This course will provide an in-depth understanding of ‘dangerous consumptions’ as social practices which can be fruitfully investigated through a range of social research methods. In addition it will examine the role of social research in the development and evaluation of policies and programs which aim to regulate and reduce the harm of dangerous consumptions. The course focuses on drinking, drug use and gambling in the contemporary Australian context.

The course introduces key methodologies, concepts and debates in the field. It will give students the tools to analyse and critically evaluate different approaches to research and different forms of governmental response.

The course highlights the individual, social and policy challenges produced by behaviours that are risky and potentially harmful but are also linked to identity, sociability, leisure and highly profitable economies of consumption. It draws on research from sociology, criminology, anthropology, psychology, public health and gender studies to examine the role dangerous consumptions play in contemporary life. This interdisciplinary approach enables the course to combine three broad perspectives:

1)       A socio-cultural perspective which focuses on the meanings of dangerous consumptions in particular social contexts.

2)       A health perspective which focuses on the impact of dangerous consumptions on health and wellbeing

3)       A governmental perspective which focuses on policy responses to the regulation and management of dangerous consumptions.

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

1. Understand and communicate the operation of ‘dangerous consumptions’ as complex social practices with multiple meanings and varied outcomes.
2. Evaluate governmental approaches to the regulation and control of dangerous consumptions.
3. Evaluate published research on dangerous consumptions and integrate selected research findings in their own written work for the course.
4. Explain sociological concepts such as deviance, social control, biopower, medicalisation in relation to dangerous consumptions, and apply these concepts in their own written work.
5. Synthesise theoretical and empirical material on dangerous consumptions to produce a research essay focused on one of the course modules.

The workload will be two 2 hour sessions on campus per week for 6 weeks.

The on campus session will include a lecture and workshop activities.

 There is an expectation of 16 hours per week of independent study, including

participation in weekly online tutorials and discussion forums.

-

Students taking this course will have been accepted into the Masters of Social Research Program. Therefore they will be assumed to have a relevant undergraduate pass degree of an acceptable standard and a satisfactory proficiency in English.

Valverde, M. (1998) Disease of the Will: Alcohol and the Dilemmas of Freedom, Cambridge University Press.

Duff, C. 2007. “Towards a Theory of Drug Use Contexts: Space, Embodiment and Practice”. Addiction Research and Theory. 15(5):503-519.

Fraser, S. & Valentine, K. (2008) Substance & Substitution: Methadone Subjects in Liberal Societies, Palgrave.

Reith, G (Ed) (2003) Gambling: Who Wins? Who Loses? New York: Prometheus Books. 

Bull, M (2008) Governing the Heroin Trade, Ashgate.

Teaching space requires data projection and PC, DVD. Students require access to wattle.