Content:

This module will complete the strand of modules on the criminal justice process from profiling and suspicion to arrest, the courtroom, incarceration and post-prison care. It introduces students to a range of ways that the nature of criminality has been related to the process of punishment, both historically and in a global context.
The first part of the module explores a range of readings in penal theory and explores the diverse ways in which punishment has functioned within socieites, as a social warning to others, as a means of reforming criminal behaviour, and as a way of removing anti-social elements from society. Case studies will be used to relate theory to practice, but also to help identify ways in which key social perspectives about punishment are at once historically related to governmental policies and the organisation of key institutions, but also persistant across time and place.
The second part of the module will explore ways in which governments have sought to reduce the use of prisons, either through alternative forms of rehabilitation or social punishments, such as community service. The conflicting justifications for these initiatives are related to the present prison ‘crisis’ and students will be expected to deploy ethical and critical insight to analyse the difficulties facing penology today.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Assessment:

001 1 x case study 2000 word equivalent report during Semester 2 50%
002 1 x case study 10 minute presentation at end of Semester 2 50%