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Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.
Victims of crime attract unprecedented academic interest, both as a subject of psychological enquiry, and as a focus of criminal justice policy. Who is seen as a victim in criminal investigation has undergone significant change in culture and societal perception in the UK in recent history. We now consider victims of crime where once the same people were treated as suspects. The need to protect the rights of victims has become increasingly important in terms of public opinion and judicial practice. There is significant work in informal remedy, and campaigns for social justice around victims' rights today. This important work has given rise to revisions in sentencing and the advent of restorative justice. The rights of victims are now viewed as an integral part of criminal justice. Whilst societal views and criminal justice responses have impacted upon victims and their status, it is of importance to understand the physical, social, psychological, and emotional effects they might face in context of the primary offence. Therefore, criminal, societal, and psychological effects will therefore be explored within this module.
A particular focus will be paid to how victims form a part of investigations, and the subjectivity of the victim if proper ethical conduct is not followed, which can in turn affect the outcome of an investigation. This builds into the criminal investigation and the justice system module which runs alongside, where the role of the victim is examined within the justice process, and the impact, effect, and repercussions this can have.
The learning in this module will be combined with the practical skill of investigative interviewing, which will be introduced and the importance of key aspects relating to ethical, professional, and legal conduct will be examined, aligning to the PIP2 standards.
Sessions are divided into a mix of lectures and workshops, which will include some practical based learning.
This module will build on the problem-based learning which students were introduced to at Level 4, which will become more pertinent at this level with more complex decision making and problem-solving ideas introduced. Simulation of the ‘real world’ investigative environment both within and outside policing will be introduced, and the differing methods looked at in more detail.
In this module, students have a practical scenario, which they were introduced to at L4. Formative checks of legislative knowledge will take place weekly to assist students in building up their abilities in interview planning and preparation, along with periodic submissions of interview plans for formative feedback which will assist in the summative interview assessment. Students will also be given the opportunity to submit a 250-word piece of evidenced writing each week for feedback which links to their case file review.
Lectures
Hours: 30
Intended group size: 25-60
Workshop
Hours: 10
Intended group size: 25-60
Guided Independant study
Hours: 260
Further details relating to assessment
Component 1: Written Assignment: Students will write a 2000-word Case file review, on theoretical perspectives of victimology and evaluate how each has influenced the perception and understanding of ‘the victim’ using a case study example.
Component 2: Practical Scenario: Students will conduct an investigative interview, where they will prepare an interview plan for a victim as part of a criminal investigation.
001 Written Assignment; 2000 words; End Sem 1 70%
002 Practical Scenario; 1 hr; End Sem 1 30%
Module Coordinator - Thomas Naden
Level - 5
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5S1