Criminology Major (Level 2)
Criminology Minor (Level 2)
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.
Trace and account for the historical development of, and current trends in, policing, primarily in England and Wales will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
Critically engage with scholarly and policy debates about policing and the police will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
Assess the role and contribution of the public police and other institutions through which policing is provided and how they relate to each other will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
Identify and evaluate the range of different strategies and approaches by which policing is undertaken, and the debates and controversies to which they have given rise will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
Distinguish between the mechanisms and institutions through which policing provision and the use of police powers are governed and held publicly accountable will be achieved by assessments: 1, 2
5 hours tutorials
80 hours assessment preparation
55 hours preparatory reading etc. for lectures and tutorials
Students will be required to answer two questions, but the format of these questions may vary and may include commentaries on a piece of text and/or problem or task-based questions in addition to conventional essays.
This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.