ACR215 - Contemporary Perspectives in Criminology

Year:

2023 unit information

Enrolment modes:

New unit commencing in 2024

Trimester 3: Online, CBD*

Credit point(s): 1
EFTSL value: 0.125
Prerequisite:

Students must complete 4 credit points at any unit level

Corequisite: Nil
Incompatible with: ACR312, ASL223
Study commitment

Students will on average spend 150-hours over the trimester undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus

1 x 1-hour class per week, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week

Scheduled learning activities - online

1 x 1-hour class per week (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week

Note:

*CBD refers to the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation (NIKERI) Institute; Community Based Delivery

Content

Criminal law and justice processes are reflections of the power of the state to promote order and intervene in the lives of members of the public. These processes also contribute to various embedded structural harms that have profound impacts on those exposed to state power. This unit takes a case study approach to identifying harm associated with criminal activity and criminal justice intervention, focusing on specific problem areas of contemporary and future concern. It includes discussion of how harm can be identified and assessed, ranging from the psychological effects of physical harm to principles of environmental and place-based harm that might be caused by individual, corporate or state parties.
It also includes notions of how harm may be caused or perpetuated by criminal justice agencies and their agents, and how this can be addressed through accountability processes, including criminal charges, civil law (such as the laws of negligence) or accountability oversight bodies. In taking a broad approach, the unit frames these issues in light of current trends in the politics and governance of crime and its control, by focusing on how state agencies and their agents are often bound to the political dictates of controlling crime through legislation or existing policies. While harm can occur by crime, this unit takes the approach that criminal justice intervention can equally be harmful, and these issues are framed within important contemporary criminological debates

Unit Fee Information

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