University of Surrey - Guildford
Registry
  
 

  
 
Registry > Provisional Module Catalogue - UNDER CONSTRUCTION & SUBJECT TO CHANGE
View Module List by A.O.U. and Level  Alphabetical Module Code List  Alphabetical Module Title List  Alphabetical Old Short Name List  View Menu 
2011/2 Provisional Module Catalogue - UNDER CONSTRUCTION & SUBJECT TO CHANGE
 Module Code: SOCM032 Module Title: CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES
Module Provider: Sociology Short Name: SOCM032
Level: M Module Co-ordinator: CONDRY RF Dr (Sociology)
Number of credits: 15 Number of ECTS credits: 7.5
 
Module Availability
Autumn Semester
Assessment Pattern
One extended essay
Module Overview

Criminology is a socially constructed and historically specific discipline which relies upon a range of theoretical resources to conceptualize ‘crime’, ‘criminals’ and ‘criminality’. This course aims to explore the theoretical resources of criminology in order to think about the discipline not simply a practical activity (as something concerned with the process or administration of criminal justice) but as an activity comprising a distinct epistemology. The module covers the major theoretical developments within criminology and, at the end of the course, asks how they help us elucidate criminal justice problems such as punishment, incarceration and social control.

 
Prerequisites/Co-requisites
Module Aims
Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the module students can expect to:

 

  • Have an advanced level of understanding of the ways in which different theories have sought to understand different types of crime, deviance and control.

     

  • Be familiar with the connections and distinctions that are present between these different theories.

     

  • Be aware of how theory can improve our understandings of the social problem of crime and the operations of the criminal justice system.

     
Module Content

The module will consist of 10 sessions: 

 

·         From Classical to Positivist Criminology

 

·         Anomie, Strain and Adaptation

 

·         Social Organization, Social Ecology & Environmental Criminology

 

·         Symbolic interaction and Labelling

 

·         Rational Choice Criminologies

 

·         Culture and Crime

 

·         Radical Criminologies

 

·         Feminist Criminologies

 

·         Punishments and controls

 

·         Imprisonment and incarceration

 

 
Methods of Teaching/Learning

 
Selected Texts/Journals

Selected references

 

 

Downes, D. & P. Rock (2007) Understanding Deviance (5th ed.). OUP.

 

 

Garland , D. & R. Sparks (2000) Criminology and Social Theory. OUP.

 

 

Garland , D. (2001) The Culture of Control, OUP.

 

 

Muncie , J. et al. (1996) Criminological Perspectives. Sage.

 

 

Taylor, I. (1999) Crime in Context. Polity

 

 

Valier, C. (2002) Theories of Crime and Punishment. Sage

 

 

Walklate, S. (1998) Understanding Criminology. Open University Press.

 

 

Young, J. (1999) The Exclusive Society, Sage.

 

 
Last Updated

April 2011