Module: CRI6103-20 Unlocking Criminology

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Natalie Booth and Faye Vanstone

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

1. Brief description and aims of module: 

This module is based on an established model pioneered in higher education in the United States whose premise was to bring university students and prisoners together as peers in an educational setting to learn about issues of crime, justice and penality. This module provides an opportunity for students to go beyond their academic studies to understand issues of crime, justice and penality in a real world context and engage with men and women who have histories of offending and thus would be beneficial to students considering work in the criminal justice field. It also provides an opportunity for prisoner learners to contextualise their personal experiences within a broader social and intellectual framework and access higher education. This module fosters collaborative learning and social engagement between different practitioners, learners and establishments involved in the delivery of higher education.  Sessions will cover a number of substantive topics in criminology and group work activity and provide an opportunity to develop key transferable interpersonal, team-working and communications skills.

2. Outline syllabus: 

▪     Preparation for learning and security training

▪     Criminological perspectives and debates

▪     Models of criminal justice

▪     Theories of punishment

▪     Youth justice

▪     Victimology

▪     Rehabilitation and desistance from crime

▪     Restorative justice

3. Teaching and learning activities: 

The module will be delivered in three hour workshops with equivalent numbers of student and prisoner learners. Workshops will be held on the university campus and at the partner prison. All participants have access to the same learning materials and engage in academic activities such as preparatory reading, writing essays and group work. The delivery of classes in the prison environment will be bookended with separate sessions for the two groups of learners to prepare for the shared sessions and reflect on the module and the experience.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: 1 x reflective learning journal (3000 words equivalent)

• % Weighting: 60

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: 1 x in-class group project (2000 words equivalent)

• % Weighting: 40