Critical Approaches to Criminal Justice

Code

LAWW4165

School

Law

Level

4

Credits

15

Semesters

Spring UK

Summary

This module introduces students to the critical study of criminal justice processes from domestic, regional, and global perspectives. It adopts a critical and cross-disciplinary approach to the study of criminal justice (drawing from insights in sociology, race and gender studies, postcolonial thought and global law, psychology, and criminology). It looks at 'the war on terror' and the 'war on drugs' through the lens of criminal justice. 
  
The module begins by tracing the genealogy (or genealogies) of crime and criminal justice in its social setting, identifying crime and criminal justice as methods for social control, linking these perspectives to the emergence of the institutions of criminal justice in history. The module also takes a critical look at the construction of the central actors in the criminal justice space. We look at politics, the police, lawyers, the courts, the media and on victims of crime as a long-forgotten aspect of criminal justice scholarship. Students will be introduced to the concept of governmentality and the way surveillance, and 'big data' affect the practice and scope of criminal justice, and to Marxist approaches to law, and these are applied to the question of corporate criminality.  The notion of corporate harm is linked to the prevalence of environmental harm and the emergence of green criminology, and these discussions lead us to consider some overarching narratives of contemporary criminal justice more directly. The module also aims to critically explore  the concept of global criminal justice as a project tangled-up with a global security discourse imposed across all geopolitical space and enforced by powerful global institutions.  



 

Target Students

Available to postgraduate (LLM) students in the School of Law. Also available to Exchange students hosted by the School of Law.

Classes

This module is taught in seminar format.

Assessment

• 100% Coursework 1: 15 pages

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of this module students should:

• be able to understand the way crime and social control can be conceptualised and subjected to critique.  
• ​be able to critically analyse the institutions and function of criminal justice from a variety of different critical perspectives including but not limited to Marxist approaches, postcolonial thought, feminism, and critical race theory.  
• ​have a broader appreciation of social justice discourses in contemporary domestic and global settings and the problems of liberal assumptions.  

Intellectual skills

By the end of the module students will:

• ​be able to identify, analyse and critically evaluate critical arguments that subject the assumptions of liberal ideology to critique.  
• be able to bring critical approaches to bear upon the nature, functions, and role of criminal justice actors, concepts, and institutions.  

Professional practical skills

​By the end of the module students will:

• be able to utilise appropriate resources in identifying, researching, and thinking about practical problems of criminal justice. They will be able to critically evaluate problems from a variety of perspectives and apply critical thinking in search of solutions. These skills will be invaluable to a range of stakeholders including policymakers, NGOs, the media, and will also prepare them for further academic study.  

Transferable skills​

By the end of the module students will:

• have improved the following skills: research, writing, discussion, critical evaluation, critical analysis, presentation, self-awareness, and positionality.​  

Conveners

• Dr Javier Eskauriatza