CRI-30072 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

What is `hate speech¿ and when, if at all, should governments prohibit it? Should a crime be treated differently if it is motivated by racism, homophobia or another form of prejudice? Over recent years, hate crime has become a prominent and highly contentious point of debate that raises complex questions about freedom, laws and their limits, and policing practices. This module will introduce students to these debates and look at how states respond to prejudice. The module will draw on political, sociological and criminological theory to introduce students to how hate crimes are policed in the UK and elsewhere, and ask why certain acts and prejudices are classed as `hate crimes¿ while others are not. It will also introduce students to sociological study of prejudices such as racism, antisemitism/Islamophobia, anti-Traveller prejudice and homophobia. Through doing this, the module will explore how states have, at different times and places, both protected people against prejudice and promoted prejudice through laws, policies and policing practices.

¿ To enable students to critically evaluate scholarly and public policy debates about different forms of prejudice and hatred, including prejudices associated with race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity
¿ To introduce students to the key theories, policies and practices in relation to hate crime, and to enable them to critically evaluate different approaches to hate crime
¿ To show students how states can both protect people against hatred and facilitate or enact hatred against minority groups
¿ To enable students to critically engage in political theory and public policy debates about hate crime, harm and freedom of expression, utilising a range of criminological and sociological theories
- To provide an awareness of how jurisdictions respond to hate crime, and what forms of prejudice are, and are not, covered in hate crime policy

Intended Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate an awareness of how hate crime is defined and responded to in different jurisdictions: 1
Evaluate the concept of `hate crime¿ and arguments for and against states and criminal justice systems recognising hate crimes in law and policy: 1
Describe the history and nature of different forms of identity-based prejudice, and public debates about them: 1
Analyse the role of states and criminal justice systems in both protecting people against, and promoting, hatred: 1
Apply key theoretical debates in criminology and the wider social sciences to the subject of hate crime: 1

Study hours

12 hours of interactive lecture activity
12 hours of small group/seminar activity
24 hours of directed online asynchronous activity designed to help students prepare for in-person classes (e.g., visual materials, recordings/podcasts etc).
102 hours personal study, additional self directed preparation for classes, assessment preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment