Select one of the people from the 3 cases below, draw on literature to critically discuss the influence of roles, environment and life course on occupation.

3000 words
Notes:
This is a fairly broad title and selecting one of the cases will focus your discussion. Your discussion should include:
• A critical discussion of roles, environment and life course, however the discussion of these concepts does not need to be equally weighted.

You could approach this assignment in a number of different ways. The points below are examples and intended to guide you. They are in no way exhaustive and if you attempt to focus on all of them you will not achieve the depth of critical discussion required for this assignment.
• You could focus on a particular component of occupation (e.g. leisure, work)
• The individual in each case is experiencing change in roles / transition from one stage of the life course to the other. You could consider the influence of this on their occupation
• You could consider the person’s past roles and environment and how this has influenced occupation for the person across his/her life course
• You could consider future life opportunities for the person
You may ask your personal tutor to review a plan of your essay
Formative assessment
• This is an optional element of the assessment
• 1000 words of your assignment (include word count on submission)
• To be submitted on Blackboard by 23.59 on 6.11.2012 and feedback will be given by 13.11.2012
• Purpose of formative feedback
The purpose of formative feedback is to contribute to the students learning. In this module, the purpose of the feedback is to facilitate the student’s development of academic writing skills. The formative feedback will therefore provide feedback on academic writing skills more than content.
Case One: Mary

Mary is 11 and lives in a council flat in Southwark with her mother, step-father and two younger half-brothers (aged 3 and 5). She has lived in Southwark all her life. Mary has regular contact with both her maternal and paternal grandparents, but has limited contact with her father who works abroad. Her father moved out when she was 2 and her mother remarried when she was 6. Mary’s mother works part time in a local café and her step father works for the local council.

Mary used to love spending time at home, playing with her brothers and helping her mother about the house. More recently she has wanted to spend more time with her friends on the estate and enjoys going down to the local park with her friends.

Mary has just started comprehensive school. She enjoyed watching the Olympics on the television over the summer and with the start of the new term has signed up to do some athletics.
Case Two: Maureen
Maureen is 52, she moved to Southwark from Dublin with her husband 20 years ago. Maureen works part time as a health care assistant. Her husband is a long-distance lorry driver and spends a lot of time away from home. She has two children: Aiden (17) and Siobhan (19). Aiden has just moved up to Manchester for university and Siobhan has recently moved out to live with friends in North London.

Maureen is sad to see her home suddenly become so empty. She grew up with lots of family about, so moving to London was initially difficult. Developing her own family so soon really helped her transition to living in London.

Case Three: Winston
Winston is 68 and has lived in Southwark since the age of 6, after his parents moved to London from Jamaica. He worked as a bus driver until he retired 3 years ago, and has continued to work part time since. He lives with his wife Selma. They have been married for 45 years. Selma used to do all the housework and cooking, but has recently become ill and Winston now needs to take on these responsibilities, which has been a real learning curve for him.

Components of the marking grid
Component Sub-category Application
Presenting and Organising Your Argument Academic Literacy Ensure your work is articulate, fluent and coherent.
Spelling
Grammar
Presentation Ensure your work demonstrates care in producing a professional, academic piece of work. Have it proof read for any grammar or spelling errors. Ensure that it is securely bound
Referencing The literature you have read should be relevant and current. Ensure your referencing is correctly and consistently presented throughout, using the Harvard system (help sheet 30). You should not cite your lecture notes but cite the primary source for the information.
Fulfilling Assessment Requirements Ensure you follow the guidelines closely and that you have addressed all requirements. Ensure you do not exceed the word count.
Organisation of Material Ensure you provide a logical, coherent and organised assignment, demonstrating a sound structure.
Thinking and Analysis Knowledge: Comprehension and Application Ensure you provide evidence of a thorough understanding of:
• Occupation as explored within occupational therapy literature.
• The influence of roles / environment and life course on occupation.
Literature – Analysis Ensure you demonstrate critical analysis of the literature and theoretical concepts that you discuss.
Critical Thinking: Application and Implications You will be expected to demonstrate an ability to deal with ambiguity in relation to the subject area and context. You will also need to evidence your critical thinking in relation to applying theory to the case you are discussing.
Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation You will need to demonstrate an ability to argue, summarise and integrate the theoretical and applied issues.