Criminology and Security

Aims
The aim of this module is to help students utilise a volunteering placement to gain knowledge and understandings of a non-profit organisation in order to be able describe and analyse:

• Connections between the organisation and practices
• Connections between the organisation and social policies
• Practical and experiential aspects of studying social policy, sociology and criminology

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students will

• Have made a contribution to a non-profit organisation by working as a volunteer for a minimum of 48 hrs.
• Understand discourses related to volunteering
• Understand the interface between the host organisation and social policies
• Understand the service offered by the organisation in the context of the welfare mix
• Be able to make a poster presentation and reflect on their actions and learning

Aims
This unit will explore the impacts and effects of risk in contemporary society in the areas of crime, welfare and human security.

Learning Outcomes
On completion of the unit students will be able to demonstrate the following competencies through appropriate study and submission of assessed coursework:

• Evaluating the impacts of crime, welfare and security risks on lived experience in the contemporary UK and Singapore
• Identifying and understanding the social and cultural processes which shape the construction of security risks.
• Comprehending the relationship between the distribution of health risks and traditional forms of social stratification.
• Comparing theories of risk with ethnographic research into the effects of risk on everyday experience.
• Understanding policy approaches towards crime and security risks in terms of institutional regulation, legislation and management.
• Articulating the links between identity, individualization and reflexivity in contemporary western cultures

Aims
The module aims:

• To provide a critical overview of the historical development of state policy responses to youth crime and to explore criminological and sociological conceptualisations of ‘youth’, ‘crime’, ‘criminalisation’ and ‘justice’.
• To analyse the competing priorities and underpinning discourses that inform youth justice policy formation.
• To explore the application of youth justice policy through the interventions of state agencies, and to consider the principal consequences of such interventions for ‘young offenders’, the management of youth crime and the regulation and governance of young people.

Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this third level module students will have:

• An understanding of the trajectory of state policy responses to children and young people in conflict with the law from the early nineteenth century to the present and a familiarity with key debates within youth criminology and the sociology of youth justice.
• An awareness of key criminological and sociological debates and an ability to critically analyse the competing priorities, tensions and paradoxes intrinsic to ‘welfare’, ‘justice’ and ‘retributive’/‘punitive’ approaches to the delivery of youth justice.
• A critical grasp of the politics of youth crime, youth justice and social control.
• An appreciation of the temporal and spatial dimensions of youth justice and the significance of comparative transnational analyses.

Aims
SOCS241 (Policing, Crime and Society) is a level 2 module that introduces students to the core practical and sociological understandings of modern policing in both a domestic and international context. The module is designed to provide an insight into the concepts of policing and the police, connecting significant past and present policing issues with sociological analysis and changes in criminal justice policy.

This module seeks to provide a conceptual, historical, contemporary and global understanding of the ‘police’, one of the key social and legal institutions of the modern State. The police are an integral part of the criminal justice system, but the reach of ‘policing’ can also be evidenced in covert policing practices within the private security sector, and counter-terrorism.

Therefore, the aims of this module are:

• To explore the main academic literature sources relevant to policing studies and examine the different functions and strategies of the police and their relationship to social policies.
• To examine contemporary debates on the role of policing and provide a critical insight into the key cultural practices of the police.
• To highlight the pluralised role of policing and develop an international perspective on how ‘policing’ is conducted across the globe in relation to terrorism and international security

Learning Outcomes
After completing the module the student should be able to:

• Use and apply the main sources of policing literature for sociological research purposes
• Understand the relationship between policing, crime and society
• Critically evaluate police cultures and the role of the police
• Appreciate the relationships and tensions between policing and human rights
• Identify a range of difference institutions that fiction as part of the police, and critically reflect on the concept of 'policing' as not just being a function of the police
• Have an awareness of the global reach of policing in relation to transnational crime, terrorism and international security

Aims
The aims of the module are summarised as follows:

• To critically explore the main sociological and criminological perspectives on crime, justice and punishment
• To investigate the historical emergence of theoretical thought in relation to crime and subsequent development within particular perspectives
• To critically assess and the strengths and limitations of particular concepts associated with different theoretical perspectives
• To explore how key theoretical concepts and ideas relate to criminal justice practice
• To critically understand these perspectives as they relate to social divisions (class, ‘race’, gender, sexuality and age)

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

• Demonstrate critical awareness of the historical and contemporary significance of criminological concepts deployed to explain crime, justice and punishment
• Exhibit understanding of the ways in which crime, justice and punishment are contested within and outside of academic thinking
• Distinguish between different conceptual frames of reference and compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses
• Situate theoretical thought within the world of policy and criminal justice practice
• Demonstrate how criminal justice theory and practice intersect with social fractures, inequalities and social divisions

Aims

• To introduce students to the different methods used in sociological research, focussing primarily on a consideration of quantitative methods;
• To encourage students to reflect on ethical and epistemological considerations which quantitative social research raises;
• To reflect on the issues raised by different data collection methods, and to practice some of these collection methods;
• To give students practical experience of working with and appropriately analysing datasets relevant to their studies;
• To encourage reflection on the strengths and limitations of using quantitative data in the social sciences.
• To prepare students for research to be carried out on future modules

Learning Outcomes
As a result of attendance at lectures, participation in seminars, and private study, and undertaking the assessment of learning, students should have developed a critical understanding of how to:

• Understand the issues which must be considered when choosing a method to inform a particular research area/ research questions;
• Reflect critically on their role as a researcher and demonstrate and awareness of the socio-political context of research;
• Consider the ethical implications of their research, and the strengths and limitations of secondary data analysis
• Gather, source, and appropriately analyse quantitative data.
• Understanding the reporting of quantitative data by other researchers

Aims
This module aims to:

• Introduce students to a range of research methods used in sociological research;
• To give students some practical experience of data collection, analysis and presentation;
• To encourage students to think about the ethical, epistemological and practical considerations in social research;
• To reflect on the role of the researcher in collecting and generating data.

Learning Outcomes
As a result of attendance at lectures, participation in seminars, and private study and undertaking the assessment of learning, students should have developed a critical understanding of how to:

• Select a research method to inform a particular research area/ research questions;
• Reflect critically on their role as a researcher and demonstrate and awareness of the socio-political context of research;
• Consider the ethical implications of their research, and demonstrate a good understanding of situated field ethics;
• Analyse and present observational and interview data

Aims
This module aims to:

• To provide a broad overview of the historical, theoretical and comparative foundations of punishment and imprisonment nationally and internationally.
• To examine the experiences and outcomes of imprisonment for identifiable groups of prisoners including: children and young people; women; black and minoritised people; older people.
• To introduce a range of key debates and controversies surrounding the questions of punishment, penalty and prisons in ‘modern’ societies and to subject them to social scientific interrogation.

Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the module students will have:

• An understanding of the trajectory of state policy responses in respect of punishment, penalty and prisons from the early nineteenth century to the present.
• An ability to critically analyse the competing theoretical rationales for the practices of modern punishment, penalty and imprisonment including: constructions of moral responsibility; deterrence; retribution; rehabilitation; reform; deserts; proportionality; incapacitation.
• A familiarity with the contemporary politics of imprisonment and comparative penal regimes.
• A grasp of the impact of imprisonment on prisoners in general and specific groups of prisoners in particular.
• A capacity to critically assess the legitimacy of prisons together with alternative, penal reductionist and abolitionist perspectives.

Aims
This module aims to:

• Gain a thorough understanding of the evolution of radicalism and terrorism in South-east Asia (SEA),
• Offers a rigorous course of study that evaluates the psychological processes, events, and also addresses the diverse and multifaceted factors that fuel radicalization to provide further context for students,
• Offers a practical perspective on managing radicalised individuals from experienced professionals and practitioners working in the field of counter-terrorism,
• Critically understand the challenges that radicalization poses to counter-terrorism stake-holders in combating radicalisation,
• Engage in informed debate and critical appraisal of the various de-radicalisation strategies that have been developed to address terrorist rehabilitation.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students will be able to:

• Gain an analytical understanding of the origins, magnitude, and evolution of the threat of radicalisation around the world, with a greater focus on South-east Asia (SEA),
• Understand the psychological aspects of radicalization and de-radicalisation, focusing on Singapore,
• Appreciate the challenges that radicalization poses to counter-terrorism stake-holders,
• Present their work in both written and oral presentations.

Aims
Preparing a dissertation enables students to develop their knowledge of a particular topic and develops their ability to work independently.

Learning Outcomes
Ability to work independently. Ability to plan work. Ability to marshal, analyse and present large amounts of material.

Aims
To develop an understanding of patterns and trends in the historical and contemporary contexts of research exploring high risk and serious crime.
To develop an understanding of how theoretical perspectives can assist in understanding high risk and serious offenders.
To examine the role of the media in creating images of high-risk offenders.
To develop an understanding of criminal justice responses to assessing and managing the risk posed by high-risk offenders.

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Critically discuss the role of the media in shaping public perception of high risk and serious offenders, and how this might impact on their experience of the criminal justice system.
(LO2) Examine the theoretical underpinnings associated with why offenders commit serious crimes, and why they might be considered high risk.
(LO3) Evaluate the risk assessment and management processes undertaken by key criminal justice agencies in relation to dealing with high-risk offenders.
(LO4) Critically discuss the ways in which serious offenders experience prison.
(LO5) Evaluate strategies that may be used to rehabilitate individuals who have committed serious crimes.
(S1) Critically engage the literature and research base surrounding the activity of and responses to high risk and serious offenders.
(S2) Apply theories from different disciplines in explanations of why high risk and serious offenders come to exist.
(S3) Challenge extant research findings using knowledge of research methods and issues surrounding research with serious offenders.
(S4) Evaluate real-world case studies using theories and approaches covered throughout the module.

Aims
1. Understand conventional IR theories and how they apply to international security.
2. Understand critical security theories and perspectives and understand how they critique conventional theories.
3.Analyse a broad array of security issues, including those which extend beyond war and other violent situations.
4. Apply the theories learned to the Southeast Asian context.
5. Understand the role of the state, supranational organizations, and transnational organizations in the greater security complex.

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Demonstrate an understanding of security studies
(LO2) Apply security theory to practical examples
(LO3) Understand the role of states and other organizations in the global security complex
(LO4) Identify security concerns in Southeast Asia
(S1) Problem solving skills
(S2) International awareness
(S3) Organisational skills
(S4) Problem solving/ critical thinking/ creativity analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.

Aims

• To raise issues concerning the gendered nature of work on deviance
• To consider arguments concerning the women's relation to deviance
• To explore the link between masculinities and crime
• To study the experiences of female offenders
• To explore the experiences of women as victims

Learning Outcomes
After completing the module the student should understand:

• the gendered nature of work on deviance
• feminist contributions to the study of criminology
• the nature of female offending
• key debates regarding the treatment of women within the criminal justice system
• women's victimisation

Aims

• To understand the main theoretical arguments and debates around social control and surveillance practices
• To examine the relationship between the political administration of cities and the development of surveillance practices and social control
• To critically assess the relationship between the prevention of crime, social control and how these impact upon populations defined by class, gender, 'race' and age
• To explore social control practices as social ordering practices

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:

• Grasp the main theoretical debates around social control in the urban context
• Understand the relationship between city development and the problem of social order
• Appreciate the contested nature of both social order and the meaning of 'public space'
• Critically assess the relationship between crime prevention practices, social control and the constitution of social order in the city.

Aims

• Understand how the intensification of globalisation is relevant to criminology.
• Analyse how criminals have capitalised on new opportunities in the global era.
• transnational approaches to policing and criminal justice.
• Understand how perceptions of crime and criminals are related to mass migration and other flows of movement in an increasingly interconnected environment.
• Explore the current solutions and future predictions proposed by criminologists concerning transnational crime.

Learning Outcomes

• Gain an understanding of why globalisation is a useful framework for critical criminological scholarship.
• Gain the ability to discuss multiple examples of transnational crime and highlight sociological/criminological perspectives on them.
• Gain the ability to deconstruct popular discourses on borders, migration and the movement of objects and ideas in relation to security.
• Gain an understanding of the relevance of broader socio-economic contexts and political instabilities in facilitating transnational crime.
• Be able to critically evaluate a range of criminal justice responses to transnational crime.

Aims
• To critically explore the socio-legal perspectives on criminal law and criminal courts. • To investigate the historical political conditions under which different criminal procedure traditions have emerged. • To investigate the nature and intention of legal technical language used in courts proceedings. •To critically assess the rationality underpinning legal instruments such as plea bargaining or diversion used currently in courts to dispose of cases. • To explore the relationship between different court players’ perspectives and the implicit and explicit societal functions of courts. • To critically assess the geopolitical power dynamics that shape criminal courts’ reforms. • To explore the relationship between criminal courts and law enforcement state agencies.

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Demonstrate a critical awareness of the historical and contemporary conditions that shape the dynamics of criminal courts.
(LO2) Apply a range of socio-legal research methods to critically study criminal law and courts in context.
(LO3) Exhibit a critical understanding of the rationality that underpins the main legal mechanisms used to dispose of criminal cases in courts.
(LO4) Critically analyse the different ways in which criminal courts interact with multiple state agencies.
(S1) Problem-solving/ critical thinking/ creativity analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.
(S2) Global perspectives demonstrate international perspectives as professionals/citizens; locate, discuss, analyse, evaluate information from international sources; consider issues from a variety of cultural perspectives, consider ethical and social responsibility issues in international settings; value diversity of language and culture.
(S3) Communication skills.

Aims

• To situate current criminal justice policy pre-occupations with the victim of crime within the context of victimological and sociological theorising.
• To map the nature and extent of criminal victimisation.
• To explore the impact of criminal victimisation.
• To understand the role of victims’ movements in the formulation of criminal justice policy.

Learning Outcomes

• To develop a critical appreciation of the sub-discipline of victimology, its strengths and weaknesses.
• To grasp an understanding of the formulation of criminal justice policy within a wider socio-political context.
• To critically evaluate the efficacy of the concept of the victim and victim-oriented policies within the contemporary cultural context.
• To have a sound, critical knowledge of the nature and extent of crime and its impact.

Aims
To critically analyse the forms of harm that state institutions and corporate entities are responsible for in SE Asia. - To unpack the specific social and legal order surrounding state-corporate crime and harm in SE Asia. - To assess the explanatory potential of theoretical frameworks developed in the Global North to understand the dynamics between states and corporations in SE Asia. - To investigate the role of regulation and politics in shaping state-corporate activities in contemporary SE Asian nation-states and regional supranational bodies.

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Conceptually grasp the distinction between social harm and crime in relation to state-corporate crime in SE Asia; especially having an awareness of the potential inadequacy of legally defined notions of crime in capturing the nature of the state and corporate harm.
(LO2) Appreciate and recognise a range of harms and crimes that corporations and states are responsible for in SE Asia; including environmental, consumer-based, employee-based and financial crimes/harms.
(LO3) Identify the specific economic, political and social conditions in SE Asia under which states and corporations operate and compare them to the ones in the Global North and other regions from the Global South.
(LO4) Be able to critically evaluate the wider socio-legal order, such as the desire to sustain high growth rates or unequal class relations, in generating or producing harmful and criminal processes.
(LO5) Identify and understand the influence of a range of political tensions and contradictions which influence the acceptance or resistance to state-corporate crime and harm, such as the role of activist movements and corporate lobby groups.
(S1) Information skills – Critical reading
(S2) Information skills – Information accessing
(S3) Critical thinking and problem-solving – Synthesis
(S4) Critical thinking and problem-solving – Critical analysis
(S5) Communication (oral, written and visual) – Academic writing

Aims
• Understand the relevance of decolonial theory to criminology and criminal justice studies.
• Become familiar with and be able to critically compare and contrast a number of decolonial approaches to criminology, including Postcolonial Criminology, Counter-Colonial Criminology, Asian Criminology and Southern Criminology.
• Explore emerging paradigms which relate to decolonial criminology, including Islamic Criminology, Queer Criminology and Feminist Criminology.
• Apply decolonial paradigms to criminological research issues in the Global South, including in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
• Critique the limitations of decolonial criminology and its ability to realise social justice.
• Creatively explore potential trajectories of decolonial criminology in the future.
• Develop a broader geopolitical and historical awareness of relationships between the Global North and the Global South so as to be able to operationalise these theoretical discussions beyond the university setting (i.e. in future employment or community work).

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Students will be able to exhibit a critical understanding of decolonial theory and decolonial criminology paradigms
(LO2) Students will be able to apply decolonial criminology to Global South Contexts
(LO3) Students will be able to develop an ability to critique decolonial criminology
(LO4) Students will be able to explore contemporary and future trajectories of decolonial criminology as it rapidly expands
(S1) Students will develop skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.
(S2) Students will develop skills in possessing global perspectives, demonstrating international perspectives as professionals/citizens; locating, discussing, analysing, evaluating information from international sources; considering issues from a variety of cultural perspectives, considering ethical and social responsibility issues in international settings; valuing the diversity of language and culture
(S3) Communication skills
(S4) Academic Writing
(S5) Formulating a suitable research question and being able to identify appropriate methods for addressing the question
(S6) Pursuing independent research
(S7) Collaborating and team-work

Aims
To introduce the student to an understanding of the relationship between crime and community as this has been developed since the late 1970s in western criminology. The critically evaluate some of the main crime prevention policy objectives in which have been introduced over the last two decades.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module and as a result of your attendance at lectures, seminars and private study you will be expected to be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of:

• the differential impact of crime on various groups within society, from the late 1970s onwards
• the different crime prevention paradigms which have been applied in Britain and their local and national context, over this time period
• the academic contribution to key debates around crime prevention which have taken place since the late 1970s in lnternational policy context
• definitions of community and the community context in which the success of crime prevention policies are measured

Aims
• To offer a constructive critique of terrorism studies and its various iterations.
• To critically explore a variety of ideological motivations for terrorist activity.
• To comprehensively dissect the ways in which different types of terrorism have manifest in contemporary contexts.
• To evaluate and compare the different ways in which different forms of terrorism have been responded to.
• To achieve a holistic understanding of terrorist activity in contemporary geopolitical contexts with particular reference to Southeast Asia.

Learning Outcomes
(LO1) Students will be able to critically explain the historical development of terrorism studies as a unique subfield.
(LO2) Students will be able to critically explain the origins, causes and motivations for different types of terrorism which occur in contemporary societies.
(LO3) Students will be able to navigate various types of terrorism from different geopolitical contexts, including Islamist terrorism, Far-Right terrorism, Ethno-National terrorism, and other varieties.
(LO4) Students will be able to compare and contrast the different responses that exist in relation to different forms of terrorism.
(LO5) Students will be able to demonstrate an advanced understanding of the contemporary global terrorism threats with particular reference to the Southeast Asian context.
(S1) Critical thinking and problem-solving - Critical analysis
(S2) Critical thinking and problem solving - Problem identification
(S3) Critical thinking and problem solving - Creative thinking
(S4) Communication skills

Aims

• To give an overview of the various theories of risk and security
• To give a detailed focus on violence, sexual aggression, deviance and acquisitive and organised crime, as well as the range of individual and contextual factors that shape such behaviour
• To develop students' problem solving skills across a range of Investigative/Forensic Psychology domains
• To increase awareness of the issues involved in the production of professional reports and the interpersonal skills in communicating and disseminating knowledge to the practitioner community.
• To highlight the ways in which theory and research can inform investigative practice.
• To increase awareness of ethical concerns associated with providing material for the courts / police and related law enforcement services.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand and discuss different explanations of risk and insecurity, as well as theories of crime
• Apply Criminological and sociological theories of behaviour to criminal contexts
• Identify the contributions that experts can make in security contexts in terms of increasing understanding of offender and victim behaviour
• Think critically about a range of controversial issues within risk and security concepts

Aims

• Understand the primary ways in which crime has developed in 'the information age'.
• Analyse the complexities of responding to crimes on the internet.
• Acquire an appreciation for the contested terrain of the internet.
• Evaluate the sociological relevance of cybercrime.
• Appreciate the rapid social changes that are ongoing due to the recent development of internet capabilities.

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the occurrence of various types of cybercrimes such as those which involve financial fraud, identity theft, harassment, hacking, hate speech, etc.
• Comment on the relationship between the offline and online worlds in relation to criminal and victim identities.
• Discuss the technological and non-technological responses to cybercrime by States, industry and individuals.
• Reflect on the complexities of law enforcement initiatives in 'the information age'.
• Debate the 'securitisation of cyberspace ' in relation to online social movements and the privacy of individuals.
• Assess the issues surrounding and consequences of 'hacktivism'.
• Consider 'cyber warfare' and its role in contemporary geopolitical relations.
• Situate copyright infringements on the internet in regards to intellectual and artistic property.

Aims

• Evaluate the theories of persistence in offending that have been developed from 1850 to today.
• Evaluate the theories of desistence in offending that have been developed from 1850 to today.
• Analyse the empirical evidence that has supported theories of persistence and desistence.
• Critically understand the factors which support desistence.
• Critically analyse competing theories of persistence/desistence in relation to legislation and government policy.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module students will be able to:

• Understand and critically analyse theories on persistence and desistence.
• Understand and critically analyse empirical evidence on desistence.
• Present their work in suitable formats, including written and oral presentations.