Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CRL1008

 
TITLE Family Violence Law

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Criminal Law

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit provides an overview of the fundamental concepts in family violence from a legal perspective. The contents of this unit introduce law students to terminologies used in the key issues of family violence as well as their definitions within the laws of Malta. Students will be provided with a comprehensive overview of the types of violence and abuse that can happen in a dysfunctional family and how to deal with the incidence of such violence within a legal framework. Spousal, child and elder abuse will be covered. Personal and societal responsibilities in the onset of family violence are highlighted.

The study-unit lists strategies for controlling family violence, including legal and police intervention, and describes the different approaches to treatment within the criminal justice system as well as the different treatment settings for managing intimate violence. It also describes the intricate role that motivation plays in seeking justice through Malta's legal system.

Study-unit Aims

The primary aims of the study-unit are:
- to sensitize students to Malta's laws pertaining to family violence;
- to familiarise students with developments in governmental policy reform on family violence;
- to give students the ability to develop competencies in recognizing family violence later on in their legal careers related to notarial, advocacy, crisis intervention, health care, social service, education, and law enforcement;
- to expose students to the multi-disciplinary approaches to solving this complex social problem;
- to encourage students to contribute to contemporary debates from a range of academic disciplines and non-academic sources.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the different facets of family violence within the context of Malta's legal framework;
- demonstrate knowledge of different theoretical perspectives of family violence;
- recognize signs of family violence and be able to identify and assess family violence situations in their role as notary or advocate;
- demonstrate knowledge of the central issues related to family violence;
- question societal beliefs and attitudes that can perpetuate violence;
- demonstrate increased awareness and understanding of the need for multi-disciplinary approaches, besides a legal perspective, to dealing with family violence situations.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

The study unit gives students:
- a developed sense of critical analysis which enables legal and policy initiatives and proposed solutions to the types of family violence to be explored;
- an ability to conceptualise and integrate the legal and political aspects of family violence and their consequences;
- strengthened skill and background to create and advance career opportunities in several personally fulfilling fields of employment in the law field and academic study;
- the skills to apply the learning experience to their diverse careers in situations where they may encounter family violence through areas such as law enforcement,crisis intervention, health care, social service, and education.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Journal of Family Violence, SpringerLink Journal https://springerlink3.metapress.com/content/wq87248k532t88m1/resource-secured/?target=fulltext.pdf&sid=pscbltvwskvlo355xefick55&sh=www.springerlink.com
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, North Western University Publishers http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jcrimlawcrim1973
Laws of Malta http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/LOM.aspx?pageid=27&mode=chrono
The Internet Journal of Criminology http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork SEM1 No 40%
Seminar Paper SEM1 Yes 60%

 
LECTURER/S Frances Camilleri Cassar

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit