Last modified: 01 Aug 2024 13:16
International agencies such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime see organised crime as a growing challenge. International NGOs have emerged to address the challenge – an example is the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. Yet national and international agencies disagree even on how to define organised crime, still more on how to respond to it. The course will consider how to understand organised crime, and will gauge efforts by state and society to respond to it.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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One or more of these courses have a limited number of places. Priority access will be given to students for whom this course is compulsory. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for more details on this process.
National and international authorities disagree on the definition of organised crime and on strategies for responding to it.
For example, agencies call for civil society to play a lead role, but there is little clarity on how civil society can engage effectively with states subject to organised crime, on the one hand, while connecting with affected communities, on the other.
Students will consider how to understand organised crime, and will examine efforts by state and society to respond to it. These will include responses by churches, indigenous communities, anti-crime militias, and national and international NGOs.
It will also cover the impacts of organised crime activity on politics, the economy, the environment, and on vulnerable groups including rural and urban poor, women, LGBTI and indigenous peoples.
At least half the cases studied will be in Latin America, but students will be able to focus their own projects on any world region.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 55 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will carry out research on a topic of their choosing, with guidance from the lecturer, related to organised crime and responses to it. After communicating their provisional findings in a short Panopto video (separate assessment), students will present their final conclusions in a format of their choosing: Unless they have written an essay, students will be required to reflect in 400-600 words on how they have tailored their presentation for a specific audience, whether academic researchers, practitioners and policy makers, or wider publics such as a newspaper readership. For example, if they write a media article, they must explain what media they have chosen and what editorial choices they have made - how they have structured and written their article to appeal to New York Times readers, for example. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Understand organised crime and evaluate state and societal responses to it in a variety of global contexts, through engaging with diverse course materials and carrying out research. |
| Reflection | Create | Carry out research and communicate your provisional findings in a video, and your conclusions in a format of your choosing, reflecting on how you have tailored this for a specific audience. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will communicate the provisional findings of their research project in a 3-minute Panopto video, and will receive feedback in time to consider it for their final project report. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Understand organised crime and evaluate state and societal responses to it in a variety of global contexts, through engaging with diverse course materials and carrying out research. |
| Reflection | Create | Carry out research and communicate your provisional findings in a video, and your conclusions in a format of your choosing, reflecting on how you have tailored this for a specific audience. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
To motivate students to participate in the 30-minute group-led discussion (see previous assessment), their participation will be assessed against a detailed set of criteria provided by the lecturer and explained in the first session of the course. Their participation will be peer-assessed – it will be carried out each week by a volunteer from among the students. This will allow the lecturer to focus on how the group is leading class discussion (see previous assessment). It will also help the volunteers (who will not participate in class discussion that week) to reflect on how to participate effectively in group discussion. As far as possible, a different volunteer will be chosen each week. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Understand organised crime and evaluate state and societal responses to it in a variety of global contexts, through engaging with diverse course materials and carrying out research. |
| Reflection | Create | Lead discussion in a class segment, prepare & pose questions for other students to debate, select appropriate dynamics & participate effectively in class discussion led by others. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will lead class discussion on the week’s topic in a 30-minute segment of the seminar, preparing and posing questions for other students to debate, and selecting appropriate dynamics such as class debates or small-group discussion, following detailed instructions provided by the lecturer. Feedback will be provided at the end of the class to the group leading discussion that day. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Understand organised crime and evaluate state and societal responses to it in a variety of global contexts, through engaging with diverse course materials and carrying out research. |
| Reflection | Create | Lead discussion in a class segment, prepare & pose questions for other students to debate, select appropriate dynamics & participate effectively in class discussion led by others. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 75 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will carry out research on a topic of their choosing, with guidance from the lecturer, related to organised crime and responses to it. After communicating their provisional findings in a short Panopto video (separate assessment), students will present their final conclusions in a format of their choosing: Unless they have written an essay, students will be required to reflect in 400-600 words on how they have tailored their presentation for a specific audience, whether academic researchers, practitioners and policy makers, or wider publics such as a newspaper readership. For example, if they write a media article, they must explain what media they have chosen and what editorial choices they have made - how they have structured and written their article to appeal to New York Times readers, for example. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will communicate the provisional findings of their research project in a 3-minute Panopto video, and will receive feedback in time to consider it for their final project report. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Understand organised crime and evaluate state and societal responses to it in a variety of global contexts, through engaging with diverse course materials and carrying out research. |
| Reflection | Create | Lead discussion in a class segment, prepare & pose questions for other students to debate, select appropriate dynamics & participate effectively in class discussion led by others. |
| Reflection | Create | Carry out research and communicate your provisional findings in a video, and your conclusions in a format of your choosing, reflecting on how you have tailored this for a specific audience. |
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