Course Description: Community care law and the law relating to people with mental health problems affects virtually every person in the UK at some time in their lives. The law and policy in these areas underpin expenditure of over £30 billion per annum. It directs the employment of many hundreds of thousands of professionals and lay advocates in the statutory and independent sectors as well as affecting the lives of over 6 million carers. Despite the fundamental importance of the law in these fields, its study has been largely neglected by University Masters programmes. The LLM in Social Care Law addresses this omission by focusing on community care and mental health law, policy and practice in England and Wales. The programme’s two core modules explore the origins of the law in both fields: the growth of the asylum and the development of the Poor Law. They critically analyse the current legal regimes and as well as the policy, research and theoretical socio-legal contexts in which these legal regimes exist. Students must complete four modules (one assessment for each module comprising of a 5,000 word essay or examination) and a dissertation (not exceeding 15,000 words). Students must study two modules from the LLM Social Care Law programme. Their other two modules can be chosen from those listed in any other programme or from a combination of programmes, including modules offered by another School in the University. Depending on the programme and the particular module, teaching methods comprise a mix of lectures and seminars, individual and joint written and oral presentations and distance learning. All modules are supported by extensive IT provision available on campus. Modules are typically led by staff actively engaged in research relevant to their subject matter.

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