Special issues of psychology relating to law and human sciences

Teacher(s)

Garcia Penafiel Mauricio;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

General objective: To provide students with an interdisciplinary vision of the phenomenon of risk with a more in depth development of risk behaviour and its psychological understanding. Specific Objectives: by the end of the course students will: • Have the knowledge and interdisciplinary approach of the phenomenon of risk and therefore have mastered the intellectual exercise of cross-referencing distinct disciplinary viewpoints to analyse a human phenomenon. • Be familiar with theoretical foundations emanating from anthropology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and sociology to understand and analyse various forms of risk behaviour. • Be familiar with descriptive data on risk behaviour of youth, the practice of high-risk sports, and will be able to make use of theoretical markers enabling their understanding and discussion. • Possess reading keys for interpreting risk behaviour and understand their logic in contemporary society.

Content

This course seeks to deepen the students’ knowledge of psychology as well as implement the psychological approach to the analysis and understanding of an issue or problem worthy of interest in the fields of Human Sciences and Law. It is therefore a highly interdisciplinary course, in which psychology remains the leading point of view in the analysis of issues.

This year we will address the issue of risk, particularly "risk behaviour." Why, in societies that achieve significant levels of security, is there an increase in the deliberate quest for risk? This is one of the central issues of the course. Beyond the practical and legal problems associated with risk behaviour, we need to understand what it indicates, what subjective motives it reveals.
We will first address the issue through a description and a more anthropological introduction then question the psychological concepts mobilised in this approach and further analyse them.

1. Risk status in contemporary societies.
2. Risk behaviour of the youth.
3. High-risk sports and extreme adventurers.
4. Pleasure and enjoyment in the deliberate quest for risk.
5. The illusion and "game" at the basis of risk taking.
6. The denial, belief and illusion of control in risk taking.
7. The issues of recognition in risk behaviour.

Teaching methods

The course will be taught in the form of a supervised seminar. Students will have an active participation in the conduct of sessions. They will be divided into groups and during 3 weeks, some of the groups will make a presentation. The presentation of each group will take place after o preparation with the teacher if necessary. In addition, the teacher will develop the foundations of the issue, as well as the synthesis and conclusion.
Whenever possible, field workers will be invited to the class sessions to start a discussion with students.

Evaluation methods

The evaluation includes a written group work and an individual oral exam.

Other information

None

Bibliography

1. Cahier de Lectures
• Freud, Sigmund : « Au-delà du principe du plaisir », dans : Œuvres complètes, vol 15, Paris, PUF, 1996, pp.277 - 338
• García, Mauricio : « Le désir de risque : qui jouit, qui angoisse ? », dans : Cartuyvels, Y. (Comp) : Les ambivalences du risque. Regards croisés en sciences humaines, Bruxelles, Facultés Universitaires Sain Louis, 2008, pp.421 – 438.
• Le Breton, David : Conduites à risque, PUF, Paris, 2002.
• Mannoni, Octave : « Je sais bien mais quand même », dans : Clés pour l’imaginaire, Paris, Seuil, 1969, pp.7-33.
• Gori, Roland : : « Le risque, un ami qui vous veut du bien », dans : De quoi la psychanalyse est-elle le nom, Paris, Denoël, 2010, pp.183-254.
• Winnicott, Donald  W : « Objets Transitionnels et phénomènes transitionnels », dans : Jeu et Réalité, Paris, Paris, Gallimard, 1975, pp27-64.

2. Bibliographie complémentaire
• Cartuyvels, Y. (Comp) : Les ambivalences du risque. Regards croisés en sciences humaines, Bruxelles, Facultés Universitaires Sain Louis, 2008.
• Duparc, François et Vasseur Christian (Comp.) : Les conduites à risque au regard de la psychanalyse, France, Editions In Press, 2006.
• Todorov, Tzvetan : La vie commune. Essai d’anthropologie générale (chapitre 3, « La reconnaissance et ses destinées) ,Seuil, Paris, 1995.

Faculty or entity

DRTB