|
|
It is almost impossible to avoid hearing the word 'community' when the subject of what is to be done about crime and disorder is discussed. In political and policy debates, as well as in media and everyday consideration of these issues, 'the community' is a term used and abused as both a source of problems and a resource to be drawn upon in designing solutions to them. This module considers the ways in which $ùcommunities&© are constructed, managed, mobilised and responsibilised both as sites of crime problems and as potential sources of crime prevention solutions. The module will engage critically with the term $ùcommunity&© asking if the term retains any meaning in late modern societies and, if so, what it means for those who find themselves governing and being governed under such headings.
The module considers efforts to $ùbuild safer communities&© on three levels. Firstly it explores top-down efforts to manage crime and disorder that have been structured around the notion of $ùthe community&© as a site of governance. Secondly, the module explores attempts to responsibilise and mobilise more local agencies and organisations under the $ùcommunity&© banner, relocating some responsibility in locally-based $ùPartnerships&© who become tasked with knowing the specific problems of $ùtheir&© communities and acting to minimise them. Thirdly, the module engages with debates around the responsibilisation of individuals as part of variously defined communities, whether they be construed on geographic, racial, interest or any other lines.
The enduring appeal of the notion of community will be explored alongside these three approaches, as well as the problems caused by conceptualising society and individuals in community terms. The module asks broad questions that underpin the use of the term, including; Who or what constitutes a community? Who defines which communities exist? How does central and local government intervention (directly or indirectly) promote the interests of some communities over others? Are communities always inclusive?
|
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-20008 |
Criminology - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20009 |
Criminology - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20015 |
Working for Justice |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed for any year 2 student considering a career in Criminal Justice.
1) The module provides students with an overview of careers in Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice related fields.
2) It supports students' job search in the Criminal Justice sector by enabling them to produce appropriate written vocational work (such as identification of skill sets, matching skill sets and experiences to job specifications, writing CVs and covering letters).
3) It focuses on a core set of skills with resonance in a range of occupations in criminal justice namely:
Investigative skills (especially investigative interviewing and statement taking)
Dealing with vulnerable clients/Supporting Victims
Presentation of evidence (both oral and written)
Working within the legislative framework of the Race Relations Act and Data Protection Act
|
|
|
CRI-20020 |
Research Methods in Criminology |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to the logic and skills of social science research as applied to the study of crime and criminal justice and equips them with a critical appreciation of the range of strategies for research design, data collection and analysis. Students have opportunities to practice their survey and interviewing skills. The course is assessed by a Research Design Exercise and a Methodological Review. |
|
|
CRI-20021 |
Policing and the Police |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Policing and the police are constantly in the news. Police investigations of serious crime - terrorism, murder, rape and robbery - make the headlines every day. They are also a staple of crime fiction on television, in films and print. But media headlines and TV cop shows tell us very little about what policing is really like. While the media concentrate on the police as crime fighters - the thin blue line between order and chaos - the reality of policing is both more varied and more challenging.
This module aims to go behind the headlines and to answer some basic questions. What do we mean by policing? How does it relate to experiences and feelings of security? Who does $ùpolicing&©, and who are $ùthe police&©? How do the people and institutions responsible for policing relate to each other? What do the people we think of as $ùthe police&© actually do? And how is all of this changing as societies become more diverse, the threats to security more global in their origins and ways of responding to them more varied?
The main focus of the module is on policing in England and Wales but in answering these questions we will draw on an international literature written by scholars and researchers from many other jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa. We will also look in detail at: the structure and organisation of the police; the development of policing both before and since the establishment of the $ùnew&© Metropolitan Police in 1829; the main characteristics and conditions for existence of a distinctive culture within police organisations; and the powers of the police and how they are held to account for their use.
Apart from criminology this module draws on insights and concepts from several other disciplines including law, sociology, social policy, psychology and anthropology and will be of interest to students with backgrounds in any of these subjects. If you are thinking of a career in policing whatever your background this is very much the module for you.
Teaching is based on a course of ten weekly lectures and five fortnightly tutorials. The assessments consist of a traditional essay and an unseen exam but the exam may include a range of tasks including writing a commentary on a piece of texts or answering a problem question.
|
|
|
SOC-20034 |
Crime, Morality and the Media |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Crime, Morality and the Media will introduce students to the main theories and debates surrounding the factual and fictional representations of crime and deviance. Students will be asked to consider past and present media portrayals of criminality and deviance in order to unpack how and why the tales of morality implicit in their representation continue to hold resonance for audiences.
Reflecting upon both media examples and theoretical debates, in this course students will consider the view that representations of criminal and deviant acts help to communicate a dominant view of class, ethnicity, gender, and age, and work to secure the consensus of the mass audience. As well as looking at factual news reports into events such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann or the War on Terror, we will also examine entertainment forms and ask why certain genres of music, film and videogame incite moral outrage from large sections of the mass media and its audience.
To situate these ideas about the social construction of meaning we will look at Stanley Cohen&©s classic study on folk devils and moral panics and attempt to unpack debates about morality, fear and risk. We will also apply the theoretical perspectives put forward by key thinkers including Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, and Rene Girard to further our understanding of important ideas such as Self / Other, knowledge and power, and the scapegoat mechanism in relation to media representations of crime and deviance.
The lectures will focus on
Theories of moral panics, fear and risk
The fear of the $ùmob&© - representations of class conflict
Constructing the nation - the ethnic Other as scapegoat
Deviant women - nature versus culture
Children in the news - transgressing innocence
Violence on film - social commentary and the slasher flick
True-crime TV - blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction
Music and mayhem - deviant subcultures
Videogame nasties - virtual reality and the embodiment of violence
Formative Assessment and Seminar Activities
Students will be expected to work on their own and as part of a group by:
- reading key theoretical texts in preparation for class
- critically analysing and commenting on media and cultural texts
- critically analysing and commenting on key theoretical texts
- engaging in small group discussion and whole of class debates
- preparing for and discussing assessments (case study, poster and formative tests)
In addition to traditional lectures and seminars there will be occasional screenings, KLE-based activities and student-led research.
Students will be asked to complete two take-home tests over the course of the module. The tests will comprise of a page of short answer and multiple choice questions where students will be required to research a breadth of material independently.
|
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30041 |
The politics and cultures of the death penalty in the 21st Century |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This option is intended for students with an interest in punishment and penality in general and in the death penalty in particular. Through a combination of lectures and seminar activities students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the philosophical, political, legal and cultural contexts within which the death penalty either survives or is abolished.
The course is organized around the exploration of four themes:
1) The place of the death penalty in the philosophy and sociology of punishment.
2) The current state of play on the death penalty worldwide and the rise of abolitionist politics (especially in the European context).
3) Current debates/controversies surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US through relevant criminological/legal literature and cases of established or suspected miscarriages of justice.
4) Key cultural sensibilities relating to executions, pain and suffering.
Students will be encouraged to use internet resources to locate information relating to case studies on specific death row prisoners/miscarriages of justice and the arguments of anti-death penalty/pro-death penalty groups. Seminars will aim to help students evaluate, summarize and synthesize the information gathered. A number of the seminar activities are designed to assist students with their essays and students will be encouraged to bring to the seminars case studies relevant to their case study assessment.
|
|
|
CRI-30041 |
The politics and cultures of the death penalty in the 21st Century |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This option is intended for students with an interest in punishment and penality in general and in the death penalty in particular. Through a combination of lectures and seminar activities students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the philosophical, political, legal and cultural contexts within which the death penalty either survives or is abolished.
The course is organized around the exploration of four themes:
1) The place of the death penalty in the philosophy and sociology of punishment.
2) The current state of play on the death penalty worldwide and the rise of abolitionist politics (especially in the European context).
3) Current debates/controversies surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US through relevant criminological/legal literature and cases of established or suspected miscarriages of justice.
4) Key cultural sensibilities relating to executions, pain and suffering.
Students will be encouraged to use internet resources to locate information relating to case studies on specific death row prisoners/miscarriages of justice and the arguments of anti-death penalty/pro-death penalty groups. Seminars will aim to help students evaluate, summarize and synthesize the information gathered. A number of the seminar activities are designed to assist students with their essays and students will be encouraged to bring to the seminars case studies relevant to their case study assessment.
|
|
|
CRI-30042 |
Gender, History and Punishment 1486-1955 |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed to allow students to gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the gendered nature of criminal justice throughout history. As we embark upon this historical journey through the criminal justice system, links will also be made with the gendered nature of the modern system of punishment, as well as the wider culture within which it is situated. In this way, students will gain an understanding of the importance of history in tems of its influence on modern penal practices - both formal and informal.
While students taking this module will be presented with an overview of traditional (and hence andro-centric) theories on punishment, the module is designed to challenge such theories by employing a feminist perspective on punishment. This aim will be achieved - not only by demonstrating the contribution feminism has made to the development of alternative theories of punishment - but also by utilising feminist theory and method to critically assess conventional, gender-blind theoretical perspectives.
This critical assessment and evaluation will lead to a demonstration that there is no one 'true' account of history, that history is always a matter of interpretation and hence is always a potential site of contestation.
|
|
|
CRI-30042 |
Gender, History and Punishment 1486-1955 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed to allow students to gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the gendered nature of criminal justice throughout history. As we embark upon this historical journey through the criminal justice system, links will also be made with the gendered nature of the modern system of punishment, as well as the wider culture within which it is situated. In this way, students will gain an understanding of the importance of history in tems of its influence on modern penal practices - both formal and informal.
While students taking this module will be presented with an overview of traditional (and hence andro-centric) theories on punishment, the module is designed to challenge such theories by employing a feminist perspective on punishment. This aim will be achieved - not only by demonstrating the contribution feminism has made to the development of alternative theories of punishment - but also by utilising feminist theory and method to critically assess conventional, gender-blind theoretical perspectives.
This critical assessment and evaluation will lead to a demonstration that there is no one 'true' account of history, that history is always a matter of interpretation and hence is always a potential site of contestation.
|
|
|
CRI-30043 |
Power, Process and Victimisation |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
While students of this module will be introduced to traditional theoretical perspectives and methods within victimology, the module is designed to challenge and critically assess conventional definitions of 'the victim' and 'victimisation'. This aim will be achieved by examining the processes behind, as well as the social construction of these definitions, and to situate them within a wider sociological context of power and its implementation. To this end, the module focuses on the theory, practices and policy behind the study of victimisation.
Furthermore, it encourages students to develop both analytical skills as well as an understanding of policy interventions. In turn, attaining these skills should facilitate access to careers in victim support, rape crisies centres and in the partnership work that is being developed through the inter-linking of different criminal justice and welfare agencies to provide support for victims, both at a local and national level.
|
|
|
CRI-30043 |
Power, Process and Victimisation |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
While students of this module will be introduced to traditional theoretical perspectives and methods within victimology, the module is designed to challenge and critically assess conventional definitions of 'the victim' and 'victimisation'. This aim will be achieved by examining the processes behind, as well as the social construction of these definitions, and to situate them within a wider sociological context of power and its implementation. To this end, the module focuses on the theory, practices and policy behind the study of victimisation.
Furthermore, it encourages students to develop both analytical skills as well as an understanding of policy interventions. In turn, attaining these skills should facilitate access to careers in victim support, rape crisies centres and in the partnership work that is being developed through the inter-linking of different criminal justice and welfare agencies to provide support for victims, both at a local and national level.
|
|
|
CRI-30044 |
Prisons and Imprisonment |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the central role which prisons play in society, both as institutions which dominate the contemporary punitive network, and as places which absorb our social and cultural imagination. We will do this by examining contemporary representations and conceptions of the role of prisons in policy and popular culture. Secondly, we reflect on the contested nature of power in prisons through an examination of everyday lived experience of prison from the perspectives of prisoners, staff, prisoners&© families and prison activists. The third section explores the links between race, gender (masculinity and femininity) political consciousness and power and resistance in prison. Finally, we conclude by examining contemporary controversies about the future of imprisonment.
Assessment is by formative in-class presentation work followed by individual short commentary, individual short commentaries on learning and feedback (x2) and two short (2,000) word essays.
Lecture outline:
Revisiting the prison crisis
1. The current state of our prisons
2. Popular and political representations of prisons
Prison community
3. Doing prison work
4. Surviving imprisonment
5. Legitimacy and coercion in prisons
6. Righteous outsiders: charities, prisoner support groups and activists
Prisons and inequality
7. The gendered pains of imprisonment
8. Race, ethnicity and imprisonment
9. Radicalisation and resistance
Penal futures
10. The penal-industrial complex
11. Imprisonment and globalisation?
|
|
|
CRI-30044 |
Prisons and Imprisonment |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the central role which prisons play in society, both as institutions which dominate the contemporary punitive network, and as places which absorb our social and cultural imagination. We will do this by examining contemporary representations and conceptions of the role of prisons in policy and popular culture. Secondly, we reflect on the contested nature of power in prisons through an examination of everyday lived experience of prison from the perspectives of prisoners, staff, prisoners&© families and prison activists. The third section explores the links between race, gender (masculinity and femininity) political consciousness and power and resistance in prison. Finally, we conclude by examining contemporary controversies about the future of imprisonment.
Assessment is by formative in-class presentation work followed by individual short commentary, individual short commentaries on learning and feedback (x2) and two short (2,000) word essays.
Lecture outline:
Revisiting the prison crisis
1. The current state of our prisons
2. Popular and political representations of prisons
Prison community
3. Doing prison work
4. Surviving imprisonment
5. Legitimacy and coercion in prisons
6. Righteous outsiders: charities, prisoner support groups and activists
Prisons and inequality
7. The gendered pains of imprisonment
8. Race, ethnicity and imprisonment
9. Radicalisation and resistance
Penal futures
10. The penal-industrial complex
11. Imprisonment and globalisation?
|
|
|
CRI-30045 |
Popular Culture and Crime |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the possible relationships between popular culture and crime. It looks at the extent to which representations of crime have formed a key component of popular culture
throughout modernity. It goes on to examine the extent to which popular cultural representations of crime, and the $ùpopular&© cultural practices of some sections of society, have themselves been
linked to crime and criminality. Late modernity has seen the rise of $ùlaw and order&© as an electoral issue, the emergence of $ùtrue crime&© as one of the fastest growing popular literary genres, a
significant increase in the number of films and television programming devoted to crime related issues and themes, increased interest in police procedure, forensic science, criminal psychology and related areas, and rapidly increasing demand for criminology as an undergraduate subject. This module concludes by considering what contemporary society&©s apparent preoccupation
with crime and criminality can tell us about the nature of identity formation and maintenance in late modernity.
|
|
|
CRI-30045 |
Popular Culture and Crime |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the possible relationships between popular culture and crime. It looks at the extent to which representations of crime have formed a key component of popular culture
throughout modernity. It goes on to examine the extent to which popular cultural representations of crime, and the $ùpopular&© cultural practices of some sections of society, have themselves been
linked to crime and criminality. Late modernity has seen the rise of $ùlaw and order&© as an electoral issue, the emergence of $ùtrue crime&© as one of the fastest growing popular literary genres, a
significant increase in the number of films and television programming devoted to crime related issues and themes, increased interest in police procedure, forensic science, criminal psychology and related areas, and rapidly increasing demand for criminology as an undergraduate subject. This module concludes by considering what contemporary society&©s apparent preoccupation
with crime and criminality can tell us about the nature of identity formation and maintenance in late modernity.
|
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30046 |
Dissertation for Criminology - ISP |
O |
C
|
15 |
30 |
|
|
This double module runs over both semesters and provides an
opportunity for students to work on a substantial piece of
independent work of their own choosing in consultation with a
supervisor. This generally involves students either conducting a
review of the literature on a particular topic that interests them or
carrying out a small piece of criminological research (such as
interviewing criminal justice professionals, or analysing media
coverage). It is intended to provide a $ùhands-on&© research training
that enables the student to $ùput into practice'&© the knowledge
obtained in the first and second years.
Dissertations are supervised using a mixture of collective
dissertation workshops and individual supervision. |
|
|
CRI-30046 |
Dissertation for Criminology - ISP |
EP |
C
|
15 |
30 |
|
|
This double module runs over both semesters and provides an
opportunity for students to work on a substantial piece of
independent work of their own choosing in consultation with a
supervisor. This generally involves students either conducting a
review of the literature on a particular topic that interests them or
carrying out a small piece of criminological research (such as
interviewing criminal justice professionals, or analysing media
coverage). It is intended to provide a $ùhands-on&© research training
that enables the student to $ùput into practice'&© the knowledge
obtained in the first and second years.
Dissertations are supervised using a mixture of collective
dissertation workshops and individual supervision. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30038 |
State crimes and crimes against humanity |
O |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity have drawn the attention of criminologists only recently. This module provides students with in-depth information on these 'new' topics in criminology. The focus is on explanations of state crimes and crimes against humanity, and on regulatory models and perspectives in this field of study.
The module analyses in depth topics briefly explored earlier in the level II module on 'Crime and Justice in a Global Context'. Students who take the level III module however shall be introduced to more philosophically inspired reflections on the issue of state crimes and crimes against humanity. It is not necessary for students to have taken the aforementioned level II module prior to taking this one.
|
|
|
CRI-30038 |
State crimes and crimes against humanity |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity have drawn the attention of criminologists only recently. This module provides students with in-depth information on these 'new' topics in criminology. The focus is on explanations of state crimes and crimes against humanity, and on regulatory models and perspectives in this field of study.
The module analyses in depth topics briefly explored earlier in the level II module on 'Crime and Justice in a Global Context'. Students who take the level III module however shall be introduced to more philosophically inspired reflections on the issue of state crimes and crimes against humanity. It is not necessary for students to have taken the aforementioned level II module prior to taking this one.
|
|
|
CRI-30039 |
Immigration, Communities and Crime |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In contemporary societies, the issue of immigration remains at the forefront of public concern and government agenda, particularly in terms of its perceived and publicised detrimental consequences for local communities. The association of immigration with rising crime, disorder and insecurity has also featured prominently in criminological research throughout the last century, most notably in the 'Chicago School' studies dating back to the 1920's. This module explores the proposition of a link between immigration and a breakdown in the local social order. In doing so, it will critically consider the association between immigration and crime; immigration, disorder and fear of crime; and immigrants as sources of criminality, disorder and fear. These themes are explored from a range of viewpoints of those directly affected by such social change, including established local communities, immigrant communities, local criminal justice institutions, as well as the media.
In addition to this, however, the module considers a new research agenda that seeks to understand how diverse and changing communities can effectively mobilise against local crime and disorder problems, resulting in the revitalisation rather than degeneration of local communities. This part of the module introduces students to the theory of 'social capital' and how it is related to the social control of crime to explore whether such 'fragmented' communities are capable of working together to successfully control local crime and disorder problems. Here, students will consider whether the 'Chicago School' theories of the past can be applied to contemporary social environments. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with case studies of research carried out in the local area on this topic. |
|
|
CRI-30039 |
Immigration, Communities and Crime |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In contemporary societies, the issue of immigration remains at the forefront of public concern and government agenda, particularly in terms of its perceived and publicised detrimental consequences for local communities. The association of immigration with rising crime, disorder and insecurity has also featured prominently in criminological research throughout the last century, most notably in the 'Chicago School' studies dating back to the 1920's. This module explores the proposition of a link between immigration and a breakdown in the local social order. In doing so, it will critically consider the association between immigration and crime; immigration, disorder and fear of crime; and immigrants as sources of criminality, disorder and fear. These themes are explored from a range of viewpoints of those directly affected by such social change, including established local communities, immigrant communities, local criminal justice institutions, as well as the media.
In addition to this, however, the module considers a new research agenda that seeks to understand how diverse and changing communities can effectively mobilise against local crime and disorder problems, resulting in the revitalisation rather than degeneration of local communities. This part of the module introduces students to the theory of 'social capital' and how it is related to the social control of crime to explore whether such 'fragmented' communities are capable of working together to successfully control local crime and disorder problems. Here, students will consider whether the 'Chicago School' theories of the past can be applied to contemporary social environments. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with case studies of research carried out in the local area on this topic. |
|
|
CRI-30040 |
Risk and Criminal Justice |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Whether the topic is suspected terrorists, sex offenders, electronic tagging, CCTV, or even speeding drivers, the term 'risk' has increasingly come to dominate criminal justice, political and media discourses about crime. But what is the significance of this increasing tendency to conceptualise a wide range of crime problems in terms of 'risk'? What are the consequences for criminal justice agencies, for practitioners, and for the rest of us of an increasing focus on the future and on the prevention of crimes that might (but might not) happen? To what extent should we all be concerned with attempts to control a future that we cannot accurately predict?
Students who select this module will be introduced to some of the main ways in which a concern with the management and minimisation of 'risk' has come to influence our criminal justice system, in terms of prediction, prevention, detection, processing and punishment. The module will also, however, consider the wider significance of viewing a variety of social problems as 'risk issues', including the compatibility of such an approach with the production of 'justice'. The module will offer an insight into a range of topical issues and challenges facing criminal justice which will be of benefit to students wishing to pursue a career in a range of moreand less obvious criminal justice contexts as well as those intending to engage in further academic study.
|
|
|
CRI-30040 |
Risk and Criminal Justice |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Whether the topic is suspected terrorists, sex offenders, electronic tagging, CCTV, or even speeding drivers, the term 'risk' has increasingly come to dominate criminal justice, political and media discourses about crime. But what is the significance of this increasing tendency to conceptualise a wide range of crime problems in terms of 'risk'? What are the consequences for criminal justice agencies, for practitioners, and for the rest of us of an increasing focus on the future and on the prevention of crimes that might (but might not) happen? To what extent should we all be concerned with attempts to control a future that we cannot accurately predict?
Students who select this module will be introduced to some of the main ways in which a concern with the management and minimisation of 'risk' has come to influence our criminal justice system, in terms of prediction, prevention, detection, processing and punishment. The module will also, however, consider the wider significance of viewing a variety of social problems as 'risk issues', including the compatibility of such an approach with the production of 'justice'. The module will offer an insight into a range of topical issues and challenges facing criminal justice which will be of benefit to students wishing to pursue a career in a range of moreand less obvious criminal justice contexts as well as those intending to engage in further academic study.
|
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
O |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards $ùcare in the community&©. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called $ùdangerous&© people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. Key themes of the module will be drawn out through the use of key case studies including severe personality disorder and drug misuse. |
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards $ùcare in the community&©. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called $ùdangerous&© people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. Key themes of the module will be drawn out through the use of key case studies including severe personality disorder and drug misuse. |
Criminology Major - Level 1 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-10010 |
Understanding Crime |
C |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to criminology as a discipline and equips you with the skills needed to study the subject successfully at university level.
Early lectures and tutorials are concerned with the development and current scope of the discipline of criminology, and with the development of basic study, research, writing and referencing skills. Later on the focus shifts to the development of different theoretical approaches in criminology, and to their respective strengths and weaknesses as ways of understanding particular types of crime. The module also contains a number of lectures and tutorials dedicated to issues of measurement in criminology and some basic numerical concepts such as the idea of a 'rate'. The production of crime statistics is considered along with alternative ways of measuring crime, such as the use of victimization surveys and self-report studies.
In addition to traditional lectures, learning activities in sessions for all students include the use of an electronic voting system to stimulate discussion, encourage active learning, identify learning needs and provide feedback to students on their progress. Other sessions involve the self, peer and tutor assessment of written work. Tutorial activities include specially designed exercises, group discussions and presentations. Use will also be made of the University's virtual learning environment (KLE) to give access to a range of learning resources and facilitate online discussions.
|
|
|
CRI-10011 |
Murder |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is based on an extended case study of murder. Its aim is to look at 'murder most foul' - as Shakespeare's Hamlet described it - from a range of perspectives in law, the humanities and the social sciences. We will consider why some forms of violent killing are treated as murder while others are not; how murder is currently defined in English law (and why); how criminologists and other social scientists have attempted to explain murder and understand those who commit it; how a murder case (and a 'murderer') is constructed and processed by the criminal justice system; and, finally, how murder is reported in the media and represented in creative work from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' to contemporary television drama. By putting all these perspectives together, we will attempt to gain a more complete understanding of murder, and violent crime more generally, and why they occupy such a prominent place in the politics and culture of the early 21st century. The module involves a range of activities including lecture and tutorial classes and a conference where groups of students will be able to present their work on an aspect of the case study. The assessment for the modules consists of a mixture of group and individual tasks and provides students with the opportunity to develop important team-working, problem-solving and presentation skills. |
|
|
CRI-10012 |
Psychology and Crime |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The possible relationships between psychology and crime have generated a significant amount of public interest in recent years (which is manifested in examples such as the proliferation of films, TV programmes and books on issues such as serial murder). This module will explore some of the ways in which psychological perspectives contribute to the day to day operation of Criminal Justice and our engagements with both perpetrators and victims of crime. It will go on to explore some of the ways in which the relationship between crime and psychology may (or may not) live up to expectations influenced by popular representations of psychology and crime. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-10013 |
Criminal Justice: Process, Policy, Practice |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will look at the organisations and individuals who attempt to deliver $ùCriminal Justice&©. The module will offer a brief overview of the nature and development of the Criminal Justice $ùSystem&©, the various Agencies that this $ùsystem&© is comprised of and their formal roles and responsibilities in the delivery of $ùjustice&©. Agencies examined could include The Ministry of Justice; The Police Service; The Prison Service; The Probation Service; The Courts Service; The National Offender Management Service; The various Inspectorates and Ombudsmen who oversee/monitor these agencies and the Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector and various private sector organisations. As well as providing an overview of the formal roles of these agencies, this module will examine the various responsibilities and aims of each agency, their similarities and common purposes, differences and potential contradictions. The module will also examine the wider factors that have influenced the nature and organisation of these agencies and the relationships between them (including the historical/social context; the Organisational/Managerial context and the growing emphasis on performance, Process, Best Practice and Best Value).
The module will be delivered through a mixture of lectures and small group tutorials, and will also involve visits to Magistrates or Crown Courts to observe them in operation. The module is assessed using a mixture of individual written work, group presentations and online activities (using the Keele Learning Environment). |
|
|
CRI-10014 |
Investigating Crime: Criminological Perspectives |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is concerned with the social history of modern investigative techniques. It will examine the emergence of criminal justice bureaucracies and of detective work as a specialism within them. It will go on to take a critical, sociological look at the development, impact and limitations of a range of technologies - motor vehicles, ICT, psychological and DNA profiling and technologies of regulation and surveillance - in the context of the investigation of crime and criminal justice practice more generally. |
|
|
CRI-10015 |
Punishment: Beyond the popular imagination |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to a range of debates about the nature of punishment and its representation in popular culture. It will introduce students to a range of formal and informal sanctions before focusing on physical punishments (most notably corporal and capital punishments) and the emergence of the use of imprisonment. It will consider the arguments for and against different forms of punishment, the reasons why so many societies have moved away from the use of corporal and capital punishments and why a number of societies have retained (or in some cases re-introduced) them. It will also examine the nature of contemporary systems of punishment based on imprisonment, the challenges they face and the alternative forms of punishment that have emerged in the second half of the 20th century |
Criminology Major - Level 2 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-20006 |
Criminology - Study Abroad I |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20007 |
Criminology - Study Abroad II |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20016 |
Crime and Justice in a Global Context |
C |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This modules provides a comprehensive introduction to, and looks in detail at how criminology has tried to understand the effects on crime and criminal justice of globalisation and other processes of social change associated with the coming of late modernity. The focus will be on issues and problems related to terrorism, state crimes, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This module is also a free standing elective and is particularly suitable for students in the social sciences and in particular sociology students. |
|
|
CRI-20017 |
Building Safer Communities |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
It is almost impossible to avoid hearing the word 'community' when the subject of what is to be done about crime and disorder is discussed. In political and policy debates, as well as in media and everyday consideration of these issues, 'the community' is a term used and abused as both a source of problems and a resource to be drawn upon in designing solutions to them. This module considers the ways in which $ùcommunities&© are constructed, managed, mobilised and responsibilised both as sites of crime problems and as potential sources of crime prevention solutions. The module will engage critically with the term $ùcommunity&© asking if the term retains any meaning in late modern societies and, if so, what it means for those who find themselves governing and being governed under such headings.
The module considers efforts to $ùbuild safer communities&© on three levels. Firstly it explores top-down efforts to manage crime and disorder that have been structured around the notion of $ùthe community&© as a site of governance. Secondly, the module explores attempts to responsibilise and mobilise more local agencies and organisations under the $ùcommunity&© banner, relocating some responsibility in locally-based $ùPartnerships&© who become tasked with knowing the specific problems of $ùtheir&© communities and acting to minimise them. Thirdly, the module engages with debates around the responsibilisation of individuals as part of variously defined communities, whether they be construed on geographic, racial, interest or any other lines.
The enduring appeal of the notion of community will be explored alongside these three approaches, as well as the problems caused by conceptualising society and individuals in community terms. The module asks broad questions that underpin the use of the term, including; Who or what constitutes a community? Who defines which communities exist? How does central and local government intervention (directly or indirectly) promote the interests of some communities over others? Are communities always inclusive?
|
|
|
CRI-20018 |
Crime, Culture and Conflict 1700-1914 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Crime, Culture and Conflict is designed to allow students to critically analyse the history of criminal justice in England and Wales during the period 1750-1914. In doing so, the module provides the academic context for understanding the major debates, theories and issues relating to the contemporary criminal justice system. The module is structured around three key themes: the social construction of crime and criminalisation, the public versus the private sphere and competing perspectives on the history of crime and the development of the criminal justice system. These three themes share an important strand of continuity within this module - that of popular culture and resistance. This framework is employed to demonstrate that history is always a matter of contestation and interpretation, and that there can never be one definitive 'truth' about historical events or developments. The process of excavating new historical sources is a continuous one, and as new research takes place alongside existing acccounts, critical reflection, perhaps even re-evaluation and re-interpretation, is often called for. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-20008 |
Criminology - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20009 |
Criminology - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20015 |
Working for Justice |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed for any year 2 student considering a career in Criminal Justice.
1) The module provides students with an overview of careers in Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice related fields.
2) It supports students' job search in the Criminal Justice sector by enabling them to produce appropriate written vocational work (such as identification of skill sets, matching skill sets and experiences to job specifications, writing CVs and covering letters).
3) It focuses on a core set of skills with resonance in a range of occupations in criminal justice namely:
Investigative skills (especially investigative interviewing and statement taking)
Dealing with vulnerable clients/Supporting Victims
Presentation of evidence (both oral and written)
Working within the legislative framework of the Race Relations Act and Data Protection Act
|
|
|
CRI-20020 |
Research Methods in Criminology |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to the logic and skills of social science research as applied to the study of crime and criminal justice and equips them with a critical appreciation of the range of strategies for research design, data collection and analysis. Students have opportunities to practice their survey and interviewing skills. The course is assessed by a Research Design Exercise and a Methodological Review. |
|
|
CRI-20021 |
Policing and the Police |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Policing and the police are constantly in the news. Police investigations of serious crime - terrorism, murder, rape and robbery - make the headlines every day. They are also a staple of crime fiction on television, in films and print. But media headlines and TV cop shows tell us very little about what policing is really like. While the media concentrate on the police as crime fighters - the thin blue line between order and chaos - the reality of policing is both more varied and more challenging.
This module aims to go behind the headlines and to answer some basic questions. What do we mean by policing? How does it relate to experiences and feelings of security? Who does $ùpolicing&©, and who are $ùthe police&©? How do the people and institutions responsible for policing relate to each other? What do the people we think of as $ùthe police&© actually do? And how is all of this changing as societies become more diverse, the threats to security more global in their origins and ways of responding to them more varied?
The main focus of the module is on policing in England and Wales but in answering these questions we will draw on an international literature written by scholars and researchers from many other jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa. We will also look in detail at: the structure and organisation of the police; the development of policing both before and since the establishment of the $ùnew&© Metropolitan Police in 1829; the main characteristics and conditions for existence of a distinctive culture within police organisations; and the powers of the police and how they are held to account for their use.
Apart from criminology this module draws on insights and concepts from several other disciplines including law, sociology, social policy, psychology and anthropology and will be of interest to students with backgrounds in any of these subjects. If you are thinking of a career in policing whatever your background this is very much the module for you.
Teaching is based on a course of ten weekly lectures and five fortnightly tutorials. The assessments consist of a traditional essay and an unseen exam but the exam may include a range of tasks including writing a commentary on a piece of texts or answering a problem question.
|
|
|
SOC-20034 |
Crime, Morality and the Media |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Crime, Morality and the Media will introduce students to the main theories and debates surrounding the factual and fictional representations of crime and deviance. Students will be asked to consider past and present media portrayals of criminality and deviance in order to unpack how and why the tales of morality implicit in their representation continue to hold resonance for audiences.
Reflecting upon both media examples and theoretical debates, in this course students will consider the view that representations of criminal and deviant acts help to communicate a dominant view of class, ethnicity, gender, and age, and work to secure the consensus of the mass audience. As well as looking at factual news reports into events such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann or the War on Terror, we will also examine entertainment forms and ask why certain genres of music, film and videogame incite moral outrage from large sections of the mass media and its audience.
To situate these ideas about the social construction of meaning we will look at Stanley Cohen&©s classic study on folk devils and moral panics and attempt to unpack debates about morality, fear and risk. We will also apply the theoretical perspectives put forward by key thinkers including Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, and Rene Girard to further our understanding of important ideas such as Self / Other, knowledge and power, and the scapegoat mechanism in relation to media representations of crime and deviance.
The lectures will focus on
Theories of moral panics, fear and risk
The fear of the $ùmob&© - representations of class conflict
Constructing the nation - the ethnic Other as scapegoat
Deviant women - nature versus culture
Children in the news - transgressing innocence
Violence on film - social commentary and the slasher flick
True-crime TV - blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction
Music and mayhem - deviant subcultures
Videogame nasties - virtual reality and the embodiment of violence
Formative Assessment and Seminar Activities
Students will be expected to work on their own and as part of a group by:
- reading key theoretical texts in preparation for class
- critically analysing and commenting on media and cultural texts
- critically analysing and commenting on key theoretical texts
- engaging in small group discussion and whole of class debates
- preparing for and discussing assessments (case study, poster and formative tests)
In addition to traditional lectures and seminars there will be occasional screenings, KLE-based activities and student-led research.
Students will be asked to complete two take-home tests over the course of the module. The tests will comprise of a page of short answer and multiple choice questions where students will be required to research a breadth of material independently.
|
Criminology Major - Level 3 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30041 |
The politics and cultures of the death penalty in the 21st Century |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This option is intended for students with an interest in punishment and penality in general and in the death penalty in particular. Through a combination of lectures and seminar activities students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the philosophical, political, legal and cultural contexts within which the death penalty either survives or is abolished.
The course is organized around the exploration of four themes:
1) The place of the death penalty in the philosophy and sociology of punishment.
2) The current state of play on the death penalty worldwide and the rise of abolitionist politics (especially in the European context).
3) Current debates/controversies surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US through relevant criminological/legal literature and cases of established or suspected miscarriages of justice.
4) Key cultural sensibilities relating to executions, pain and suffering.
Students will be encouraged to use internet resources to locate information relating to case studies on specific death row prisoners/miscarriages of justice and the arguments of anti-death penalty/pro-death penalty groups. Seminars will aim to help students evaluate, summarize and synthesize the information gathered. A number of the seminar activities are designed to assist students with their essays and students will be encouraged to bring to the seminars case studies relevant to their case study assessment.
|
|
|
CRI-30042 |
Gender, History and Punishment 1486-1955 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed to allow students to gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the gendered nature of criminal justice throughout history. As we embark upon this historical journey through the criminal justice system, links will also be made with the gendered nature of the modern system of punishment, as well as the wider culture within which it is situated. In this way, students will gain an understanding of the importance of history in tems of its influence on modern penal practices - both formal and informal.
While students taking this module will be presented with an overview of traditional (and hence andro-centric) theories on punishment, the module is designed to challenge such theories by employing a feminist perspective on punishment. This aim will be achieved - not only by demonstrating the contribution feminism has made to the development of alternative theories of punishment - but also by utilising feminist theory and method to critically assess conventional, gender-blind theoretical perspectives.
This critical assessment and evaluation will lead to a demonstration that there is no one 'true' account of history, that history is always a matter of interpretation and hence is always a potential site of contestation.
|
|
|
CRI-30043 |
Power, Process and Victimisation |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
While students of this module will be introduced to traditional theoretical perspectives and methods within victimology, the module is designed to challenge and critically assess conventional definitions of 'the victim' and 'victimisation'. This aim will be achieved by examining the processes behind, as well as the social construction of these definitions, and to situate them within a wider sociological context of power and its implementation. To this end, the module focuses on the theory, practices and policy behind the study of victimisation.
Furthermore, it encourages students to develop both analytical skills as well as an understanding of policy interventions. In turn, attaining these skills should facilitate access to careers in victim support, rape crisies centres and in the partnership work that is being developed through the inter-linking of different criminal justice and welfare agencies to provide support for victims, both at a local and national level.
|
|
|
CRI-30044 |
Prisons and Imprisonment |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the central role which prisons play in society, both as institutions which dominate the contemporary punitive network, and as places which absorb our social and cultural imagination. We will do this by examining contemporary representations and conceptions of the role of prisons in policy and popular culture. Secondly, we reflect on the contested nature of power in prisons through an examination of everyday lived experience of prison from the perspectives of prisoners, staff, prisoners&© families and prison activists. The third section explores the links between race, gender (masculinity and femininity) political consciousness and power and resistance in prison. Finally, we conclude by examining contemporary controversies about the future of imprisonment.
Assessment is by formative in-class presentation work followed by individual short commentary, individual short commentaries on learning and feedback (x2) and two short (2,000) word essays.
Lecture outline:
Revisiting the prison crisis
1. The current state of our prisons
2. Popular and political representations of prisons
Prison community
3. Doing prison work
4. Surviving imprisonment
5. Legitimacy and coercion in prisons
6. Righteous outsiders: charities, prisoner support groups and activists
Prisons and inequality
7. The gendered pains of imprisonment
8. Race, ethnicity and imprisonment
9. Radicalisation and resistance
Penal futures
10. The penal-industrial complex
11. Imprisonment and globalisation?
|
|
|
CRI-30045 |
Popular Culture and Crime |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the possible relationships between popular culture and crime. It looks at the extent to which representations of crime have formed a key component of popular culture
throughout modernity. It goes on to examine the extent to which popular cultural representations of crime, and the $ùpopular&© cultural practices of some sections of society, have themselves been
linked to crime and criminality. Late modernity has seen the rise of $ùlaw and order&© as an electoral issue, the emergence of $ùtrue crime&© as one of the fastest growing popular literary genres, a
significant increase in the number of films and television programming devoted to crime related issues and themes, increased interest in police procedure, forensic science, criminal psychology and related areas, and rapidly increasing demand for criminology as an undergraduate subject. This module concludes by considering what contemporary society&©s apparent preoccupation
with crime and criminality can tell us about the nature of identity formation and maintenance in late modernity.
|
| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30046 |
Dissertation for Criminology - ISP |
C |
C
|
15 |
30 |
|
|
This double module runs over both semesters and provides an
opportunity for students to work on a substantial piece of
independent work of their own choosing in consultation with a
supervisor. This generally involves students either conducting a
review of the literature on a particular topic that interests them or
carrying out a small piece of criminological research (such as
interviewing criminal justice professionals, or analysing media
coverage). It is intended to provide a $ùhands-on&© research training
that enables the student to $ùput into practice'&© the knowledge
obtained in the first and second years.
Dissertations are supervised using a mixture of collective
dissertation workshops and individual supervision. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30038 |
State crimes and crimes against humanity |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity have drawn the attention of criminologists only recently. This module provides students with in-depth information on these 'new' topics in criminology. The focus is on explanations of state crimes and crimes against humanity, and on regulatory models and perspectives in this field of study.
The module analyses in depth topics briefly explored earlier in the level II module on 'Crime and Justice in a Global Context'. Students who take the level III module however shall be introduced to more philosophically inspired reflections on the issue of state crimes and crimes against humanity. It is not necessary for students to have taken the aforementioned level II module prior to taking this one.
|
|
|
CRI-30039 |
Immigration, Communities and Crime |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In contemporary societies, the issue of immigration remains at the forefront of public concern and government agenda, particularly in terms of its perceived and publicised detrimental consequences for local communities. The association of immigration with rising crime, disorder and insecurity has also featured prominently in criminological research throughout the last century, most notably in the 'Chicago School' studies dating back to the 1920's. This module explores the proposition of a link between immigration and a breakdown in the local social order. In doing so, it will critically consider the association between immigration and crime; immigration, disorder and fear of crime; and immigrants as sources of criminality, disorder and fear. These themes are explored from a range of viewpoints of those directly affected by such social change, including established local communities, immigrant communities, local criminal justice institutions, as well as the media.
In addition to this, however, the module considers a new research agenda that seeks to understand how diverse and changing communities can effectively mobilise against local crime and disorder problems, resulting in the revitalisation rather than degeneration of local communities. This part of the module introduces students to the theory of 'social capital' and how it is related to the social control of crime to explore whether such 'fragmented' communities are capable of working together to successfully control local crime and disorder problems. Here, students will consider whether the 'Chicago School' theories of the past can be applied to contemporary social environments. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with case studies of research carried out in the local area on this topic. |
|
|
CRI-30040 |
Risk and Criminal Justice |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Whether the topic is suspected terrorists, sex offenders, electronic tagging, CCTV, or even speeding drivers, the term 'risk' has increasingly come to dominate criminal justice, political and media discourses about crime. But what is the significance of this increasing tendency to conceptualise a wide range of crime problems in terms of 'risk'? What are the consequences for criminal justice agencies, for practitioners, and for the rest of us of an increasing focus on the future and on the prevention of crimes that might (but might not) happen? To what extent should we all be concerned with attempts to control a future that we cannot accurately predict?
Students who select this module will be introduced to some of the main ways in which a concern with the management and minimisation of 'risk' has come to influence our criminal justice system, in terms of prediction, prevention, detection, processing and punishment. The module will also, however, consider the wider significance of viewing a variety of social problems as 'risk issues', including the compatibility of such an approach with the production of 'justice'. The module will offer an insight into a range of topical issues and challenges facing criminal justice which will be of benefit to students wishing to pursue a career in a range of moreand less obvious criminal justice contexts as well as those intending to engage in further academic study.
|
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards $ùcare in the community&©. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called $ùdangerous&© people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. Key themes of the module will be drawn out through the use of key case studies including severe personality disorder and drug misuse. |
Criminology Minor - Level 1 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-10010 |
Understanding Crime |
C |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to criminology as a discipline and equips you with the skills needed to study the subject successfully at university level.
Early lectures and tutorials are concerned with the development and current scope of the discipline of criminology, and with the development of basic study, research, writing and referencing skills. Later on the focus shifts to the development of different theoretical approaches in criminology, and to their respective strengths and weaknesses as ways of understanding particular types of crime. The module also contains a number of lectures and tutorials dedicated to issues of measurement in criminology and some basic numerical concepts such as the idea of a 'rate'. The production of crime statistics is considered along with alternative ways of measuring crime, such as the use of victimization surveys and self-report studies.
In addition to traditional lectures, learning activities in sessions for all students include the use of an electronic voting system to stimulate discussion, encourage active learning, identify learning needs and provide feedback to students on their progress. Other sessions involve the self, peer and tutor assessment of written work. Tutorial activities include specially designed exercises, group discussions and presentations. Use will also be made of the University's virtual learning environment (KLE) to give access to a range of learning resources and facilitate online discussions.
|
|
|
CRI-10011 |
Murder |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is based on an extended case study of murder. Its aim is to look at 'murder most foul' - as Shakespeare's Hamlet described it - from a range of perspectives in law, the humanities and the social sciences. We will consider why some forms of violent killing are treated as murder while others are not; how murder is currently defined in English law (and why); how criminologists and other social scientists have attempted to explain murder and understand those who commit it; how a murder case (and a 'murderer') is constructed and processed by the criminal justice system; and, finally, how murder is reported in the media and represented in creative work from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' to contemporary television drama. By putting all these perspectives together, we will attempt to gain a more complete understanding of murder, and violent crime more generally, and why they occupy such a prominent place in the politics and culture of the early 21st century. The module involves a range of activities including lecture and tutorial classes and a conference where groups of students will be able to present their work on an aspect of the case study. The assessment for the modules consists of a mixture of group and individual tasks and provides students with the opportunity to develop important team-working, problem-solving and presentation skills. |
|
|
CRI-10012 |
Psychology and Crime |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The possible relationships between psychology and crime have generated a significant amount of public interest in recent years (which is manifested in examples such as the proliferation of films, TV programmes and books on issues such as serial murder). This module will explore some of the ways in which psychological perspectives contribute to the day to day operation of Criminal Justice and our engagements with both perpetrators and victims of crime. It will go on to explore some of the ways in which the relationship between crime and psychology may (or may not) live up to expectations influenced by popular representations of psychology and crime. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-10013 |
Criminal Justice: Process, Policy, Practice |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will look at the organisations and individuals who attempt to deliver $ùCriminal Justice&©. The module will offer a brief overview of the nature and development of the Criminal Justice $ùSystem&©, the various Agencies that this $ùsystem&© is comprised of and their formal roles and responsibilities in the delivery of $ùjustice&©. Agencies examined could include The Ministry of Justice; The Police Service; The Prison Service; The Probation Service; The Courts Service; The National Offender Management Service; The various Inspectorates and Ombudsmen who oversee/monitor these agencies and the Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector and various private sector organisations. As well as providing an overview of the formal roles of these agencies, this module will examine the various responsibilities and aims of each agency, their similarities and common purposes, differences and potential contradictions. The module will also examine the wider factors that have influenced the nature and organisation of these agencies and the relationships between them (including the historical/social context; the Organisational/Managerial context and the growing emphasis on performance, Process, Best Practice and Best Value).
The module will be delivered through a mixture of lectures and small group tutorials, and will also involve visits to Magistrates or Crown Courts to observe them in operation. The module is assessed using a mixture of individual written work, group presentations and online activities (using the Keele Learning Environment). |
|
|
CRI-10014 |
Investigating Crime: Criminological Perspectives |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is concerned with the social history of modern investigative techniques. It will examine the emergence of criminal justice bureaucracies and of detective work as a specialism within them. It will go on to take a critical, sociological look at the development, impact and limitations of a range of technologies - motor vehicles, ICT, psychological and DNA profiling and technologies of regulation and surveillance - in the context of the investigation of crime and criminal justice practice more generally. |
|
|
CRI-10015 |
Punishment: Beyond the popular imagination |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to a range of debates about the nature of punishment and its representation in popular culture. It will introduce students to a range of formal and informal sanctions before focusing on physical punishments (most notably corporal and capital punishments) and the emergence of the use of imprisonment. It will consider the arguments for and against different forms of punishment, the reasons why so many societies have moved away from the use of corporal and capital punishments and why a number of societies have retained (or in some cases re-introduced) them. It will also examine the nature of contemporary systems of punishment based on imprisonment, the challenges they face and the alternative forms of punishment that have emerged in the second half of the 20th century |
Criminology Minor - Level 2 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-20006 |
Criminology - Study Abroad I |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20007 |
Criminology - Study Abroad II |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20016 |
Crime and Justice in a Global Context |
C |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This modules provides a comprehensive introduction to, and looks in detail at how criminology has tried to understand the effects on crime and criminal justice of globalisation and other processes of social change associated with the coming of late modernity. The focus will be on issues and problems related to terrorism, state crimes, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. This module is also a free standing elective and is particularly suitable for students in the social sciences and in particular sociology students. |
|
|
CRI-20017 |
Building Safer Communities |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
It is almost impossible to avoid hearing the word 'community' when the subject of what is to be done about crime and disorder is discussed. In political and policy debates, as well as in media and everyday consideration of these issues, 'the community' is a term used and abused as both a source of problems and a resource to be drawn upon in designing solutions to them. This module considers the ways in which $ùcommunities&© are constructed, managed, mobilised and responsibilised both as sites of crime problems and as potential sources of crime prevention solutions. The module will engage critically with the term $ùcommunity&© asking if the term retains any meaning in late modern societies and, if so, what it means for those who find themselves governing and being governed under such headings.
The module considers efforts to $ùbuild safer communities&© on three levels. Firstly it explores top-down efforts to manage crime and disorder that have been structured around the notion of $ùthe community&© as a site of governance. Secondly, the module explores attempts to responsibilise and mobilise more local agencies and organisations under the $ùcommunity&© banner, relocating some responsibility in locally-based $ùPartnerships&© who become tasked with knowing the specific problems of $ùtheir&© communities and acting to minimise them. Thirdly, the module engages with debates around the responsibilisation of individuals as part of variously defined communities, whether they be construed on geographic, racial, interest or any other lines.
The enduring appeal of the notion of community will be explored alongside these three approaches, as well as the problems caused by conceptualising society and individuals in community terms. The module asks broad questions that underpin the use of the term, including; Who or what constitutes a community? Who defines which communities exist? How does central and local government intervention (directly or indirectly) promote the interests of some communities over others? Are communities always inclusive?
|
|
|
CRI-20018 |
Crime, Culture and Conflict 1700-1914 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Crime, Culture and Conflict is designed to allow students to critically analyse the history of criminal justice in England and Wales during the period 1750-1914. In doing so, the module provides the academic context for understanding the major debates, theories and issues relating to the contemporary criminal justice system. The module is structured around three key themes: the social construction of crime and criminalisation, the public versus the private sphere and competing perspectives on the history of crime and the development of the criminal justice system. These three themes share an important strand of continuity within this module - that of popular culture and resistance. This framework is employed to demonstrate that history is always a matter of contestation and interpretation, and that there can never be one definitive 'truth' about historical events or developments. The process of excavating new historical sources is a continuous one, and as new research takes place alongside existing acccounts, critical reflection, perhaps even re-evaluation and re-interpretation, is often called for. |
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-20008 |
Criminology - Study Abroad III |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20009 |
Criminology - Study Abroad IV |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students. |
|
|
CRI-20015 |
Working for Justice |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed for any year 2 student considering a career in Criminal Justice.
1) The module provides students with an overview of careers in Criminal Justice and Criminal Justice related fields.
2) It supports students' job search in the Criminal Justice sector by enabling them to produce appropriate written vocational work (such as identification of skill sets, matching skill sets and experiences to job specifications, writing CVs and covering letters).
3) It focuses on a core set of skills with resonance in a range of occupations in criminal justice namely:
Investigative skills (especially investigative interviewing and statement taking)
Dealing with vulnerable clients/Supporting Victims
Presentation of evidence (both oral and written)
Working within the legislative framework of the Race Relations Act and Data Protection Act
|
|
|
CRI-20020 |
Research Methods in Criminology |
C |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to the logic and skills of social science research as applied to the study of crime and criminal justice and equips them with a critical appreciation of the range of strategies for research design, data collection and analysis. Students have opportunities to practice their survey and interviewing skills. The course is assessed by a Research Design Exercise and a Methodological Review. |
|
|
CRI-20021 |
Policing and the Police |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Policing and the police are constantly in the news. Police investigations of serious crime - terrorism, murder, rape and robbery - make the headlines every day. They are also a staple of crime fiction on television, in films and print. But media headlines and TV cop shows tell us very little about what policing is really like. While the media concentrate on the police as crime fighters - the thin blue line between order and chaos - the reality of policing is both more varied and more challenging.
This module aims to go behind the headlines and to answer some basic questions. What do we mean by policing? How does it relate to experiences and feelings of security? Who does $ùpolicing&©, and who are $ùthe police&©? How do the people and institutions responsible for policing relate to each other? What do the people we think of as $ùthe police&© actually do? And how is all of this changing as societies become more diverse, the threats to security more global in their origins and ways of responding to them more varied?
The main focus of the module is on policing in England and Wales but in answering these questions we will draw on an international literature written by scholars and researchers from many other jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Australia and South Africa. We will also look in detail at: the structure and organisation of the police; the development of policing both before and since the establishment of the $ùnew&© Metropolitan Police in 1829; the main characteristics and conditions for existence of a distinctive culture within police organisations; and the powers of the police and how they are held to account for their use.
Apart from criminology this module draws on insights and concepts from several other disciplines including law, sociology, social policy, psychology and anthropology and will be of interest to students with backgrounds in any of these subjects. If you are thinking of a career in policing whatever your background this is very much the module for you.
Teaching is based on a course of ten weekly lectures and five fortnightly tutorials. The assessments consist of a traditional essay and an unseen exam but the exam may include a range of tasks including writing a commentary on a piece of texts or answering a problem question.
|
|
|
SOC-20034 |
Crime, Morality and the Media |
EA |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Crime, Morality and the Media will introduce students to the main theories and debates surrounding the factual and fictional representations of crime and deviance. Students will be asked to consider past and present media portrayals of criminality and deviance in order to unpack how and why the tales of morality implicit in their representation continue to hold resonance for audiences.
Reflecting upon both media examples and theoretical debates, in this course students will consider the view that representations of criminal and deviant acts help to communicate a dominant view of class, ethnicity, gender, and age, and work to secure the consensus of the mass audience. As well as looking at factual news reports into events such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann or the War on Terror, we will also examine entertainment forms and ask why certain genres of music, film and videogame incite moral outrage from large sections of the mass media and its audience.
To situate these ideas about the social construction of meaning we will look at Stanley Cohen&©s classic study on folk devils and moral panics and attempt to unpack debates about morality, fear and risk. We will also apply the theoretical perspectives put forward by key thinkers including Stuart Hall, Michel Foucault, and Rene Girard to further our understanding of important ideas such as Self / Other, knowledge and power, and the scapegoat mechanism in relation to media representations of crime and deviance.
The lectures will focus on
Theories of moral panics, fear and risk
The fear of the $ùmob&© - representations of class conflict
Constructing the nation - the ethnic Other as scapegoat
Deviant women - nature versus culture
Children in the news - transgressing innocence
Violence on film - social commentary and the slasher flick
True-crime TV - blurring the boundaries between fact and fiction
Music and mayhem - deviant subcultures
Videogame nasties - virtual reality and the embodiment of violence
Formative Assessment and Seminar Activities
Students will be expected to work on their own and as part of a group by:
- reading key theoretical texts in preparation for class
- critically analysing and commenting on media and cultural texts
- critically analysing and commenting on key theoretical texts
- engaging in small group discussion and whole of class debates
- preparing for and discussing assessments (case study, poster and formative tests)
In addition to traditional lectures and seminars there will be occasional screenings, KLE-based activities and student-led research.
Students will be asked to complete two take-home tests over the course of the module. The tests will comprise of a page of short answer and multiple choice questions where students will be required to research a breadth of material independently.
|
Criminology Minor - Level 3 Modules
| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30041 |
The politics and cultures of the death penalty in the 21st Century |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This option is intended for students with an interest in punishment and penality in general and in the death penalty in particular. Through a combination of lectures and seminar activities students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the philosophical, political, legal and cultural contexts within which the death penalty either survives or is abolished.
The course is organized around the exploration of four themes:
1) The place of the death penalty in the philosophy and sociology of punishment.
2) The current state of play on the death penalty worldwide and the rise of abolitionist politics (especially in the European context).
3) Current debates/controversies surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US through relevant criminological/legal literature and cases of established or suspected miscarriages of justice.
4) Key cultural sensibilities relating to executions, pain and suffering.
Students will be encouraged to use internet resources to locate information relating to case studies on specific death row prisoners/miscarriages of justice and the arguments of anti-death penalty/pro-death penalty groups. Seminars will aim to help students evaluate, summarize and synthesize the information gathered. A number of the seminar activities are designed to assist students with their essays and students will be encouraged to bring to the seminars case studies relevant to their case study assessment.
|
|
|
CRI-30042 |
Gender, History and Punishment 1486-1955 |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed to allow students to gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the gendered nature of criminal justice throughout history. As we embark upon this historical journey through the criminal justice system, links will also be made with the gendered nature of the modern system of punishment, as well as the wider culture within which it is situated. In this way, students will gain an understanding of the importance of history in tems of its influence on modern penal practices - both formal and informal.
While students taking this module will be presented with an overview of traditional (and hence andro-centric) theories on punishment, the module is designed to challenge such theories by employing a feminist perspective on punishment. This aim will be achieved - not only by demonstrating the contribution feminism has made to the development of alternative theories of punishment - but also by utilising feminist theory and method to critically assess conventional, gender-blind theoretical perspectives.
This critical assessment and evaluation will lead to a demonstration that there is no one 'true' account of history, that history is always a matter of interpretation and hence is always a potential site of contestation.
|
|
|
CRI-30043 |
Power, Process and Victimisation |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
While students of this module will be introduced to traditional theoretical perspectives and methods within victimology, the module is designed to challenge and critically assess conventional definitions of 'the victim' and 'victimisation'. This aim will be achieved by examining the processes behind, as well as the social construction of these definitions, and to situate them within a wider sociological context of power and its implementation. To this end, the module focuses on the theory, practices and policy behind the study of victimisation.
Furthermore, it encourages students to develop both analytical skills as well as an understanding of policy interventions. In turn, attaining these skills should facilitate access to careers in victim support, rape crisies centres and in the partnership work that is being developed through the inter-linking of different criminal justice and welfare agencies to provide support for victims, both at a local and national level.
|
|
|
CRI-30044 |
Prisons and Imprisonment |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the central role which prisons play in society, both as institutions which dominate the contemporary punitive network, and as places which absorb our social and cultural imagination. We will do this by examining contemporary representations and conceptions of the role of prisons in policy and popular culture. Secondly, we reflect on the contested nature of power in prisons through an examination of everyday lived experience of prison from the perspectives of prisoners, staff, prisoners&© families and prison activists. The third section explores the links between race, gender (masculinity and femininity) political consciousness and power and resistance in prison. Finally, we conclude by examining contemporary controversies about the future of imprisonment.
Assessment is by formative in-class presentation work followed by individual short commentary, individual short commentaries on learning and feedback (x2) and two short (2,000) word essays.
Lecture outline:
Revisiting the prison crisis
1. The current state of our prisons
2. Popular and political representations of prisons
Prison community
3. Doing prison work
4. Surviving imprisonment
5. Legitimacy and coercion in prisons
6. Righteous outsiders: charities, prisoner support groups and activists
Prisons and inequality
7. The gendered pains of imprisonment
8. Race, ethnicity and imprisonment
9. Radicalisation and resistance
Penal futures
10. The penal-industrial complex
11. Imprisonment and globalisation?
|
|
|
CRI-30045 |
Popular Culture and Crime |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the possible relationships between popular culture and crime. It looks at the extent to which representations of crime have formed a key component of popular culture
throughout modernity. It goes on to examine the extent to which popular cultural representations of crime, and the $ùpopular&© cultural practices of some sections of society, have themselves been
linked to crime and criminality. Late modernity has seen the rise of $ùlaw and order&© as an electoral issue, the emergence of $ùtrue crime&© as one of the fastest growing popular literary genres, a
significant increase in the number of films and television programming devoted to crime related issues and themes, increased interest in police procedure, forensic science, criminal psychology and related areas, and rapidly increasing demand for criminology as an undergraduate subject. This module concludes by considering what contemporary society&©s apparent preoccupation
with crime and criminality can tell us about the nature of identity formation and maintenance in late modernity.
|
| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
CRI-30038 |
State crimes and crimes against humanity |
EP |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity have drawn the attention of criminologists only recently. This module provides students with in-depth information on these 'new' topics in criminology. The focus is on explanations of state crimes and crimes against humanity, and on regulatory models and perspectives in this field of study.
The module analyses in depth topics briefly explored earlier in the level II module on 'Crime and Justice in a Global Context'. Students who take the level III module however shall be introduced to more philosophically inspired reflections on the issue of state crimes and crimes against humanity. It is not necessary for students to have taken the aforementioned level II module prior to taking this one.
|
|
|
CRI-30039 |
Immigration, Communities and Crime |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In contemporary societies, the issue of immigration remains at the forefront of public concern and government agenda, particularly in terms of its perceived and publicised detrimental consequences for local communities. The association of immigration with rising crime, disorder and insecurity has also featured prominently in criminological research throughout the last century, most notably in the 'Chicago School' studies dating back to the 1920's. This module explores the proposition of a link between immigration and a breakdown in the local social order. In doing so, it will critically consider the association between immigration and crime; immigration, disorder and fear of crime; and immigrants as sources of criminality, disorder and fear. These themes are explored from a range of viewpoints of those directly affected by such social change, including established local communities, immigrant communities, local criminal justice institutions, as well as the media.
In addition to this, however, the module considers a new research agenda that seeks to understand how diverse and changing communities can effectively mobilise against local crime and disorder problems, resulting in the revitalisation rather than degeneration of local communities. This part of the module introduces students to the theory of 'social capital' and how it is related to the social control of crime to explore whether such 'fragmented' communities are capable of working together to successfully control local crime and disorder problems. Here, students will consider whether the 'Chicago School' theories of the past can be applied to contemporary social environments. Students will also have the opportunity to engage with case studies of research carried out in the local area on this topic. |
|
|
CRI-30040 |
Risk and Criminal Justice |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Whether the topic is suspected terrorists, sex offenders, electronic tagging, CCTV, or even speeding drivers, the term 'risk' has increasingly come to dominate criminal justice, political and media discourses about crime. But what is the significance of this increasing tendency to conceptualise a wide range of crime problems in terms of 'risk'? What are the consequences for criminal justice agencies, for practitioners, and for the rest of us of an increasing focus on the future and on the prevention of crimes that might (but might not) happen? To what extent should we all be concerned with attempts to control a future that we cannot accurately predict?
Students who select this module will be introduced to some of the main ways in which a concern with the management and minimisation of 'risk' has come to influence our criminal justice system, in terms of prediction, prevention, detection, processing and punishment. The module will also, however, consider the wider significance of viewing a variety of social problems as 'risk issues', including the compatibility of such an approach with the production of 'justice'. The module will offer an insight into a range of topical issues and challenges facing criminal justice which will be of benefit to students wishing to pursue a career in a range of moreand less obvious criminal justice contexts as well as those intending to engage in further academic study.
|
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
EP |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards $ùcare in the community&©. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called $ùdangerous&© people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. Key themes of the module will be drawn out through the use of key case studies including severe personality disorder and drug misuse. |
