Criminology

Core Courses

Understanding and Explaining Crime and Social Control

Tutor: Professor Michele Burman
Course Type: Core
Schedule: Semester 1, Tuesday 1-3pm

Course Description
The module aims to develop a critical understanding of contemporary criminological and social theories and their historical development.

Course Reading

Garland, D. (2001) The Culture of Control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Garland, D. and Sparks, R. (eds.) (2000) Criminology and Social Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hillyard, P. Pantazis, C., Tombs, S. and Gordon, D. (eds.) (2004) Beyond Criminology: Taking harm seriously. London: Pluto Press
McLaughlin, E., Muncie, J. and Hughes, G. (eds.) (2003) Criminological Perspectives: Essential readings (Second edition). London: Sage.
Maguire, M., Morgan, R. and Reiner, R. (eds.) (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Fourth edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Melossi, D. (2008) Controlling Crime, Controlling Society: Thinking about crime in Europe and America. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Newburn, T. (ed.) (2009) Key Readings in Criminology. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
Tierney, J. (2006) Criminology: Theory and context (Second edition). Harlow: Pearson Education.

Research and Enquiry in Crime and Justice

Tutor: Professor Michele Burman
Course Type: Core
Schedule: Semester 2, Tuesday 2-4pm

Course Description
The main aim of this course is to provide students with a broad knowledge of the methods and data used in criminological and criminal justice research. It addresses the contexts in which crime and criminal justice research takes place, and provides an overview of important theoretical and epistemological debates, and the relationships between theory, research and criminological data.

Course Reading:

Jupp, V. Davies, P. & Francis, P. (eds.) (2000) Doing Criminological Research London: Sage
King, R. D. & Wincup, E. (eds.) (2007) Doing Research on Criminal Justice (2nd edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press

Social Science Statistics 1 (taught at college level, semester 1)

Course Description
Students are expected to understand computing operations designed for social scientists, such as the SPSS, and will learn the necessary statistical skills for interpreting large-scale data (criminal statistics, census findings and large scale mobility surveys). They will focus on the second half of the semester on preparing an assessment in the lab. Tutorial assistance is given to students in this course as well as weekly lectures.

Topics include:

Units and Variables
Describing Variables
Introduction to Hypothesis Testing
Sampling
Sample Statistics and Parameters
Statistical Significance
Research Design
Introduction to Regression Analysis

Qualitative Research Methods (taught at college level, semester 1)

Course Description
Qualitative research includes a broad range of approaches and research techniques. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to a number of the most commonly used approaches and research techniques. These tools include in-depth interviews, focus groups and content analysis as well as the gathering of data based on observation and textual information. The course aims to develop a practical understanding of the philosophical underpinnings, application and analysis of qualitative methodology for those working in social research.

The lectures are designed to give students grounding in why we use particular methodologies and how they may fit into a broader examination of society. The tutorials are designed to give students time to try out and critically examine how qualitative methods work in practice. The goal of the course is to give students a) robust introductory knowledge of a range of qualitative methods; b) the ability to build a solid research design; c) the skill to find appropriate qualitative methods that relate to their inquiries and d) the tools and experience to start to implement qualitative research methods such as interviewing, focus groups, context analysis, broadcast analysis with skill and confidence. Once again, students are given tutorials as well as weekly lectures.