Undergraduate - UnitPSY3190 - Addiction studies

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	School of Psychology and Psychiatry
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2013 (Day) Clayton Second semester 2013 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Penelope Hasking

Synopsis

The unit gives students an overview of issues related to addictive behaviours. While the primary emphasis is on substance use, behavioural addictions such as gambling are also addressed. Students are introduced to problems in defining addiction and will be introduced to a range of theories which attempt to explain addictive behaviours. Issues relating to treatment of addictive behaviours will be introduced including prevention of addictive behaviours, assessment and various treatment options available. Students will be introduced to drug policy options in Australia and around the world.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit, students will have the ability to:

discuss the complexities in defining addiction, and the many behaviours which may come under this heading;
critique competing theories of addictive behaviour;
critique competing policy options;
discuss specific issues facing particular groups of substance users and situate these issues in a broader social context; and
evaluate the evidence for various models for preventing and treating addictive behaviours.