BASS Social Anthropology and Criminology

This course explores the many ways in which academic criminologists - and their colleagues in the social and psychological sciences - have tried to explain the non-random distribution of crime in society.

Indicative content: (1) What is theory for?; (2) Urbanisation; (3) Strain, control and the reasoning criminal; (4) Labelling and reintegration; (5) Ideology, social control and state crime; (6) Left realism and cultural criminology; (7) Feminism, gender and the masculinities turn; (8) Lifecourse, desistance and the psychosocial; (9) Globalisation and border criminology; (10) Public criminology and the good society.

The unit aims to (1) introduce students to different theoretical approaches to explaining crime and deviance; (2) promote critical engagement with that theory; (3) locate crime and deviance within a wider social, legal and policy context.

On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:  

• Learn to dissect complex theoretical arguments, identify underlying assumptions, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various criminological theories.  
• Critically evaluate the level of fit between theoretical concepts, data about crime and deviance, and policy solutions to them.  
• Devise crime policies informed by criminological concepts.  
• Distinguish analyses that focus on specific people and localities from those that focus structurally on societies and economies.  
• Evaluate the fit between criminological theories, political arguments and responses to crime, illustrating, where possible, how seemingly competing perspectives can be reconciled.   
   

Teaching and learning across course units consists of: (1) preparatory work to be completed prior to teaching sessions, including readings, pre-recorded subject material and online activities; (2) a weekly whole-class lecture or workshop; (3) a tutorial; and (4) one-to-one support via subject specific office hours.

They will also refine the following employability skills:  

- Extract key points from complex arguments and summarise as bullet points and in conclusion. 
- Write for criminological and policymaking audiences, citing official evidence and academic sources.

Enhancement of Digital Literacy:

The course uses a range of multimedia to enhance students’ learning experiences.

This includes appraising the strengths of depictions of crime using fictional drama, popular music and news reporting.

The course is supported by weekly video summaries of core debates in the field, produced by the course unit leader. These video summaries also direct learners to wider reading and deeper questions.

The course makes extensive use of padlet for in-class discussion, enabling learners to post ideas anonymously after discussion in groups and work at their own pace.

Tutorials provide the opportunity for students to present key bullet points derived from draft assessments using software of their choosing.  

The policy brief component of the assessment enables students to present their work using alternatives to an essay format that tests the capacity to translate academic concepts into real world application. This unit actively develops students’ digital capabilities in alignment with the JISC Digital Capabilities Framework. Learners engage with a range of platforms, including Canvas, Padlet, and Box of Broadcasts, to build ICT proficiency and collaborative skills. Weekly video summaries and asynchronous online activities foster self-directed learning and digital learning development. Students critically appraise media representations of crime, strengthening information, data, and media literacy. Tutorials and policy brief assessments encourage digital creation and innovation by requiring students to present arguments using varied formats beyond traditional essays. These activities also support professional digital communication and identity management, ensuring students can participate effectively in academic and policy-oriented digital spaces.

• Policy briefing exercise - 1000 words (worth 20%);

• Coursework - 2000 words (worth 80%);

Formative feedback (both individual and collective) will be given on (1) on tasks and contribution in class, (2) essay plans. Summative feedback will be given on the submitted assessments via Blackboard (Grademark).

Lilly, J., Cullen, F. and Ball, R. (2019) Criminological Theory: Context & Consequences.(7th edition), London: Sage.

Across their course units each semester, full-time students are expected to devote a ‘working week’ of around 30-35 hours to study. Accordingly each course unit demands around 10-11 hours of study per week consisting of (i) 3 timetabled teacher-led hours, (ii) 7-8 independent study hours devoted to preparation, required and further reading, and note taking.

Restricted to: LLB (Law with Criminology) if not chosen either CRIM20692 or CRIM20452, BA Criminology, BA Social Sciences and students within Humanities.

This course is also available to incoming study abroad students university wide.

Pre-requisites: None.