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CRI-20036 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2024/25 Last Updated: 12 May 2024

CRI-20036 - Contemporary Challenges and Issues in Criminal Justice
Coordinator: Tony Kearon Room: CBB1.031 Tel: +44 1782 7 34382
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

CRI-10013 Criminal Justice: Process, Policy, Practice
Students must also be registered on Crime and Justice in a Global Context CRI-20016 and Research Methods in Criminology CRI-20020 as co-requisites

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module examines current and emerging challenges and issues in criminal justice policy, process and practice. We will examine case studies of specific contemporary examples of issues requiring a criminal justice response to prevent, deter or reduce problematic impacts and explore the ways in which we can contextualise, measure and respond to these challenges and issues, and consider the ways in which these challenges and issues may evolve in the future.

Aims
This module aims to introduce students to a range of current and emerging challenges and issues in Criminal Justice, to encourage them to think about the broader contexts within which these challenges/issues emerge and to develop an evidence based analysis of how these issues/challenges may develop to impact on future criminal justice policy, practice and procedures.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Critically engage with scholarly and policy debates about criminal justice, prisons, punishment, policing and the police: 1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how individuals work in various criminal justice and related organisations: 1,2
Recognise and illustrate the impact of social change on crime and ways of responding to it through the operation of criminal justice systems, policies and practices and a range of related policy and procedural responses: 1,2
Reflect on the legal and social justice contexts of doing criminal justice work: 1
Identify and critically discuss current, emerging and future challenges and trends in the delivery and operation of criminal justice and policing and deploy the 'horizon scanning' approach increasingly utilised in evidence based practice in criminal justice.: 1,2

Study hours

Lectures/Seminars -20 hours (10 lectures, 10 seminars)
Student preparation for in class activities and assessments - 70 hours
Student independent study - 60 hours

School Rules

Students must also be registered on Crime and Justice in a Global Context CRI-20016 and Research Methods in Criminology CRI-20020

Description of Module Assessment

1: Report weighted 75%
Horizon Scanning Criminal Justice report - 1500 words
Students are required to produce a 1500 word 'Horizon Scanning' report which identifies an emerging issue/challenge in criminal justice, locates and discusses its emergence, its current manifestations and challenges and its possible future developments and potential impacts on both criminal justice agencies and communities/society. Students are also required to include an evidence based speculation on possible future interventions/approaches to mitigate the issue/challenge.

2: Poster weighted 25%
Annotated PowerPoint/Poster presenting key findings of the Horizon Scanning report to a practitioner audience
Once students have produced their Horizon Scanning report, they are also required to produce and submit an annotated PowerPoint presentation (slides with presenter notes approximately 500 words) which summarises and presents the arguments, issues and recommendations from their report to a non-academic practitioner audience.

Please note that for the 2022/23 Academic Year programmes may be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there may be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 12 May 2024