Criminology

Module overview:

In this module we will examine a range of responses to crime, including policing, prisons and probation, as well as different conceptualisations of and contexts for justice, including international justice (e.g. human rights law, the International Criminal Court) and restorative justice. The module will support your critical thinking by drawing on a range of interdisciplinary perspectives and research studies to offer an intellectually rigorous criminological introduction to the study of crime control and justice.  

Teaching and learning:

During weekly teaching sessions, you will acquire knowledge on the module’s subjects through mini-taught sessions, in-class tasks and workshops. Student-led activities will include reading, answering questions and presenting these answers to the group, interactive exercises, problem solving, discussing and debating topics. 
 
Each weekly session, apart from the module’s first class, will include assessment-related exercises. We will do this for example, by assessing introductory paragraphs submitted by students in previous years and composing alternative introductions in groups. These exercises aim to gradually work on students’ assessment skills and competencies.  

Assessment:

This module will be assessed using a 20 minute presentation, worth 50% and an essay worth 50%.

Module overview:

In this module, you will learn how to challenge traditional social science approaches by examining the broader social and political contexts that generate violence and harm. Through a critical analysis of power structures, you will explore how violence and social harm is produced, including those harms that are often overlooked by conventional crime definitions. You will understand and evaluate responses to violence and harm in policy and practice. 

Teaching and learning:

You'll learn through: Team and community building activities where you will be encouraged to interact and build relationships with each other and a sense of community, through a mixture of team-building exercises and games, and reflective activities. Knowledge, skills and traits acquirements activities that will allow you to acquire subject knowledge and develop transferable employability skills and assessment support activities that will also include assessment-related exercises. These will be used to build your general assessments skills and competencies. 

Assessment:

This module will be assessed using a poster worth 30%. You will be asked to produce an infograph to highlight a particular form of violence. There will also be a critical essay worth 70%, you will be asked to write a substantive essay (from a choice of titles) to demonstrate your understanding of key theories, issues and debates relating to power, social harm and wider inequalities. 

Module overview:

You will come to this module having studied Criminology for a term, and you will explore a range of ‘live’ contemporary issues and debates in criminology. The specific challenges covered may vary according to current events, but they will all be connected through a broad focus on the different kinds of justice that they speak to. You will learn about, and critically engage with, the complexity and evolving nature of crime, justice, and social responses to it. You will develop your critical thinking, perspective-taking and analytical skills by examining cutting-edge criminological research, and its implications for social justice and policy responses.

Teaching and learning:

You'll learn through weekly sessions that will be divided into three main activities. 
 
Team and community building: you will be encouraged to interact and build relationships with each other and a sense of community, through a mixture of team-building exercises and games, and reflective activities. 
 
Knowledge, skills and traits acquirements: you will acquire subject knowledge and develop transferable employability skills. Mini-taught sessions will be followed by students-led tasks and exercises, which might include reading and presenting information, interactive exercises, groups’ works, problem solving tasks, discussing and debating topics, or quizzes. 
 
Assessment support: Each weekly session will also include assessment-related exercises. These will be used to build your general assessments skills and competencies.

Assessment:

This module will be assessed using a critical issue analysis (report) worth 50%, you will select a contemporary criminological challenge, analyse it from a range of different perspectives, and assess a range of policy responses. You will also design a policy proposal worth 50%, addressing a key contemporary challenge, demonstrating practical application of criminological research. 

Module overview:

This module introduces you to a range of theories and methods that underpin social research. The module is delivered within a broader social justice framework that emphasises equity, inclusivity, and ethical inquiry. It challenges traditional power dynamics in research and encourages you to critically examine biases, representation, and the impact of research on marginalized communities. The module introduces how research can both reinforce and challenge social inequalities, exploring epistemologies and approaches to researching for social justice (including decolonizing methodologies; community-based research; participatory research; trauma-informed approaches), as well as providing an understanding of core principles of social research. 

Teaching and learning:

You'll learn through weekly lectures and workshops. Workshops will utilise a variety of teaching approaches i.e. taught sessions blended with a range of interactive activities (e.g. group work, problem solving using case studies, interactive quizzes, and debating key issues) and your understanding will be regularly evaluated through these methods. 

Assessment:

This module will be assessed using a case study analysis worth 50%, where you will be provided with three research problem vignettes and will be required to explain why a particular approach is most appropriate, drawing on theory and research, and a research proposal worth 50%, where you will produce a research proposal for an empirical study of your choice (relevant to researching for social justice). 

Module overview:

You will come to this module having gained a grounding in the design of research through the Researching for Social Justice module. In this module, you will be supported to produce your own original and substantial empirical research project on a specialist field related to your Masters programme (in Criminology, International Relations or Human Rights).  As a student-led module (with the support of a supervisor), you will learn key skills in designing, carrying out and reflecting on a research project and presenting it appropriately. You will also develop skills in developing a non-technical briefing for policy and/or practice, based on your research findings.

Teaching and learning:

You'll learn through independent learning with support from an allocated supervisor which will involve one-to-one supervision meetings. These meetings will help develop a number of skills such as time and project management, communication skills (both verbal and in writing) and the development of critical thinking and scholarly enquiry. Broader support is provided by three webinars provided by the module convenor which relate to key milestones: ‘Getting started’, ‘Making your ethics application’ and ‘Writing up’. Additional resources will be provided via Moodle.

Assessment:

This module will be assessed using a research report worth 70%, you will identify your own research problem and design, carry out and write-up the project in a substantive piece of written work (the use of visual aids will be encouraged) and a non-technical briefing worth 30% where you will identify an appropriate audience (relevant to their discipline and topic) and produce a brief non-technical summary of your research findings and identify the key recommendations that emerge from your findings for policy and/practice.