What are the main challenges facing the English and Welsh Criminal Justice System at this time? You will be introduced to a range of contemporary issues within the field of criminology and criminal justice. The module will cover a range of topics that serve as topical case studies, with each topic chosen because of its significance to emerging debates and perspectives within criminological studies. Each week, you will explore these debates and case together – examining how contemporary criminological ideas and concepts can help us understand real-world events, and how policy and practice impacts our understanding of key theories and concepts. You will also be asked to watch or listen to media content that relates to the topic for each week, whilst discussing how its content relates to criminological issues and the topics covered for that week. You will explore the issues on the module from a range of theoretical and conceptual perspectives, evaluating the merits of these approaches and analysing their importance in relation to the case studies presented. Indicative case studies may include issues such as: urban crime, crime in the global south, environmental crime, austerity, crimes of the powerful just to name a few. You will discuss all of this from an interdisciplinary perspective, within the context of human rights, social and political developments. You’ll go beyond the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ and explore topics that are very often overlooked or forgotten within the field of criminality.
Lectures -16 hours, Seminars 8 hours, Workshops 8 hours
Test , Multiple Choice Questions (100 multiple choice questions spread across the module weeks) Worth 40% of the total marks for the module
Closed book exam (2 hours) Worth 60% of the total marks for the module. This Assessment is Pass Compulsory.
Reassessment Method: Single instrument: 100% Examination (2 hours)
For reading lists see the detailed module information on moodle
On successfully completing the module, students will be able to:
1) To identify a range of key literatures, perspectives and scholars that engage with contemporary criminological issues and topics;
2) Recognise and describe the importance of contemporary issues and developments in criminal justice studies and practice;
3) Critically assess and illustrate a range of criminological perspectives and their different strengths and weaknesses;
4) Apply and explore criminological theories to a range of contemporary case studies;
5) Critically analyse and appraise different theoretical and conceptual understandings of criminological issues that relate to contemporary case studies.
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