Teaching Clinical Sociology: The Introductory Course

This paper discusses the aims and format of an introductory course in clinical sociology. It reviews the process of teaching clinical sociology as a profession and teaching the theoretical basis that distinguishes the field. Case studies, guest practitioners, and practical exercises are used to prompt an application and integration of the acquired knowledge. Ideally, the course reviewed here can serve as a model for others devising courses in this emerging field or for those attempting to bring some uniformity to the clinical sociology curriculum

Identification of Violence in Psychiatric Case Presentations

Previous research on medical discourse suggests that physicians minimize patients\u27 social problems through conversational and linguistic interactions. There has been little assessment, however, of the neglect of violence by psychiatric staff. In an attempt to address this important area, the case presentations of 77 recently violent psychiatric patients were examined. A contextual analysis of the violence mentioned during the case presentations revealed four categories of identification violence as part of the primary problem, as a psychiatric disorder, as an unrelated incident, or not mentioned at all In nearly two-thirds of the case presentations, the violence was not identified as part of the primary problem The findings and case examples substantiate the assertion that social problems are neglected, minimized, or medicalized in medical discourse They also suggest that clinical protocol should be established to ensure more extensive consideration of the dangerousness implied by reported violenc