for and against’ the motion/topic, and a requirement the ‘everyone’ gets a platform to speak and contribute to the proceedings.
Summative
4000 word case study Weighting 100%
A case study on a relevant ethical/legal issue that relates to the student’s own area of work/practice.