Crime Debates and Controversies - SOC00034M

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Module summary

What is it about crime and criminal justice that is so controversial and subject to public debate? In the contemporary world, what defines our understanding of rule breaking and harm causing? How does criminology help us understand this changing world?

This module examines controversies in crime and criminal justice to critically engage with the challenging debates faced by criminologists as they respond to emerging trends in contemporary society.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 2 2025-26

Module aims

What is it about crime and criminal justice that is so controversial and subject to public debate? You will engage with the challenging debates faced by criminologists as they critically examine emerging trends in contemporary societies. By developing your understanding of debates relating to crime and criminal justice systems you will acquire a theoretically-informed perspective in order to analyse societal understanding of and response to crime.

Module learning outcomes

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

1. Demonstrate an understanding of controversial debates within crime and criminal justice in contemporary global society

2. Analyse contemporary debates in crime and criminal justice from a theoretically-informed perspective

3. Apply a theoretically-informed understanding to challenging contemporary debates in crime and criminal justice

4. Critically evaluate criminological approaches to contemporary debates and controversies in crime and criminal justice.

5. Articulate complex ideas and arguments in a structured and coherent manner

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Module feedback

For formative work - summative assessment plan (presentation or essay plan) - students will receive written or verbal feedback on how to improve their skills in areas that will contribute towards their summative assessment. The formative assessment provides practice for the summative tasks which is in line with MLOs 1-5.

For summative work - individual 10 min pre-recorded presentation OR essay - students will receive an overall mark and grading according to clearly defined criteria for assessing their knowledge, skills and abilities in line with 1-5. They will also receive written feedback showing areas in which they have done well and those areas in which they need to improve that will contribute to their progress.

Indicative reading

Beck, U. (1999). World risk society. Oxford: Polity Press.

Brown, M. and Carrabine, E. eds., 2017. Routledge international handbook of visual criminology. London: Routledge.

White, R. and Heckenberg, D., 2014. Green criminology: An introduction to the study of environmental harm. Routledge.