Criminal Justice, Race and Rights

This module is designed for students who are interested and would like to build an in-depth knowledge of theories of crime and the criminal justice system in the UK. It is set out to give a deep understanding of the theories and rationales underlying crime and the criminal justice and to help students critically reflect the system.

It engages with some of the most important issues in the UK, such as the discretionary police power, stop and search, police questioning, prosecution policies, the under-funded and variable quality of criminal defence, the value and limitations of human rights and miscarriages of justice.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

• To demonstrate well-informed knowledge of principles and theories underlying crime and
  criminal justice
• To demonstrate an understanding, informed by socio-legal research and theory, of the context in which those rules apply and the issues of legal policy to which they give rise
• To analyse critically the theories, policies and principles underlying the law in relation to criminal justice and its application in practice
• To apply this knowledge to analyse a range of cases, particularly the racialised and gendered aspects of criminal justice and miscarriages of justice

Workload

• Weekly 2-hour lecture/seminar

Method of assessment

• Case Commentary: 20% (1000 words)  
• Essay:  80% ( 2000 words) 

Suggested reading

• C. Posick and M. Rocque (2018) Great Debates in Criminology (Routledge)
• T. Newburn (2017) Criminology (Routledge)
• A.Y. Hass, C. Maloney and W.J Chambliss (2017) Theory, Research and Practice (Routledge).

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.