BHS2320

Personality: beyond the persona

Maurie Hasen

8 points - 3 hours per week - First semester - Clayton - Prerequisites: BHS1320 and BHS1340 or approved equivalents

Objectives At the conclusion of this subject students should be able to identify and compare personality theories; evaluate their validity and utility; argue their merits and limitations; exhibit analytic skills required for the evaluation of their philosophic foundations; develop explanations for the manifestation of normal and abnormal behaviour; identify the limits of personality theories; demonstrate an awareness of alternative paradigms derived from systemic models; engage in self-exploration and reflect on their own personality and beliefs; and identify and interpret current events using constructs derived from this subject.

Synopsis This subject will examine personality from a series of perspectives broadly represented by the psychoanalytic, phenomenological, dispositional and behavioural approaches. Significant theorists representing these approaches will be studied and their theories evaluated and compared. Particular attention will be paid to Adler, Fromm and Horney; Laing, May, Kelly, Maslow and Rogers; Eysenck, Skinner and Bandura. The challenges raised by social, existential and humanistic approaches will be emphasised.The controversies associated with personality theories will be highlighted to elicit further debate in the classroom. The limitations of personality theories in contrast with more recent systemic approaches will be examined. This will include approaches and paradigms derived from psychoanalytic, structural and strategic foundations, and the work of Bateson, Ackerman, Bowen, Haley, Minuchin and others.

Assessment Weekly journal (3000 words): 40% - Essay (2000 words): 35% - Group presentation and write-up (1000 words): 25%

Prescribed text s

Monte C F Beneath the mask: An introduction to theories of personality 5th edn, Harcourt Brace, 1995

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