Introduction to Criminal Justice

Module code: CR1002

Module co-ordinator: Gina Fox

Description

• How do we respond to acts of crime?
• How do we ensure justice for the accused and for the victims?
• Should the punishment fit the crime?
• What can be done to help to rehabilitate offenders?

These are key questions within the subject of Criminology and, on the face of it, the answers to these questions might seem fairly simple or straightforward, but they are actually anything but. The process of criminal justice has a deep history and there are various models that influence the way in which we respond to acts of offending. The individual agencies (police, probation, courts, prison and so forth) who make up the criminal justice system have also evolved over time and their roles and functions have changed accordingly.

In this module we will explore these historical developments to gain an understanding of the way that criminal justice operates in England and Wales. We will also consider how, in more recent times, society has become more concerned with the rights and needs of victims, minority ethnic groups, youth crime, civil liberties and human rights, miscarriages of justice and the way that we respond to ‘new’ forms of offending such as cybercrime. 

You will have the opportunity to visit relevant institutions - including a prison - and through volunteering opportunities you will be able to gain ‘hands-on’ experience of criminal justice.

Topics covered

• The Police
• Prisons and punishment
• Youth justice
• Minority ethnic communities and the criminal justice system
• Miscarriages of justice
• Victims and restorative justice

Learning

• 18 one-hour lectures
• 8 one-hour seminars

Assessment

• Assignment, 4,000 words (100%)