Module: CRI4001-20 Crime, Violence and Harm

Level: 4

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Faye Vanstone

Module Tutor Contact Details: f.vanstone@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

What are acts of violence and harm? What is the extent of serious crime? How does society seek to control and punish violent crime and dangerous offenders? What crimes are committed by the powerful? How is crime related to class and inequality? This module considers these questions in relation to a range of serious and violent crime. You will examine the contributions made by criminological theories and research to knowledge of the causes of and patterns in the commission of this type of crime. You will interrogate the meaning of ‘harm’ in the social and political and economic context of crime, consider whether serious crime challenges conventional or ‘common sense’ notions of who and what is viewed as ‘criminal’ and reflect on this in relation to the social and legal responses to crime. This module will also enable you to develop skills such as self-management, team-working, problem-solving and communication that are the foundation for a career in this field.

2. Outline syllabus:

The curriculum will be drawn from topics which may include:

Theories of crime and criminality

Research on serious crime

Organised crime

Corporate crime

State crime

War crime and genocide

Interpersonal violence

Sex offending

Homicide

Terrorism

Trafficking and transnational crime

3. Teaching and learning activities:

The module is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, augmented by use of digital learning technologies. Lectures introduce the main content of each topic including theories, concepts, research and case studies of crime. Seminars look in more detail at selected issues and enable more in-depth learning and interactive engagement with the module syllabus.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Poster presentation with annotated bibliography (2000 words equivalent)

• % Weighting: 50%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: EXAM

• Description: Exam (2 hours, unseen)

• % Weighting: 50%