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SOC6033 - Justice, Punishment and Human Rights

Objectives:

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.

Content:

This module allows the students to critically explore concepts, debates, literature and research that relates to Justice, punishment and human rights. These three interlocking elements are vital for a functional and fair justice system. This module will invite students to consider whether the contemporary Criminal Justice System achieves an appropriate balance of these. To do this, the module will be broken down into 2 sections: History of Punishment, and Contemporary Philosophies of Punishment.

For the first semester, the aim is to engage with the historical content when considering human rights, assessing the basis and importance of protecting and maintaining human rights within punishment. Here students will engage with key philosophers, including John Locke, Jeremy Bentham and Michel Foucault.

The second semester will encourage student to consider and critically analyze the philosophies of punishment (Deterrence, Incapacitation, Rehabilitation and Retribution) that underpin the Criminal Justice System. This will build upon the foundations laid down in semester one, in weighing up how this relates to justice and human rights for both offenders and victims.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Lecture
Hours: 40
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Workshop
Hours: 20
Intended Group Size: 30

Guided independent study
Hours: 240

Assessment:

001 Plan for group debate; 1,000 words; semester 1 20%
002 Group debate; 10 mins; 2,000 words eqv.; end of semester 1 40%
003 Written assignment; 2,500 words; end of semester 2 40%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Shaun McDaid
Level - 6
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 6YL