IA180-3-FY-CO:
Understanding People and Society

The details
2025/26
Essex Pathways
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Foundation/Year Zero: Level 3
Current
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 26 June 2026
30
12 May 2025

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

BA M903 Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA QX41 Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) (Including Foundation Year),
BA QQ16 English Language and Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA QQ24 English Language and Literature (Including Foundation Year),
BA L250 International Relations (Including Foundation Year),
BA LR59 International Relations and Modern Languages (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA Q143 Language Studies (4 Years Including Foundation Year),
LLB M101 Law (Including Foundation Year),
BA Q102 Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA P300 Media and Digital Culture (Including Foundation Year),
BA R999 Modern Languages (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA RQ98 Modern Languages and Linguistics (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA L0V2 Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L202 Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L304 Sociology (Including Foundation Year),
BA LMHX Sociology and Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA C848CO Psychodynamic Practice (Including Foundation Year),
BA C89C Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MM30 Law with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MV06 Law with Philosophy (Including Foundation Year),
BA L908 Global Studies (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
LLB MN03 Law with Business (Including Foundation Year),
BA L523 Childhood Studies (Including Foundation Year),
LLB MM03 Law with Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BSC L313 Sociology with Data Science (Including foundation Year),
BA L913 Global Studies with Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L916 Global Studies with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA L401 Social Change (Including Foundation Year),
BA L934 Global Studies with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC Q121 Computational Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA R105 Global Studies and Language Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R107 Language Studies with Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R111 International Relations and Language Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R115 Language Studies and Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA R117 Language Studies and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Including Foundation Year),
BA LY13 Social Sciences (Including Foundation Year),
BA L995 Global Studies with Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA L991 Global Studies and Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA C901 Global Studies with Sustainability (Including Foundation Year),
BA L351 Sociology and Health (including Foundation Year),
BA Q912 Modern Languages Translation, Interpreting and Cultural Mediation (Including Foundation Year)

Module description

This module aims to establish a theoretical foundation for students pursuing degrees in Social Science through the introduction of some key theories and concepts associated with the fields of Sociology, Criminology and Psychoanalysis and Psychosocial studies. The relevance of these theories will be demonstrated through opportunities to consider their role in specific contemporary social issues.


In Autumn Term, students will use the lens of psychoanalysis to explore how people interact within society. They will consider the way individuals affect one another and how institutions affect the people who work in them and vice versa. Spring Term focuses on criminological theory and its application to contemporary society whilst also encouraging the development of a Sociological Imagination through considering current social issues based on the work of key social theorists.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To provide an introduction to the key concepts within Criminology and Sociology along with Psychoanalytic and Psychosocial thinking as applied to individuals, groups, organisations and society.

  • To introduce students to interdisciplinary thinking through the consideration of aspects of Criminology, Sociology and Psychoanalysis and Psychosocial studies within the context of contemporary social issues.

  • To encourage students to be confident in the expression of their thoughts and ideas in seminars and groups whilst maintaining a compassionate, supportive approach to self and others in that context.

  • To provide foundation knowledge and build on students' understanding about the dynamics of groups and society with the wider psychosocietal context.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, a student will be expected to be able to:


 



  1. Demonstrate knowledge of main concepts related to Criminology and Sociology and the social context of crime.

  2. Demonstrate knowledge of key psychoanalytic and psychosocial concepts as they apply to individuals, working and living in groups, in organisations and in society.

  3. Apply appropriate skills to help facilitate compassionate management of groupwork.

  4. Demonstrate skills in identifying appropriate academic sources and ability to incorporate into assessments, reference to relevant and appropriate research.

  5. Reflect on tasks and learning with a view to understanding self as learner in Higher Education.


Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)
 
By the end of this module, a student will have practised the following transferable skills:



  1. Critical thinking skills - understanding and exploring complex theories and ideas developed in lectures, classes discussion groups and seminars.

  2. Communication skills (written and oral) - discussing and sharing in a compassionate, supportive, patient and understanding manner.

  3. Listening skills - the ability to listen actively and receive, interpret and understand messages as part of the communication process.

  4. Organisational skills - (e.g. working independently, taking initiative, time-management.) Students are encouraged to work independently and to explore problems on their own initiative. The lecturer fosters these skills by providing bibliographies and referring to articles or books which students may then go and read.

  5. Inter-personal skills - (e.g. ability to work with or motivate others, flexibility/adaptability). The ability to work with other people is fostered in the experiential exercises which provide deep learning about working in and with groups.

  6. Research Skills - students are encouraged to learn some research skills through selecting and evaluating relevant sources, using the University Library and desk research.

Module information

Indicative Syllabus


Autumn Term



  • Week 2 Introduction to psychoanalytic and psychosocial concepts

  • Week 3 Our adult world and its roots in infancy

  • Week 4 Intrapersonal dynamics

  • Week 5  Interpersonal dynamics

  • Week 6  Group dynamics

  • Week 7  Intergroup dynamics

  • Week 8  Organisational dynamics

  • Week 9  Authority

  • Week 10 Social defence Systems

  • Week 11 Synthesis and Reflection


Spring Term



  • Week 16: Criminology and Sociology

  • Week 17: Who commits crime, who controls it and how do we know?

  • Week 18: Crime and the media

  • Week 19: Gangs

  • Week 20: Sociology and Identity: Class, Gender and Ethnicity

  • Week 21: Sociology and Politics

  • Week 22: Sociology and Sociolinguistics - the impact of what we say and how and where we say it

  • Week 23: Sociology and the World of Work

  • Week 24: Writing Studios – Case Study Assignment Guided Preparation

  • Week 25: Society and Global Challenges


Summer Term



  • Week 30 Researching Sociology and Criminology - introducing various research methods relating to social sciences

  • Week 31 Researching the Unconscious - introducing various research methods for applying psychoanalytic ideas to social science - Socioanalysis, Social Photo Matrix, Narrative methods and Social Dreaming.

Learning and teaching methods

Teaching and learning on Essex Pathways modules offers students the ability to develop the foundation knowledge, skills, and competences to study at undergraduate level, through a curriculum that is purposely designed to provide an exceptional learning experience. All teaching, learning and assessment materials will be available via Moodle in a consistent and user-friendly manner.

The module is delivered via a 2-hour lecture and a 2-hour seminar or experiential learning class per week.

Learning support

Students are expected to engage with Moodle for materials and support activities. Students are also supported through the Listen Again facility and other teaching and learning technologies such as the TALIS list. All students will also be assisted during a weekly Academic Support hour.

Bibliography*

(none)

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Reflective Journal (3 entries in weeks 20, 24, 30; 900 words in total, 30%)    30% 
Coursework   Participation (5%)    5% 
Coursework   Formative Individual Virtual Poster with Small Group Discussion and reflective podcast    0% 
Coursework   Individual Virtual Poster with Small Group Discussion and Reflective Podcast (30%)    30% 
Coursework   Essay (1,200 words, 35%)     35% 

Additional coursework information

Formative assessmentFormative assessment
Formative assessment will take place throughout the Autumn Term of this module in experiential learning classes and seminars. During these classes students will undertake activities which cover the same learning outcomes as those in the summative assessments and receive feedback. After participating in various intergroup activities, students will learn from their experience of being members of a group trying to interact and work with other groups. They will be able to observe how the theoretical concepts can be applied to better understand practical situations. They complete observation reports to be discussed in seminars.
There will be an opportunity for a Formative Individual Virtual Poster with Small Group Discussion and Reflective Podcast (15 mins Discussion and 1-2 minute Reflective Podcast) in weeks 20-21. This will be in preparation for the summative version of this assessment in weeks 25 and 26.
There are also formative opportunities for work on reflection, essay writing, referencing and presentations within IA195 which support work in this module.
Summative assessment  
• Reflective Journal (3 entries in weeks 6, 10, 16; 900 words in total, 30%) - students will keep a reflective journal. In the Spring Term students will be demonstrating how they make sense of both the theory and the experiential classes which are a feature of that term. They will be able to reflect on their experience in the experiential learning classes and make sense of some of the emerging processes and dynamics.
• Essay (1,200 words, 35%) - this assignment will aim to investigate students’ understanding of some of the sociological, criminological, psychoanalytic and psychosocial ideas students have come across in the module. The focus will be on considering how these ideas are applied to broader social contexts – organisations and society.
• Virtual Poster, Small Group Discussion, Podcast Feedback Response (n/a words, 50-minute small group discussion, 2-3 mins Podcast, 30%) - in this assessment students will demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Criminological and Sociological theories introduced through the module via production of a Virtual Poster. Students will choose one from a selection of topics on which to base their Poster. It will aim to find out how well students have grasped the main ideas and thinking and how they can apply these in context. Then, in a 50-minute session, a small group of 4-5 students will work together to discuss the content of each other’s Posters. The aim of this will be to demonstrate skills related to active listening and managing compassionate and supportive group work. In addition, students can make note of their peers’ comments for improvement. After the session, students will make a podcast in which they identify any amendments they would like to make to their Virtual Poster based on the discussion and peer feedback.
• Participation (5%) - students attend classes and play active role in discussions on a consistent basis actively supporting, engaging and listening to peers.
Reassessment strategy 
Failed Coursework - resubmit a piece of coursework (1,500 words) which will be marked as 100% of the new module mark. The reassessment task will enable the relevant learning outcomes to be met.

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

Miss Jan O'Driscoll
University of Chester
Dean of Lifelong Learning and Director of Foundation Years
Resources
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.

 

Further information
Essex Pathways

* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.

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