CRI-10013 - Module Specification
School of Social, Political and Global Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2022/23

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Cri-10010 Understanding Crime

Barred Combinations

NONE

Description for 2022/23

This module will look at the organisations and individuals who attempt to deliver 'Criminal Justice'. The module will offer a brief overview of the nature and development of the Criminal Justice 'System', the various agencies that this 'system' is comprised of and their formal roles and responsibilities in the delivery of 'justice'. 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 smaller group teaching, and will also involve student visits to Magistrates or Crown Courts to observe them in operation.

This module will introduce students to theories of criminal justice and the work of, and relationships between, the main institutions of the criminal justice system. It will also place the public process in the wider context of the development of other, privatised systems of criminal justice.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Recognise the main theoretical traditions in criminology and criminal justice studies, and illustrate their application in understanding different forms of crime and different criminal justice processes and practice: 1,2
Recognise and illustrate the impact of processes of social change such as globalisation on crime and responses to it: 1,2
Describe the development and current organisation, governance and operation of official and unofficial responses to crime and victimisation, including policing, punishment and other approaches to preventing harm and ensuring personal safety: 1
Recognise different approaches to social scientific research (including comparative analysis) and their usefulness in investigating different forms of crime and victimisation and responses to them: 1,2
Identify different representations of crime, victimisation and responses to them in the media and by agents of crime control: 1,2
Identify and summarise the main points of key texts in criminology: 1
Make use of research evidence, other data and some basic criminological theories in developing arguments and making judgements about criminological issues: 1
Present written work in criminology in an appropriate scholarly style using the Harvard system of citation and referencing: 1
Recognise and describe the relationships between crime, victimisation and responses to them, and social divisions based on age, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality and (dis)ability: 1,2

Study hours

11 hours of lectures
10 hours of tutorial contact
4 hours on completion of online task
125 hours of private study (including preparatory reading for lectures and tutorials, preparation and additional reading for assessments and group preparation outside of context of tutorials for group activities, carrying out court observations).

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment