Social Intervention and Harm Reduction

Code:

P813

Acronym:

ISRR

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2015/2016 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Master Psychology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIPSI	22	Official Curricular Structure	4	-	6	54	162
MTP	13	Official Curricular Structure	1	-	6	54	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

1. To know and understand what harm reduction is and its importance. 2. To distinguish social intervention and harm reduction from similar forms of intervention (communitary intervention, health education...). 3. To know the different areas, methods and strategies used in drug use and sex work' s harm reduction. 4. Based on good practices examples, identify, characterise and critically discuss other projects and programs. 5. To apply acquired knoledge to concrete situations and contexts

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

- Know and understand the meaning of harm reduction and its importance

- Know the different areas, methods and strategies associated with drug use and sex work' s harm reduction

- Identify, characterize and critically discuss different harm reduction programs and intervention projects

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. 
1.1 Critical discussion of the concept of "risk": psychological risk, social risk, risks management, risk society,... 
1.2. The context of social intervention and harm reduction: marginality and exclusion at the pos-industrial city; Drug phenomenum social evolution and the emergence of harm reduction. 
2. Harm reduction notions, initial programs critics and principles. Harm reduction in the global strategy of drug intervention. 
3. Harm reduction in Portugal 
4. Main characteristics and programs: 
4.1. Characteristics: pragmatism, proximity, network,... 
4.2. Programs: drug use/drugdependence (syringe exchange, low threshold methadone programs, harm reduction in the sintetic drugs scene, consumption rooms, peer work,...); sex work (out reach and drop in center interventions; the main areas: HIV/AIDS ans STI, health promotion, violence and exploitation, human and civil rights, empowerment; methods: peer education, counselling and support, use of internet, informative materials,...; intervention with sex workers, clients and managers); ohter progras (alcohol consumption, ...)

Mandatory literature

Grup IGIA; Contextos, sujetos y drogas: un manual sobre drogodependencias, Fundación de Ayuda contra la Drogadicción, 2000
O'Hare, P., Newcombe, R., Matthews, A., Buning, E. & Drucker, E.; La reducción de los daños relacionados con las drogas, Grup IGIA, 1995
Marlatt G. Alan co-aut.; Harm reducation. ISBN: ISBN 1-57230-397-2

Teaching methods and learning activities

Expositive, group discussions, study visits to social intervention and harm reduction projects.

keywords

Social sciences > Sociology > Urban sociology
Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	50,00
Trabalho de campo	50,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

To get approval, 10 points minimum at the sum of different evaluation components is necessary. Evaluation will be based on the students performance in a final writen exam and in a work made in group. Both components count 50% for the final classification.
The result will be the sum of the classifications obtained in the different evaluation components: 
- performance in the workgroup; 
- final written exam 
Presence in classes is very important but it is not mandatory for more than 75% of them.

 

Calculation formula of final grade

The final classification (between 0 and 20) is obtained through the following calculation: it is necessary that the student gets at least 10 points in each of those evaluation components and the final classification must be of at least 10. Missing one of those evaluation components will make it impossible to get approval.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

The students with specific statutes will be evaluated in the same way.

Classification improvement

The attemp to improve the final result will be possible by repeating, only once, the final exam in the subsequent seaso to that when approval was reached and whenever the UC has exam scheduled. the improvement will only be appliable to 50% of thr classification refering to the final exam.