1200-1500 words _______________________________________________________________________

Question

(100 marks)

Depression is a global and persistent challenge in modern societies. Although considerable efforts have been made to address this issue through psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), delivered in person or through digital platforms, the number of people experiencing depression continued to rise

Between 1990 and 2017, global cases increased by 50% from 172 million to 258 million (Liu et al., 2020). According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Fact Sheet on Depression (https://www.who.int/news- room/fact-sheets/detail/depression), approximately 5% of the adult population worldwide suffers from the condition in 2023.

Drawing on Durkheim’s theories of suicide, social solidarity and the elementary forms of religious life, critically examine why individually focused psychological therapies may have only a limited impact on reducing the societal burden of depression.

In your essay, propose alternative, sociologically informed interventions that address the broader structural and cultural roots of this growing public health issue.

Student notes

Materials: Study Unit 3; Read assigned sections of the textbook (you may also refer to Appendix to TMA02 in L01):
o Chapter 19 (pp. 232-240)
o Chapter 20 (pp. 256-260)

o Chapter 21 (pp. 262-269)

In your analysis, consider the structural and cultural factors contributing to mental distress in contemporary society.
You should demonstrate critical engagement with both the theoretical ideas in the course materials and contemporary mental health research.
Support your argument with relevant academic sources and empirical evidence, and illustrate with real-world examples where appropriate.
For academic literature, you are advised to use the SUSS e-library databases such as, JSTOR, Project Muse, Blackwell Reference Online, ScienceDirect, and SocINDEX (with full text) to search for it.
While you can and are encouraged to reference ideas from others, you must critically examine them and use them properly to support your own arguments. You must not present other people’s ideas as a substitute for your own analysis. You are expected to demonstrate original thinking and shed new light on the topic from a sociological perspective.

Based on ChatGPT way of essay breakdown:

Section	Word Count	Purpose
1. Introduction	150–200	Define depression as a social issue, outline key statistics, introduce Durkheim’s framework and argument overview.
2. The Limits of Individual Therapies	200–250	Explain CBT and individualised approaches; why these fail to address structural/social roots of depression.
3. Durkheim’s Theoretical Lens	300–350	Apply Durkheim’s theories (suicide, solidarity, religion) to explain the social causes of depression and why social disconnection matters.
4. Sociologically Informed Interventions	300–350	Propose community-based, policy-level, and cultural interventions rooted in Durkheimian insights.
5. Conclusion	100–150	Summarise argument, restate need for collective solutions, link back to Durkheim and modern implications.

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University	Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS)
Subject	SOC307: Classical Social Thought

SOC307 Classical Social Thought Tutor-Marked Assignment 02, Singapore

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