Rationale of Social Psychology

Meet the key ideas of social psychology (social cognition, the self-concept, conformity, compliance and obedience, and prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination), see where the discipline sits among the social sciences and at which levels it explains behaviour, and judge why it matters for Rwanda, including what its failed replications teach.

2

Key Theories of Social Psychology

Weigh seven major theories of how social behaviour is formed and changed: Weiner's attribution theory, self-determination theory, social facilitation, Festinger's cognitive dissonance, Milgram's obedience studies, Bandura's social learning theory and Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory, each with its evidence, its critics and its uses.

3

Group Structure and Models of Social Group Formation

Classify human groupings (primary and secondary groups, collectives, categories, reference groups, formal and informal groups) and evaluate the models that explain how groups develop and change: Tuckman's stages, Kurt Lewin's change process, Fisher's decision emergence and Tubbs' systems model.

4

Intragroup and Intergroup Dynamics

Examine the forces at work inside groups (norms, roles, cohesion, social loafing, polarisation and groupthink) and between groups (in-groups and out-groups, boundaries, intergroup relations and conflict), and evaluate the strategies that reduce conflict, including Allport's contact hypothesis, superordinate identities and interdependence, with Rwandan cases.

5

Introduction to Health Psychology

Define health, illness and health psychology, trace the field's history from the humours to the biopsychosocial model, apply the main models of health behaviour (the Health Belief Model, the theory of planned behaviour and the stages of change), weigh the biological, psychological, social and environmental factors that shape health, and understand how people make sense of illness, with Rwandan cases and respectful attention to mental health.

6

Emotions

Define emotion and tell it apart from mood and feeling, classify emotions (basic, self-conscious, Plutchik's wheel and the circumplex), compare the main theories of emotion and their evidence, explain how stress affects the body and health, choose effective ways of managing stress, distinguish direct coping from indirect (defensive) coping, and describe what psychologists mean by well-being, with honest attention to which classic studies have held up.

7

Introduction to Psychological Disorders

Weigh the main ways of defining abnormality and the perspectives that explain psychological disorders, then describe the main groups of disorders (anxiety, OCD and trauma-related disorders, somatoform and dissociative disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, psychosexual disorders and psychosocial deviances): how each changes the way a person thinks, feels and acts, what is known about causes, and how each is treated, using respectful, non-stigmatising language and Rwandan evidence.

8

Prevention of Psychological Disorders

Explain the levels of prevention (primary, secondary and tertiary; universal, selective and indicated), identify the risk and protective factors for each main group of psychological disorders, and choose evidence-based prevention strategies, from parenting and school programmes to psychological first aid, early intervention in psychosis and suicide prevention, with attention to what works in Rwanda and what does not work at all.

9

Professional Guidance and Counselling

Distinguish guidance, counselling, psychotherapy and advice; describe the types of guidance and counselling and the ethical principles that govern them; practise the core listening and responding skills; and follow the phases of a counselling relationship, recognising its challenges and the qualities that make a good counsellor, with examples from Rwandan schools and services.

10

Counselling Theories and Approaches

Explain and evaluate the main counselling approaches: psychoanalytic and psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive, client-centred and humanistic, systemic and family systems therapy, and holistic and integrative approaches, applying each one's key ideas and techniques to cases and weighing the evidence for what works, including African examples such as the Friendship Bench.

Units

Rationale of Social Psychology

Key Theories of Social Psychology

Group Structure and Models of Social Group Formation

Intragroup and Intergroup Dynamics

Introduction to Health Psychology

Emotions

Introduction to Psychological Disorders

Prevention of Psychological Disorders

Professional Guidance and Counselling

Counselling Theories and Approaches

Units

Rationale of Social Psychology

Key Theories of Social Psychology

Group Structure and Models of Social Group Formation

Intragroup and Intergroup Dynamics

Introduction to Health Psychology

Emotions

Introduction to Psychological Disorders

Prevention of Psychological Disorders

Professional Guidance and Counselling

Counselling Theories and Approaches