Guía docente de Medicalisation and Suffering. Women Who Use Legal and Illegal Drugs (M15/56/4/24)

To analyse the current process of redefining the gender perspective in the field of public health, using studies on drug use in women as case studies with a new look in the field of drug dependence. Our final aim will be to develop skills and knowledge for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the field of public health.

The course starts from a basic knowledge about feminist research theory and methodology.

GENERAL AIMS

To study public health from a feminist perspective.

To analyse the current situation regarding the use and abuse of drugs from a feminist perspective.

To recognize the diversity and inequality in fields related to drug use and abuse.

To design and implement drug abuse preventive programs and addiction among women. 

SPECIFIC AIMS

To interpret and gather relevant data with a gender perspective.

To prove organization skills, capacity for planning, synthesis and analysis of data specific to the area of study.

Theory:

Gender and health.

Feminist epistemologies and lines of research in the field of biomedical and social sciences. Ethnography and health.

Process of medicalisation in contemporary societies.

Women as risk group: non-specific diseases. Medicalisation and suffering.

International context of drug use by women. Research and studies, what do we know of women who use psychoactive substances?

Always women: tranquilisers

Women, illegality and risk. New drugs use crises: from heroin to ecstasy. Dance culture and risk: the influence of gender on new uses of synthetic drugs.

Health and work in the community. Preventive and harm reduction strategies. Analysis of preventive interventions among drug users from a gender perspective.

Activities:

Critical analysis of a scientific articles where gender issues and drug abuse are analysed.

Video about relations between gender and health. “Mujeres de Hoy”. Instituto de la Mujer, 2007.

Analysis of the bibliography in the web side of Red de Antropología Médica http://web.me.com/josepmcomelles/REDAM/)

Atkinson, A. & Summall, H. (2016). ‘If I don’t look good, it just doesn’t go up’: A qualitative study of young women’s drinking cultures and practices on social network sites. International Journal of drug policy 38, 50-62. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo .2016.10.019

Bailey, L., Griffin, C., & Shankar, A. (2015). "Not a good look": Impossible dilemmas for young women negotiating the culture of intoxication in the United Kingdom. Substance use & Misuse, 50 (6), 747-758. 10.3109/10826084.2015.978643 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26086307

Beccaria, F., Petrilli, E. & Rolando, S. (2015). Binge Drinking vs. Drunkenness: The Questionable Threshold of Excess for Young Italians. Journal of Youth Studies, 18 (7), 823–838. DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2014.992321.

Hunt, G., & Antin, T. (2017). Gender and Intoxication: from Masculinity to Intersectionality. Drugs: Education, prevention and policy.  DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2017.1349733

Ballard, Karen & Elston, Mary Ann (2005). Medicalisation: A Multi-dimensional Concept. SocialTheory & Health, 3(3): 228–241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.sth.8700053

Bell, Ann (2016). ‘I don't consider a cup performance; I consider it a test’: masculinity and the medicalisation of infertility. Sociology of Health and Illness, 38(5) https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12395

Connell, Raewyn (2012). Gender, health and theory: Conceptualizing the issue, in local and world perspective. Social Science & Medicine, 74(11): 1675-1683. Disponible en:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953611003509?via%3Dihub

Inhorn, M.C, & Whittle, K.L.. “Feminism meets the "new" epidemiologies: toward an appraisal of antifeminist biases in epidemiological research on women´s health”. Social Science and Medicine; 53:553-67.

Norström, T., Rossow, I., & Pape, H. (2017). Social inequality in youth violence: The role of heavy episodic drinking. Drug and Alcohol Review, 37 (2), 162-169. 10.1111/dar.12582 Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.12582/abstract

Romo Avilés, Nuria (2020). Not without my mobile phone: alcohol binge drinking, gender violence and technology in the Spanish culture of intoxication [con María Angeles García Carpintero y Laura Pavón Benítez]. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2019.1585759

Romo Avilés, Nuria (2021) (con Laura Pavón-Benítez & Pilar Tarancón Gómez. “In my village everything is known”: sexting and revenge porn in young people from rural Spain, Feminist Media Studies, DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2021.1935290

Esteban, Mari Luz. 2006.”El estudio de la salud y el género: las ventajas de un enfoque antropológico y feminista”. Salud colectiva, Buenos Aires, 2 (1), 9-20.

Ortiz Gómez, Teresa. 2002. “El papel del género en la construcción histórica de conocimiento científico sobre la mujer”. En: Elvira Ramos ed. La salud de las mujeres: hacia la igualdad de género en salud. Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales-Instituto de la Mujer, pp.29-42.

Kandall S. R. 1998. “The history of drug abuse and women in the United States”. Wetherington CL, Roman AB, ed. Drug Addiction research and the health of women. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Gender equality and health

http://www.sophie-project.eu/videos.htm

Wola Project

https://womenanddrugs.wola.org/

Redes - La mirada de Elsa - Drogas, el alcohol. 2013.

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/redes/redes-mirada-elsa-drogas-alcohol/1698835/

Nuria Romo. Gender and Drugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezwUwwOCZRY

FIRST CALL

Continuous assessment throughout the duration of the course and two assessment methods:

Assessment method 1:

Attendance, active participation in class discussions (15%).

Preparation, understanding and presentation of readings (20%)

Assessment method 2:

Students are expected to complete one formative essay(55%)

Preparation, presentation and quality of the final work (references, style, presentation, content, sources and bibliography).

Presentation of the student’s work in a group session(10%).

SECOND CALL

Students who have not been evaluated through continuous assessment or who have failed in the first call will be asked to submit the following:

Assessment method:

Students are expected to complete one formative essay (90%)

Preparation, presentation and quality of the final work (references, style, presentation, content, sources and bibliography).

Defense and work presentation on publicsession (10%).

Article 8 of the "Normativa de Evaluación y Calificación de los Estudiantes de la Universidad de Granada" allows students who cannot fulfill the requirements for continuous assessment because of duely justified reasons to be evaluated at the end of the academic year. Students needing this form of evaluation should apply within the first two weeks of the academic year. The application should expose the arguments for such petition and be supported with the relevant supporting documents.

All applications will be studied by the GEMMA Master Academic Board."Evaluación Única Final" will consist of:Assessment method: Final Assignment. 100% of the final mark. Description: 15-20 pp essay on any issue dealing with the relations between gender, healthanddrugs.Evaluation criteria: Innovation, creativity, clarity of exposition, ability to argue, critical ability, agile use of pertinent bibliography.

Students and teachers play an active role in the teaching-learning process.The teacher is responsible for the presentation and development of active debates.

Students should prepare the readings autonomously.

The readings will be analysed and discussed in class.

Each student will write a final paper that will be presented and discussed with the group.