SOC-20034 - Module Specification
School of Social, Political and Global Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

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, 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 videogames 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.

To encourage students to think critically about the ways in which media texts represent social phenomenon
To enhance student's ability to link concepts and evidence in crime, morality and media within a broadly comparative framework
To enable students to evaluate the contribution of research knowledge about crime, morality and the media
To provide opportunities through seminar discussion and essay writing in which students may develop their skills of scholarly discussion and exposition of complex ideas

Intended Learning Outcomes

Identify theories and concepts of crime, morality and the media and relate them to wider social and political concerns.: 1
Critically evaluate different theoretical approaches to understanding concepts of crime, morality and the media.: 1
Articulate knowledge of key concepts in the study of crime, morality, and the media.
: 1
Employ concepts and theories to analyse media and cultural texts beyond their original context.: 1
Communicate ideas, theories and knowledge of crime, morality and the media effectively in written form.: 1
Articulate knowledge of how the media constructs meaning about crime and morality within a sociological framework.: 1

Study hours

10 hours lectures
10 hours seminars
60 hours seminar preparation
70 hours assessment preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment