The Responses to Crime module builds upon the work students undertook in the Foundations of Contemporary Criminology module. The other core year 2 criminology module - Offending and Victimisation - focuses on one of the two dyads of the square of crime, the relationship between offenders and victims. Responses to Crime, however, focuses on the other dyad, namely crime control through formal and informal mechanisms. This includes traditional state-organised responses to crime via the formal institutions of the criminal justice system (‘cops, courts and corrections’). In addition, the module covers the growing organisational responses to crime that have emerged ‘below’ the state (ie. carried out by local government officials, or on a voluntary basis within local communities), developments ‘beyond’ the state (ie. the commercial sector in security and punishment) and, where relevant, the organisation of crime control responses ‘above’ the nation state (eg. transnational policing). The module thus provides a detailed overview of the main state institutions of crime control alongside an account of developments in crime control outside of the traditional criminal justice system. This analysis of shifts in policy and practice is placed firmly within a wider sociological lens that provides a critical understanding of the complex and contradictory features of contemporary societal responses to crime and deviance.

KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION 

• Demonstrate knowledge of the development and workings of the contemporary criminal justice ‘system’ in late modern societies (LO1) 
• Identify the role of non-state actors in the commercial and voluntary sectors in crime and ‘disorder’ control (LO2) 
• Recognise the contradictions and competing rationales of contemporary strategies of crime control (LO3) 
• Reveal the significance of the political and normative aspects of thinking about crime and deviance and strategies aimed at its control (LO4) 

SKILLS (APPLICATION AND ANALYSIS) 

• Critically assess the role of the criminal justice system and the activities of other state and non-state actors in developing organisational responses to crime and disorder (LO5) 
• Compare and contrast contemporary criminological debates on crime control and social justice (LO6) 
• Articulate informed views and arguments about the future trends in social control and the governance of security and justice (LO7) 
• Use and apply empirical data sources to develop theoretically-informed explanations of contemporary approaches to crime control (LO8) 

UNDERSTANDING (SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION): 

• Highlight the challenges of crime and disorder control in contexts of rapid social change and diverse geo-historical contexts (LO9) 
• Demonstrate an ability to synthesise different analyses of the working of agencies of social control, both formal and informal. (LO10) 
• Evaluate competing approaches to the late modern/neo-liberal governance of crime, disorder and security (LO11) 
• Evaluate different interventions to address crime and disorder by different agencies and their respective control strategies (LO12) 

This module will be delivered through a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities, as part of this programme’s blended provision, which will include on-campus and online teaching and support.

The precise mode of delivery and details – subject to Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance – of the teaching and support activities will be made available at the start of the semester via Learning Central.

Academic Skills 

• Finding, reading, summarising, and synthesising information about contemporary crime control from multiple sources [LO1-LO12] 
• Developing a critical and sociologically informed perspective of contemporary developments in crime control [LO5-LO12] 
• Development of academic research, analysis and writing skills [LO1-LO12] 

Module Specific Skills 

• A detailed knowledge and comprehension of the institutional architecture and contemporary policy trends in the spheres of punishment, policing and prevention (LO1-LO4) 
• An ability to apply key conceptual frameworks to key examples of ‘real world’ policy developments in contemporary crime control (LO5-LO12) 
• An ability to assess critically the strengths and limitations of key theoretical frameworks for understanding contemporary responses to crime (LO5-LO12) 

Employability/Transferable Skills. 

• Critical thinking skills (LO5-LO12) 
• Constructing clear and informed oral and written arguments [LO1-LO12] 
• Participate and communicate effectively in small group settings [LO1-LO12] 

Formative Assessment 1 - Mock multiple-choice test (Week 9) - 20 minutes.

Formative Assessment 2 - Verbal feedback on analytical exercises for portfolio (Weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8)

Summative Coursework Portfolio (L05 - LO12) 70% contribution - 2,000 words, Week 12

Summative Unseen Examination 30% contribution - Multiple-choice examination testing material from across the module (LO1-LO4) 45 minutes, Spring Examination Period

Syllabus content:

The module is divided into four main blocks of teaching that cover theoretical frameworks, punishment, policing and prevention respectively. A more detailed summary of the syllabus content is provided below  

Block One: Theoretical Frameworks 

The first block covers important theoretical frameworks that help us to make sense of shifts in contemporary crime control within, beyond, below and above the nation state. These frameworks highlight important political and cultural shifts that have characterized approaches to crime control in many developed industrial societies in recent decades, and the tensions between ‘populism’ and ‘managerialism’ that are visible within these. This block sets out and critically assesses the main dimensions of the key theoretical frame around which the module is structured – David Garland’s Culture of Control (2001).  

Block Two: Punishment  

This block focuses on the institutions and activities that are perhaps most immediately associated with the responsibility of the state in delivering crime control: ‘punishment’ approaches based on prosecution and sanctioning of offenders in the courts and penal system. The block provides an account of the prosecution and courts systems that process and sentence offenders. It covers developments in prisons and probation in England and Wales, as well as wider international debates about the death penalty. Throughout the block considers the contradictory influences of populism and managerialism on contemporary developments in punishment and criminal justice.  

Block Three: Policing  

This block looks at the role in society responses to crime played by ‘policing’ approaches - based on the regulation and surveillance of populations, and reactive investigations of offences. It explores what research tells us about the role of the police in crime control, and the ways in which ‘populist’ and ‘managerialist’ trends appear to have influenced policing in England and Wales in recent decades. It also covers developments in policing delivered by the commercial sector, and informal policing delivered by local communities, as well as transnational developments in policing responses ‘above’ the level of the nation state. 

Block Four: Prevention 

The final block explores the growth in proactive and preventive perspectives in crime control that draws in both state and non-state bodies into the crime control complex. It examines the rise of interest in ‘restorative justice’ approaches that challenge traditional ‘criminal justice’ and punitive perspectives. The block moves on to discuss the emergence of a preventive turn by the state (in terms of a range of governmental institutions promoting crime prevention) and in relation to the range of preventive activities undertaken by community and commercial groups. This block also considers contemporary developments in technology and the shift towards thinking more broadly about ‘security’ rather than ‘crime control’.