LS453R: CRIMINOLOGY (2024-2025)

Course Aims: This course aims to introduce students to the study of criminology and to various schools of thought in this field, and to encourage them to think critically about the causes of crime, society’s response to crime and the definition of crime itself.

Main Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge and Understanding

Students will understand the main theoretical accounts of crime and social responses to it, and acquire some insights into the social, political and economic contexts within which crime occurs. In addition, they will gain awareness of the multiplicity of factors involved in committing a criminal act.

Subject Specific Skills and Concepts Students will develop social scientific methods of study and analysis. They will learn how to think critically and creatively, to think at a conceptual level and apply theoretical models, to analyse and synthesise material from a variety of sources and to evaluate the merits of competing arguments. Students will develop the ability to express themselves, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive fashion, to debate complex and emotive issues in a group situation, to listen effectively and to engage in independent and critical research. They are required to produce coursework, which is fully referenced, using correct legal citations and to retrieve a range of up-to-date legal materials in electronic and non-electronic formats.

Key Skills (Transferable)

• Ability to conduct further personal research with a fair degree of confidence.
• Ability to communicate, in writing, the results of personal research.
• Ability to argue logically and support arguments with evidence.
• Ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, when conducting research projects.
• Ability to work effectively in small groups.
• To develop time management skills. Content: This course chiefly examines theories that attempt to explain why people act in a deviant or criminal manner. We will consider theories that explain deviance (in whole or in part) as the product of (1) biological features of the deviant; (2) economic forces; (3) environmental conditions; and (4) the 'labels' social groups assign to certain types of conduct. We will also look at the means by which criminal statistics are gathered, and the extent to which they are accurate.

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

More Information about Week Numbers

There are no assessments for this course.