POL5022 - Criminology

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
critically review the constitutional role of the police in contemporary society and the wider criminal justice system;
explore crime prevention theories and strategies;
assess the strengths and weakness of different policing models in relation to crime, victimisation and the public;
evaluate the benefits that a greater understanding of sociology and criminology can have on operational policing and decision making;
review specific initiatives relating to crime prevention; and demonstrate proficiency in academic writing and research skills.

Content:

In this module students will learn about the constitutional role of the police in contemporary society and the wider criminal justice system; crime prevention theories and strategies; the strengths and weakness of different policing models in relation to crime/ victimisation and the public; the benefits that a greater understanding of sociology and criminology can have on operational policing and decision making; and specific initiatives relating to crime prevention.

This module also introduces students to more sophisticated research methodologies. They will learn about the importance of planning research activities; the strengths and weaknesses of research methodologies and approaches; will research, analyse and evaluate research publications and qualitative and quantitative data; understand what is proficiency in academic writing and presentations, in accordance with ethical protocols; understand effective referencing of a wide range of material appropriate to the subject area; and learn about quantitative and qualitative research techniques, including the interpretation of data.

Learning and Teaching Information:

It is anticipated 10 hours will be given to didactic inputs preferably to the whole cohort.

It is intended that the large cohort will then be split into smaller groups of students. This will allow for more discussion-orientated teaching, facilitation and reflection.

Students will be provided with resources and instructions as to their self-directed learning.

Lectures
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Small group teaching
Hours: 39
Intended Group Size: 26

Guided independent study
Hours: 151

Further details relating to assessment
Students will be asked to submit a 2000-word research proposal which they intend to conduct in year 3 of the PCDA. This will fit in with the work-based project, where the research area will have been instigated by WYP and approved by LTU academics prior to this submission.

They should include material covered in this module, such as appropriate criminological theories, to demonstrate an understanding of policing issues from a theoretical perspective.

To demonstrate learning across the module, students are required to submit 5 tutorial summaries linking to learning objectives 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Assessment:

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Grace Gallacher
Level - 5
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NOT APPLICABLE
Semester(s) Offered - 5WP21S5WP225WP345WP25

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