Overview
This unit extends your basic knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of criminology by considering a broad range of interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime and penology. You will investigate how these theories can inform research, legislation, law enforcement and regulatory responses to crime. You will examine theoretical and practical case studies to consider how different theoretical approaches may lead to different and perhaps contradictory outcomes. This unit will also develop your methodological analysis skills, examining qualitative and quantitative data to test models suggested by theories of crime.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Student evaluations
Students identified technical issues
In 2020 we will use Huddle Spaces
Feedback from Student evaluations
Students identified issues accessing recorded lectures
In 2020 we will refer students to TASAC
Feedback from Student evaluations
Many students enjoyed having guest lecturers with real life experience
In 2020 we will continue this
- Critique, analyse and reflect on interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime, their policy implications and practical outcomes
- Research and develop a systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of criminology theories in managing criminal activity
- Conceptualise crime using a variety of disciplines, discuss theories based on these conceptualisations, and how these theories influence law and social policy.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | |||
| 2 - Case Study - 40% | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 45% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 15% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Case Study - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 45% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.suzuki@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction
Chapter
Kauffman, P. (1997). Michael Jordan meets C. Wright Mills: Illustrating the sociological imagination with objects from everyday life. Teaching Sociology, 25(4), 309-314. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1319299?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Roberts, J. V. (1992). Public opinion, crime, and criminal justice. Crime and Justice, 19, 99-180. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1147562?seq=1.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Measuring crime
Chapter
Australian Institute of Criminology (2005). Measuring the performance of crime prevention programs. AICrime Reduction Matters no 38, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. https://aic.gov.au/publications/crm/crm038.
Morgan, A. & Homel, P. (2011). A model performance framework for community-based crime prevention. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://aic.gov.au/publications/tbp/tbp040.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Classical theories of crime
Chapter
Monachesi, E. (1956) Pioneers in Criminology IX – Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), Journal of Criminal Law and Political Science, 46(4), 439-449. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4402&context=jclc.
Geis, G. (1955) Pioneers in Criminology VII – Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), Journal of Criminal Law and Political Science, 46(4), 439-449. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4361&context=jclc
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Crime as pathology
Chapter
Ellwood, C. A. (1912). Lombroso 's Theory of Crime, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2(5),716-723. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1128&context=jclc.
Morley, K. & Hall, W. (2003). Is there a genetic susceptibility to Engage in Criminal Acts? Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 263. https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi263.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Marxism and conflict theories of crime
Chapter
Burawoy, M. & Wright, E. O. (2002). Sociological Marxism. In J. Turner, Handbook of Sociological Theory, New York, NY: Academic/Plenum Publishers (pp. 459-486). http://burawoy.berkeley.edu/Marxism/Sociological%20Marxism.pdf.
Colvin, M. & Pauly, J. (1983). A critique of criminology: Toward an Integrated structural-Marxist theory of delinquency production, American Journal of Sociology, 89(3), 513-551. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2779004?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Item 1
Online quiz. Due: Week 5 Friday (14 August 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Online quiz Due: Week 5 Friday (14 Aug 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
No topic
Chapter
No reading
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Structural theories and strain theories of crime
Chapter
Agnew, R. (1999). A general strain theory of community differences in crime rates, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency36(2), 123-155. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022427899036002001.
Bucher, J., Manasse, M. & Milton, J. (2015). Soliciting strain: examining both sides of street prostitution through general strain theory, Journal of Crime and Justice, 28(4), 435-453. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0735648X.2014.949823.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Social disorganisation and social ecological theories of crime
Chapter
Bursik, R. J. (1988) Social disorganization and theories of crime and delinquency: Problems and prospects, Criminology, 26(4), 519-551. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00854.x.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Feminist theories of crime
Chapter
Chesney-Lind, M. & Chagnon, N. (2016). Criminology, gender, and race: A case study of privilege in the academy, Feminist Criminology, 11(4), 311–333. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1557085116633749.
Griber. A. (2007). The feminist war on crime. Iowa Law Review, 92, 741-833. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c23f/b7a21a29f2d2629823058596d2e2b179ee78.pdf.
· Mason, G. & Stubbs, J. (2010). Feminist approaches to criminological research. In D. Gadd, S. Karstedt, & S. F. Messner, The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Research Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE (pp. 486-499). https://methods.sagepub.com/book/sage-hdbk-criminological-research-methods/n32.xml.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Item 2
Case study. Due: Week 8 Friday (11 September 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Case Study Due: Week 8 Friday (11 Sept 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Indigenous theories of crime
Chapter
Cunneen, C. & Tauri, J. (2016). Chapter Four: Policing, Indigenous peoples and social order. Indigenous Criminology, Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press (pp.67-87). https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1t893kz.9?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Chapter
Reed, G. E. & Yeager, P. C. (1996). Organizational offending and neoclassical criminology: Challenges the reach of a general theory of crime. Criminology, 34(3), 357-382. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1996.tb01211.x.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
Cultural theories of crime
Chapter
Cohen, S. (2011). Whose side were we on? The undeclared politics of moral panic theory. Crime, Media, Culture, 7(3), 237–243. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1741659011417603.
Ferrell, J. (1999). Cultural criminology, Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 395-418. https://www.jstor.org/stable/223510?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
· O’Brien, M. (2005) What is cultural about cultural criminology? British Journal of Criminology, 45(5), 599-612. https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/45/5/599/589113.
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
New left realism theories of crime
Chapter
DeKeseredy, W. S. & Schwartz, M. D. (2010). Friedman economic policies, social exclusion, and crime: Toward a gendered left realist subcultural theory, Crime Law and Social Change, 54(2), 159-170. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-010-9251-8.
Lea, J. (2015). Jock Young and the development of left realist criminology. Critical Criminology, 23, 165-177. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10612-015-9273-8#citeas.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Item 3
Written assessment. Due: Week 12 Friday (9 October 2020) 9:00 am AEST.
Written Assessment Due: Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
No topic
Chapter
No reading
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
Module/Topic
No topic
Chapter
No reading
Events and Submissions/Topic
No events
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Students will complete an online quiz, which consists of 15 questions. Students have 2 hours to complete the quiz. Only one submission attempt is allowed. The type of questions include True/False and Multiple Choice. This quiz will open from 31 July 2020 at 9 am and close on 14 August 2020 at 9 am.
Week 5 Friday (14 Aug 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Week 7 Friday (4 Sept 2020)
There is no assessment criteria needed.
No submission method provided.
- Critique, analyse and reflect on interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime, their policy implications and practical outcomes
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Case Study
Students will select an agency that works with ex-prisoners and write a 1500-word case study report. They have to:
1. Select an agency that works with ex-prisoners. The agency may NOT deal specifically with crime or legal matters. Rather, the agency should be one that works more broadly with ex-prisoners across areas such as welfare, leisure, education, accommodation/shelter, and substance abuse (but, of course, not necessarily all of them). The agency might be quite small – focusing on one area of the ex-prisoners’ welfare. It might operate from a particular location (premises) or it might concentrate on out-reach street work, or both.
2. Briefly describe the work of the agency or organisation and describe the ‘philosophy’ upon which the agency bases its practices (e.g., how do the workers in the agency contribute to the welfare of ex-prisoners? How is the work of the agency related to reintegration of ex-prisoners?).
3. Pick a criminology theory that is relevant to the agency you choose. Give details about the theory (e.g. its main ideas, points and theorists) and apply the theory to the agency (e.g., how does it explain the way the agency engages with their target audience?)
4. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of what this agency does with ex-prisoners in terms of the theory they choose.
Week 8 Friday (11 Sept 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Week 10 Friday (25 Sept 2020)
This assignment will be assessed by seven criteria. The first is Introduction, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly outline their main arguments in Introduction. The second is Description of agency, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly describe the work and philosophy of the agency. The third is Evidence, relevance and application of theory, in which students will be assessed by whether they demonstrate excellent and original illustrations of the theory in relation to the work of the agency. The fourth is Analysis of theory, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly demonstrate their understanding of the strengths and limits of the theory. The fifth is Conclusion, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly summarise the major themes in Conclusion. The sixth is Clarity of expression, in which students will be assessed by whether they have a logical structure in their writing. The seventh is Referencing, in which students will be assessed by whether they adhere to APA.
No submission method provided.
- Critique, analyse and reflect on interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime, their policy implications and practical outcomes
- Research and develop a systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of criminology theories in managing criminal activity
- Conceptualise crime using a variety of disciplines, discuss theories based on these conceptualisations, and how these theories influence law and social policy.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 Written Assessment
Students will select one theory discussed in this unit and use it to explain the criminal behaviour and criminality of one of the following criminals:
· Ivan Milat
· Moran family (Note: Students may focus one of the family members)
· John ‘Chow’ Hayes
· Martin Bryant
· Craig Minogue
· Dennis Ferguson
Students will then write a 1500-word essay (+/- 10%) on the following:
1. Describe the key features of the theory.
2. Describe the criminal (Note: You must document the source of your information. Because you will not have access to case files, you will have to rely on media reports of the criminal or online sources including Wikipedia).
3. Use the theory to explain the criminal.
4. Discuss the limitations of the theory.
Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2020) 9:00 am AEST
Exam Week Friday (23 Oct 2020)
This assignment will be assessed by eight criteria. The first is Introduction, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly outline their main arguments in Introduction. The second is Description of criminal, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly describe what their chosen criminal did. The third is Evidence, relevance and application of theory, in which students will be assessed by whether they provide excellent and original illustrations of theory application in relation to their chosen criminal. The fourth is Analysis of theory, in which students will be assessed by whether they have a strong argument of strengths and limits of the theory and excellent use of sources. The fifth is Conclusion, in which students will be assessed by whether they clearly summarise their major themes in Conclusion. The sixth is Clarity of expression, in which students will be assessed by whether they have a logical structure in writing. The seventh is Referencing, in which students will be assessed by whether they adhere to APA.
No submission method provided.
- Research and develop a systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of criminology theories in managing criminal activity
- Conceptualise crime using a variety of disciplines, discuss theories based on these conceptualisations, and how these theories influence law and social policy.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
