CENTRE FOR CRIMINOLOGY FACULTY OF LAW

Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford OX1 3UQ Tel: +44(0)1865 274444 Fax: +44(0)1865 281924 [email protected] www.crim.ox.ac.uk

MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods) 2010-2011 Optional Course Information

Michaelmas Term

_
Crime and the Family, taught by Dr Rachel Condry This course aims to explore the relationship between crime and one of the major institutions in society, the family. Through the analysis of empirical research and theoretical debate the course will provide a systematic examination of some of the intersections between the family and crime and punishment. It will interrogate common-sense understandings of the relationship between crime and the family and explore just who is affected by crime and how they are affected, whether as primary or secondary victims of crime, or as parents, children, spouses or other kin of offenders. The relationship between the family and the state and the ways in which the state intervenes into family life take particular shape around the problem of crime. We will explore how the family is constructed in both formal policy responses to crime and informal responses such as stigmatization and shaming. The course will consider the role of the family in criminological theory and in criminal justice policy and aim to unravel some of the complexities, tensions and implications inherent in contemporary constructions of the family and family life in these contexts. Prisons, taught by Dr Mary Bosworth This course examines the complex role of the prison in contemporary society as it is portrayed in policy documents, first hand accounts, and scholarly analysis of imprisonment. Students will develop a critical understanding of the origins of the prison and of its daily practice. Particular attention will be paid to the experience of women and ethnic minorities behind bars. Topics will range from staffing to education as well as from how institutions deal with prisoners mental health to how they maintain order. As an adjunct to the course, students will be given the opportunity to visit prisons in the local area. Restorative Justice, taught by Dr Carolyn Hoyle Restorative justice is a term of unsettled meaning but can be seen as encompassing a diverse and developing set of values, processes and aims which share an orientation towards repairing the harm caused by crime. The most well-known restorative processes involve victims and offenders coming face-to-face to discuss the offence, the harm it caused, and how this might be put right. This course considers various models of restorative justice across the world. It examines the role of victims, offenders and communities, integrating theoretical and empirical knowledge and sociological critiques of different restorative approaches. It also tackles such difficult philosophical questions as whether restorative justice can be an appropriate substitute or supplement to formal state-administered justice, and whether it can operate satisfactorily

when power imbalances between offenders and victims are great, as in cases of domestic violence and in post-conflict societies.

Human Rights and Criminal Justice, taught by Prof Andrew Ashworth and Dr Liora Lazarus This course looks at the development of human rights principles within the criminal justice system under the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act. Students are encouraged to think critically about the various stages of the criminal justice system in the UK, looking specifically at trial procedure, sentencing and imprisonment. This option is largely based on human rights case law and therefore it is most suitable for students with legal training. Non-lawyers considering this option should be aware that they will be expected to read case reports in preparation for seminars. The seminar topics are: 1. Pre-trial Justice; 2. Autonomous Meanings: Criminal Charge, Penalty and Deprivation of Liberty; 3. Silence & Self-incrimination; 4. Theoretical Foundations of Prisoners Rights; 5. Protection of Personal Liberty; 6. Protection of Rights inside Prison. Death Penalty, taught by Dr Carolyn Hoyle This course provides students with a good understanding of the scope and practice of capital punishment and the movement, backed by international organizations and human rights treaties, to abolish the death penalty worldwide. Students will learn about the extent to which defendants in capital cases are protected by due process and have access to qualified defence counsel, and where they lack protection from police abuse, unfair trials, and painful forms of execution. They will consider whether capital punishment can ever be administered equitably, without discrimination or error, and whether it is an effective deterrent to murder. They will also learn about the role of public opinion and the influence of victims families on the criminal process. Throughout this course students will draw on recent and controversial cases and decisions, as well as the social scientific literature.

Methods I: Research Design and Data Collection, taught by Dr Jane Donoghue How can social scientists be sure that the data used in research are valid and reliable? This course is focused on the challenges and the opportunities that different methods of data collection have for validity and reliability of data. Such methods include experiments and quasiexperiments; questionnaires and survey research; field research, and the collection of written documents. The scientific method, theory testing and research design will also be discussed. Ethical concerns are given special emphasis. This option will provide students with a knowledge base from which to choose appropriate ways to collect valid and reliable data given a particular research question. It will also help students assess the weight that can be placed on the findings of published research in the field of criminology.

Hilary Term

Qualitative Methods, taught by Dr Mary Bosworth This course introduces students to different methods of qualitative inquiry, data gathering, analysis and reporting. Special emphasis is given throughout the course to ethical issues and cross-cultural and comparative practices. Students study examples of research techniques and carry out applied practice themselves. They will also gain practical experience of conducting computer aided data analysis by learning how to use NVivo. This option is compulsory for those students taking the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice (Research Methods), and, as such, has been designed to be compliant with the ESRC requirements for methods training, and optional for all others on the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. It complements the other research methods courses run by the Centre, namely Research Design and Data Collection, and Social Explanation and Data Analysis. Methods II: Social Explanation and Data Analysis, taught by Prof Federico Varese This option introduces students to different methods of data analysis and theory testing, and in particular methods of interpreting meaning in data. Special emphasis will be given to the interpretation of interview, observation and case file data. This option will provide students with a knowledge base from which to choose methods of data analysis best suited to answer their research question. Students with an interest in proceeding to a research degree following completion of the MSc, and who intend to use any of the methods covered in this course, are strongly encouraged to take this option. The schedule of the seminars is as follows: Analysing Interview Data I Analysing Interview Data II Aggregate Data Analysis Interpreting Case File Data Interpreting Ethnographic Data Developing Theory in Research Sentencing, taught by Prof Andrew Ashworth and Prof Julian Roberts The aim of this option is to explore some of the legal, theoretical and empirical issues of sentencing, largely by reference to England and Wales. As well as analysing decisions on the use of imprisonment, the course examines the arguments about previous convictions and sentencing, and the justifications for allowing certain factors to mitigate sentence.

Crime, Political Culture and Political Ideologies, taught by Prof Ian Loader This option examines the causes, meanings and effects of this important development in contemporary societies. Its aim will be to examine the relationship between key concepts and traditions in political thought, the dynamics of electoral politics and political mobilization, and current developments in crime control. In so doing, it will introduce students to two important ways in which politics intersects with questions of crime and its control. We will examine, first, the ways in which political debates over crime control are inescapably entangled with wider

ideological contests between different political traditions and their competing conceptions of the good society (e.g. conservatism, liberalism, socialism, feminism, communitarianism), and with struggles over the meaning and significance of some key ideas in political thought (e.g. order, authority, legitimacy, justice, freedom, rights). We will be concerned, secondly, to examine the ways in which crime and punishment are taken up and used by actors within the political process - with the place, that is, that crime occupies within contemporary political cultures. The course begins by introducing students to the ways in which debates about crime and its control are entangled with these two dimensions of politics. We then seek to explore these connections in more detail by considering three recent controversies in the politics of crime and crime control namely, the role of markets in the delivery of policing and punishment, the return of dangerousness as a political problem, and the comparative use of imprisonment. We conclude by examining the relationship between crime and democracy and address recent debates about the respective roles that knowledge and politics (should) play in determining crime and penal policy. Victims, taught by Dr Carolyn Hoyle This course will examine the development of victimology and, in particular, the developing role of victims within the criminal process, in the UK and in other jurisdictions. In doing so, it will encourage students to think beyond the rather narrow definition of 'victims' under consideration in the development of victim policy to look at how society responds to victims of atypical crimes and offenders who are, in many respects, victims. In going beyond the typical, the course will rely not only on the disciplines of criminology, criminal justice and victimology, but also engage with politics, social policy and history. Students will be expected to study empirical, theoretical and policy work in these areas.

Trinity Term Youth Justice, taught by Dr Jane Donoghue This course will provide students with a critical and advanced understanding of youth justice. The competing aims, principles, and strategies underpinning responses to offending behaviour in young people will be explored and the diverse ways in which these have influenced contemporary youth justice in the UK will be examined. In particular, the course will investigate the relationship between theory, research and policy in the shaping of youth justice policy and practice. The course will highlight the key shifts in state responses that centre on issues of justice, welfare, prevention, risk and related policy. Throughout, the course will draw closely on both ethnographic and quantitative data from current research in youth justice. The course will raise numerous critical issues concerning the sentencing and detention of young people. Pre-trial procedures will be examined and also the structures and rationales of the courts and alternatives to them. The wide range of sentencing options and alternatives available to the courts and other agencies will be critically appraised. The development of crime prevention and community safety will be examined and the governance of youth anti-social behaviour will be paid particular attention. Throughout the module, attention is given to the importance of understanding the connections of youth crime with race, class and gender. This course will provide an opportunity to engage with the most up-to-date debates in an area of great interest in contemporary society. Risk, Security and Criminal Justice, taught by Prof Lucia Zedner

Key features of contemporary crime control are the rise of risk management and the pursuit of security. In the risk society suspects are viewed less as bearers of rights than as carriers of risks that need to be managed and balanced against the public interest in security. This course analyzes the ways in which risk and security are transforming criminal justice thinking and practices. It explores the costs and benefits of these developments and examines the implications of security policies for justice and individual liberties. The seminar topics are: Week 1: Risk, Actuarial Justice, and the Pursuit of Security Week 2: Policing and Risk Week 3: Crime Prevention and Community Safety Week 4: Security and the War on Terror Week 5: The Practices and Burdens of seeking Security Week 6: Risk, Security, and Justice

Sociology of Punishment, taught by Dr Mary Bosworth This course examines key texts from the extensive body of literature on the sociology of punishment. Students who take full advantage of the course should emerge with a deep understanding of certain classic works and a systematic grasp of selected central figures in the sociology of punishment; An understanding of the ways in which these texts inform and inspire subsequent theorizing about punishment; and an appreciation for the nature and uses of social theory in general.

Comparative Criminal Justice, taught by Prof David Nelken, Prof Nicola Lacey and Dr Liora Lazarus Why study criminal justice comparatively? How best can one go about doing so? This course will examine a number of recent examples of comparative research on a variety of criminal justice institutions, examining the role of political, cultural, legal and structural factors shaping the pursuit of criminal justice policy in different jurisdictions. The course will be taught by David Nelken, Nicola Lacey and Liora Lazarus drawing on their own experience of comparative research and work in comparative methodology. Questions to be explored in the course will include: Why study criminal justice and other mechanisms of social control comparatively? What makes a comparison a good one? What methods are used for studying criminal justice comparatively and how do they shape possible findings? What is the relative importance of culture, political economy or legal and constitutional structure in shaping patterns of criminal justice institutions and practices? How can national differences, such as rates of incarceration best be explained? How has globalisation affected differences among criminal justice systems and comparative research itself?