SO256-15 Gender, Crime and Justice
Introductory description
Gender, Crime and Justice will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between gender, crime and its social context. This module explores sociological and criminological approaches to the study of deviance, gender and crime in contemporary society.
Module aims
The aim of the module is to analyse the complex relationship between gender and crime in contemporary society. Students will be presented with a range of theoretical and conceptual issues around the theme of gender, crime and justice including feminist writing on the meaning and relevance of gender. The course will highlight some of the key issues when exploring crime, victimisation and criminal justice in relation to gender.
Students will develop the necessary analytical, theoretical and critical skills to examine sociological and criminological approaches to the study of deviance, gender and crime. The content will draw on relevant policy material in this field.
Key aims include: The intended learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to the Subject Benchmarks for Criminology and the programme learning outcomes.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to show:
- Progression in ability to present arguments in oral form, through developing skills in seminar presentation. Group members will ask and respond to questions in a bid to facilitate discussion.
- Be able to identify, retrieve and interpret information on patterns of gender, victimisation an crime and to relate these to specific debates and issues.
- Advancement of existing skills in regard to the organisation of information in a clear and coherent manner, through essay writing, and seminar-based group discussion of completed essays.
- Be able to gather, retrieve and synthesise data and information from different schools and disciplines of enquiry.
- Show progression in development of research skills through advanced library investigation, critical debate and essay writing.
- Develop enhanced research and organisational skills by using library e-journal and other on-line resources.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Part 1: Context
- Introduction to the module: Gender and Patterns of Offending.
- Feminist Perspectives in Criminology
- Masculinities and Crime
Part 2: Patterns and Representations of Offenders and Offending
4. Gender, Victimisation and the Fear of Crime
5. Media Representations of Male and Female Offenders
6. Reading Week
7. Queering the body under the criminal justice gaze
Part 3: The Gendering of the Criminal Justice Profession
8. Gender and Policing
9. Women and men in the Criminal Justice Professions
10. Gender and Crime in a Global Context. Module overview
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Main learning outcomes: Gender, Crime and Justice will provide students with a critical understanding of the relationship between gender, crime and justice in contemporary society. The module enables students to: Describe and assess a range of theoretical accounts of gender; crime and justice; To develop the understanding of the social, economic and cultural dimensions of gender, crime and criminal justice;
- To develop an understanding of the links between sociological theorizing of gender, crime, justice and the socio-historical context in which these theories emerged;
- To build on existing ability to apply research evidence to understandings of deviance, social control and related social problems.
- To demonstrate a critical awareness of the treatment of male and female offenders and victims within the criminal justice system;
- To demonstrate a critical understanding of how issues of race and ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, age and gender affect processes of criminalisation;
- To develop skills in accessing and evaluating relevant literature for independent study, research and essay writing.
Indicative reading list
Background Reading
Agozino, B., ((1997) Black Women and the Criminal Justice System. Ashgate Publishing
Carlen, P. (1983) Women’s Imprisonment, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Carlen, P. (1998). Sledgehammer. London: Macmillan.
Carlen, P. (ed) (2002) Women and Punishment: the Struggle for Justice. Cullumpton, Willan Publishing.
Chapter 4)
Carlen, P. & Worrall, A. (2004) Analysing Women’s Imprisonment, Cullompton: Willan.
Corston, Baroness (2007) The Corston Report: A review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the
criminal justice system, London: Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/corston-report/
Davies, P. (2011) Gender, Crime and Victimisation, London: Sage.
Gelsthorpe, L. & Morris, A. (eds) (1990) Feminist Perspectives in Criminology, Milton Keynes: OUP.
Heidensohn, F. and Silvestri, M. (2012) ‘Gender and Crime’, in M. Maguire, R. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds.)
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (5th edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moore, L., Scraton, P. and Wahidin, A. (2018), Women’s Imprisonment, Decarceration and Case for
Abolition: Critical Reflections on Corston. Routledge.
Silvestri, M and Dowey-Crowther, C. (2016), Gender and Crime (Key Approaches to Criminology), Sage.
Wahidin, A. (2013), Gender and Crime in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahidin & E. Wincup (eds) Criminology,
Oxford: Oxford University Press (3rd ed).
Walklate, S. (2nd Ed.) (2004) Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice, Cullompton: Willan.
Westmarland, L. (2002) Gender and Policing: sex, power and police culture, Cullompton: Willan.
Worrall, A. (1990) Offending Women, London: Routledge.
Wykes, M. and Welsh, K. (2009) Violence, Gender and Justice, London: Sage.
Subject specific skills
To demonstrate knowledge and understanding with the development, nature and theories of gender and crime;
To demonstrate knowledge and understanding of feminist social theories relating to gender and crime;
To understand the socio, cultural and historical constructions of victims and offenders
To be able to apply case studies and give examples incorporating theories of gender and
crime.
To understand the relationship between gender, crime and justice and the intersections of ethnicity, age and sexual orientation.
Transferable skills
To effectively communicate information, arguments and analysis in a variety of forms
to specialist and non-specialist audiences and deploy key techniques of the discipline effectively
To develop existing skills and acquire new competences that will enable them to assume significant responsibility within organisations.
The qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment require the exercise of personal responsibility and decision-making.
Study time
Type | Required |
---|---|
Lectures | 9 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
Private study | 132 hours (88%) |
Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
Reading for seminars.
Preparation for seminars.
Preparation of presentations.
Preparation and writing of formative work.
Preparation of summative work.
Other work related to assessment.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
Assessment group A1
Weighting | Study time | |
---|---|---|
Written Assignment (3000 words) | 100% | |
Essay |
Feedback on assessment
Students will receive verbal feedback on the 500 words critical article review which will inform a seminar discussion and advice will be given on how to incorporate their knowledge from it into their essays. The \r\npurpose of the critical article review is to assist students in developing their academic research, reading, oral and evaluation skills. \r\n\r\nThese skills will assist students with their final assessment. In addition, the last seminar of the module will be skills-based and students will be asked to bring to class a one-page essay outline so that they can get informal feedback on it before the submission of their essay. \r\n\r\nThe aim of all assessments is to give students the opportunity to review consolidate and reflect on their learning and to demonstrate the extent to which they have acquired knowledge, understanding and key skills.
Courses
This module is Core for:
- Year 2 of USOA-L314 Undergraduate Sociology and Criminology
This module is Core optional for:
- Year 3 of ULAA-ML33 Undergraduate Law and Sociology
This module is Optional for:
-
USOA-L301 BA in Sociology
- Year 2 of L301 Sociology
- Year 2 of L301 Sociology
- Year 2 of L301 Sociology
This module is Option list A for:
-
ULAA-ML34 BA in Law and Sociology (Qualifying Degree)
- Year 3 of ML34 Law and Sociology (Qualifying Degree)
- Year 4 of ML34 Law and Sociology (Qualifying Degree)
- Year 4 of ULAA-ML33 Undergraduate Law and Sociology
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 2 of UPOA-ML13 Undergraduate Politics and Sociology
This module is Option list D for:
- Year 2 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
This module is Option list G for:
-
UPHA-V7ML Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- Year 2 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
- Year 2 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)
- Year 2 of V7ML Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Tripartite)