Gender Sensitivity and the Human Services

This course provides students with the opportunity to critically analyse how gender is assembled and performed. The course develops students' knowledge of theories, experiences and issues of gender as they apply to areas of human services work. Students are encouraged to think about diverse ways in which social structure mechanisms can: support and maintain notions of femininity and masculinity, affect the choices available to women and men, and shape ideas regarding individual and social well-being. Examples will be provided by field practitioners to facilitate the examination of the economic, psychological, and social risks faced by women and men as consumers and providers of human services, and analyse the ways in which human services define, validate, and promote human well-being.