Criminology and the Modern World presents you with a number of case studies on substantive topics of current interest and importance. You will undertake a systematic examination of some of the major changes that are occurring and their implications for British society and other societies across the world. Phenomena such as the economic crisis, the environmental crisis, the increasing religiosity of politics and problems in the developing world will be considered in order to foster an understanding of contemporary society and some of the key issues it faces. Aspects of social and criminal justice, harms and rights, and the role that the media plays in shaping social perceptions will be subject to analysis.

Power, Knowledge and Crime encourages you to develop your critical awareness and evaluation skills. The module considers the controversies, contradictions and common sense assumptions that underpin the generation of ‘knowledge’ around concepts such as ‘crime’, harm, punishments, rights and justice. It contests the concept of ‘official truths’ and examines how specific discourses contribute to the establishment of ‘legitimate’ knowledge and the barriers this creates for those attempting to present alternative versions and accounts. Drawing upon a diverse range of testimonies, you will discover how knowledge is shaped by power and how the processes of denial, neutralisation and disqualification are used to silence dissent.

Critical Thinking and Analysis introduces you to the key components and theoretical foundations of critical analysis and to the techniques and skills of critique. Specific skills for study will be incorporated throughout the module, covering themes such as academic practices and introductions to independent research, research methods and information retrieval skills. Personal Development Planning (PDP) will also be integrated into the module.

Histories of Crime, Policing and Punishment will immerse you in the historical understandings of crime and the historical developments in crime, policing and punishment. The module is based on UK experiences, although international comparisons will be made where relevant. Sound criminological analyses require an awareness of historical contexts to a range of current issues. This module provides you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge of key historical themes and moments in the developing conceptualisations of crime, deviance and disorder, and social responses to them. You will be encouraged to identify and discuss continuities and changes in these developments. The module will also examine the significance of changing relations of class, gender, ‘race’ and age in underpinning responses to crime, deviance and disorder.

Introduction to Criminological Theory introduces you to key theoretical perspectives relevant to the study of crime and social justice. The module will use contemporary case studies in crime, deviance and conflict to evaluate the main theoretical traditions and recent critiques within criminology, providing a foundation in critical analysis. In particular, the module will emphasise the political underpinnings to theoretical perspectives and will encourage you to recognise the need to locate theories of crime and deviance in their structural contexts.

Introduction to the Criminal Justice Process introduces you to key aspects of the criminal justice system, primarily in England and Wales but with some reference to other UK and international jurisdictions. The module will critically analyse official responses to ‘crime’ and deviance through an examination of fundamental criminal justice agencies including the police, criminal courts and prisons as well as probation and youth justice services.

Crime, Law and Society explores the application and effect of the criminal law upon individuals in society from criminological and complementary socio-legal perspectives. Through utilising both of these perspectives, you will be encouraged to look beyond established traditional legal explanations for crime and the legal responses to it, in order to explore the wider social, historical, political and theoretical context of the laws relating to crime. The module will enhance your understanding of how determining contexts impact upon how laws relating to crime are created, developed and enforced.

Doing Criminological Research provides a thorough grounding in understanding and undertaking criminological research. The module explores the development of criminological research and explores different qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. You will consider the theoretical context of approaches such as positivism and interpretivism and gain the skills necessary to evaluate criminological research (particularly in terms of research ethics and politics). On successful completion of the module, you will be fully prepared for engaging in the research process and be required to produce a research proposal.

Critical Criminological Theory provides a grounding in critical criminological theory and its application to contemporary debates and issues concerning harm and criminal justice. The module will familiarise you with the development of criminological theory in historical and political contexts. You will be encouraged to apply theoretical perspectives to issues incorporating harm and crime, as well as social and state responses, drawing on national and international examples. The module will challenge mainstream theories of crime and deviance by locating current examples of harm, criminalisation and criminal justice within determining contexts of class, gender, sexuality, neo-colonialism and age within political priorities of the neoliberal agenda.

‘Race’, Crime and Criminology explores how ideas about ‘race’ help to shape and determine social, judicial and political responses to perpetrators and victims of crime. The module explores the role of race as a major source of social division and aims to show the significance of racism to the reproduction of structural inequalities. You will gain knowledge about patterns of continuity and change in racism and an awareness of the relationship between ethnic and cultural diversity and social and criminal injustice.

Crime, Media and Criminology investigates how the news media plays a primary role in the  construction of social problems, crime, deviance  and, to an extent, reality. The relationship between crime, media and criminology is long established, so this module critically explores the representation of ‘crime’ and criminal activity within various types of media forms incorporating traditional print, online news domains and social media forums. Developing a critical theoretical framework, the module will enable you to examine the criminological and wider societal significance of the production and reproduction of dominant images and discourses around ‘crime’, criminalisation and the construction of victims, perpetrators  and events.

Gender, Sex and Violence explores the concept of violence and the various forms it can take. Specifically, the module will focus on the relationships between gender, sex, sexuality and violence, and the ideological, cultural and religious underpinnings of such violent acts. You will be encouraged to look beyond established understandings of what constitutes a violent act to explore more abstract forms of violence such as harm, denial of rights, and poverty. Criminological and social science theory will form the basis of considerations of aspects of violence. The structural relations of class (production), ‘race’ (neo-colonialism) and gender/sexuality (reproduction) will be highlighted as the determining contexts in which such violence occurs and is legitimated. Power, dominance, legitimacy, hegemony and ideology  will be key themes of the module.

Work Experience will develop your employability skills and enhance your career prospects. You will be required to engage in part-time or voluntary work in a criminology or criminal justice related field, as appropriate, to gain experience in a working environment. You will be expected to secure your own work placement, with the support of your work experience tutor.

Youth Justice provides a grounding in issues of youth justice. The module explores the history of youth justice in the UK and elsewhere and examines the development of responses to children and young people in conflict with the law in their social and political context. You will investigate theoretical approaches to youth justice and consider explanations regarding differences in state responses to this issue. The module critically appraises current and recent youth justice practices and policies in relation to state intervention, human rights, harm and power.

Generating Reputations highlights and explores the production of identities, reputations and stereotypes and the impact these have on particular social groups. A key focal point of the module will be the role of the media in shaping reputations and perceptions. You will consider ways in which determining contexts can influence societal perceptions of individuals and groups, as well as the impact of stereotypes, reputations and ‘common sense’ thinking on criminal justice policies and responses.

Violence and Society explores the concept of violence and the various forms it can take, ranging from intrapersonal violence (e.g. self-harm) to interpersonal violence, institutional and state violence, and violence on a global scale. You will be encouraged to look beyond established understandings of what constitutes a violent act to explore more abstract forms of violence such as harm, denial of rights, and poverty. Criminological theory will form the basis of considerations of aspects of violence. The structural relations of class (production), ‘race’ (neo-colonialism) and gender/sexuality (reproduction) will be highlighted as the determining contexts in which such violence occurs and is legitimated. Power, dominance, legitimacy and hegemony will be the key themes of the module.

Challenging Childhoods examines the theoretical traditions, and their legacies, of what constitutes the ‘child’. Drawing on historical and theoretical developmental models, both nationally and internationally, you will analyse the various mechanisms through which children are socialised, placed under surveillance, disciplined and in turn criminalised and victimised. Central to the module will be a critical analysis of state intervention into the lives of children, together with an exploration of child exploitation and the process through which children become ‘victims’.  The concept of harm will be of particular significance and this will be juxtaposed and examined in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Dissertation represents the culmination of your critical engagement with the theoretical and methodological debates within the subject area of criminology. This module offers you the opportunity to study a topic in-depth and undertake independent research, with support provided by the programme team. You must devise and adopt a methodology appropriate for the primary research you wish to undertake and gain appropriate ethical approval. The nature of your primary research will be agreed with your supervisor.

Crimes of the Powerful 1 traces and explores serious harms and crimes perpetrated by states and associated professional and commercial interests from the eighteenth to mid-twentieth century. Adopting a zemiological frame, the module locates such harms within a range of political forms, particularly during times of social and economic upheaval, and ethnic, national and imperial conflict. The module concludes with a detailed exploration of the origins, implementation, consequences of, and responses to, the extreme state violences of the first half of the twentieth century. The aim is to enable you to critically explore issues at the cutting edge of criminological thinking.

Crimes of the Powerful 2 considers the key forms and determinants of serious contemporary harms originating in the actions or omissions of corporations, states and associated powerful organisations after the Second World War. The module critically examines the origins of such harms, the ways in which they are framed within dominant and alternative discourses, and critiques the responses to them. The module takes an expansive view of harm, drawing upon examples from within and without the criminal justice system, at local, national and international levels.

Crime and Place enables you to build your knowledge and understanding of the relationships between crime and place and examine developments in policy relating to place, criminality and safety. The module appraises the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical, philosophical and practical approaches to crime and place. Geographies/landscapes of crime and criminalisation are examined utilising empirical and theoretical materials.

Criminology and Philosophy recognises how criminology has long drawn on philosophy to inform its development. You will consider philosophical ideas and concepts as they relate to the study of crime and its control. The module considers debates concerning continental and analytic philosophy and how these are reflected in criminology through discussions concerning qualitative and quantitative approaches, and between critical/sociological criminology and administrative criminology/crime science. You will assess a range of key philosophical ideas and concepts that relate to criminology, with a particular focus on how we get on with one another and what happens when we do not.

The Politics of Policing equips you with a critical knowledge and understanding of the concept of policing, both in its philosophical sense and as a function of the modern liberal democratic state. The module will consider the role and function of the police service, and explore related issues including police powers, political accountability, protection of civil liberties and the concept of equality before the law. Contemporary strategies and approaches to policing will be located within their structural, political, social and geographical contexts. The module is underpinned by theories of authority, power and legitimacy.

The Politics of Imprisonment provides you with a critical knowledge and understanding of the nature, functions and justifications for the use of punishment, specifically incarceration, in modern society. The module will consider the philosophical theories that are used to legitimise the state’s use of imprisonment and the sociological theories that explain historical developments in the purpose of state punishment. The various divisions and functions of the prison estate will be examined within their historical, structural, political, social and geographical contexts. Related methods of state punishment, such as the death penalty, will also be considered. You will adopt an international perspective and explore penal theory and practice in a range of countries. The relationships between power, legitimacy and justice will be central themes throughout the module.

Justice, Rights and the State examines the development of the discourse about rights and justice. Taking a national and international approach, the module will consider the development of rights historically and the new discourses of rights. You will evaluate statutory policies and responses to the issue of rights and justice and consider how states respond to issues of justice and rights, including where states themselves uphold or violate citizen’s rights.

Expanding the Criminological Imagination critically reflects upon and analyses the discipline of criminology. You will examine criminology’s political, practical and theoretical strengths and limitations and explore the production and commodification of criminological knowledge. The module will consider whether criminology has become a ‘parasitic’ discipline with the criminalisation of social problems, and the ever increasing techniques of crime control, forming the justification for the discipline’s existence, rather than providing a platform for resistance. You will explore the concept of the ‘criminological imagination’ as an alternative way of envisaging the discipline and its utility. You will also examine the way in which criminology has to connect with other disciplines in order to expand the range of issues it deals with. This is a necessity in order to help criminologists make sense of issues where the ‘normal’ boundaries of criminology would stifle or limit an analysis.

Learning Together: The Sociological Imagination involves Edge Hill University students and HMP Thorn Cross students studying and learning together. The module will be taught at HMP Thorn Cross, a young offenders’ institution near Warrington for those aged 18 to 25. The aim is to use education as a means to connect people in higher education and in the criminal justice system: to dismantle stereotypes and prejudices in both directions; and to provide a reflective, empowering and empathic learning experience. C Wright Mills’ seminal work The
Sociological Imagination will be the foundation of the substantive content. You will reflect on the interplay between ‘personal troubles’ and ‘public issues’ and, additionally, challenge the process of ‘othering’ by considering your own role in the social and political world.

Critical Terrorism Studies recognises that in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and those in London, Madrid, Paris and beyond, terrorism and political violence have become ever more pressing contemporary issues. But, what is ‘terrorism’; what does the term itself actually mean? What causes political violence, how is it represented in modern multi-mediated societies and how does the issue of ‘counter terrorism’ impact on the lives of people today? How has the ‘fear’ of terrorism come to affect our society? These are the sort of questions this module is designed to address. You will be invited to employ and develop your understanding of critical sociological theories, concepts and approaches in order to investigate these matters of great contemporary social importance.

Desire: Law, Politics, Ethics, Difference explores the question of how we understand sexual desires, how they shape our identities and relationships and how our practices make erotic, social and cultural meanings for us and others. The module also examines why we permit some sexual pleasures while regulating or prohibiting others and questions what rationales explain how these lines of distinction are drawn in contemporary societies. Whilst law clearly provides a coda of what is regulated or prohibited, it rarely explains why. You will explore these issues, develop a critical sense of enquiry and reconstruct ethical, cultural and political arguments for why society might wish to regulate or prohibit, or perhaps even encourage and celebrate, different desires and pleasures.