| CODE | CRI1002 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Sociological, Biological and Psychological Theories of Crime | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | One of the questions Criminologists try to answer is: why do people decide to become deviant and/or criminal? This study-unit underlines the multi-disciplinary nature of this area of study. In fact, Criminology finds it answers mainly, in 3 other branches: sociology, biology and psychology. This study-unit sheds light on the determining affect of one's: upbringing, socialization, environment, brain chemicals, hormones, medical problems, contaminants in the environment, nutrition, psychological make-up and development (or lack of it). Hence, it exposes students to theories such as: social structure theories, strain theory, subcultural theories, social reaction theories, the opportunity theory, the biosocial theory, biological theories of crime as well as the behavioural and cognitive theories. Naturally, these theories shall be presented in a way that emphasizes their relevance to the policing experience. Study-unit Aims: - To enable students to explain the major causes of crime, supported by the main sociological, biological and psychological theories of crime. - To make students aware of the relevance of the main sociological, biological and psychological theories of crime to policing. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a sociological perspective; - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a biological perspective; - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a psychological perspective; - Apply the knowledge acquired (on sociological, biological and psychological processes) to explain how one's socialization, biological make and psychological make-up influence offenders and their behaviours in the examination, analysis, interpretation of physical evidence. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply sociological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point; - Apply biological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point; - Apply psychological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Blackburn, R. (1997). The psychology of criminal conduct. New York: Wiley. - Coleman J.S., (1990), The Foundations of Social Theory. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. - Downs, D. & Rock, P. (2003). Understanding Deviance: A Guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press Inc., New York. - Einstadter W. and Henry S., (1995), Criminological Theory: An Analysis of Its Underlying Assumptions. Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Texas, ISBN 0-15-500329-1. -Feldman, P (1993). The psychology of crime. Cambridge University Press. - George Ritzer, Douglas J. Goodman (2004).Classical sociological theory. McGraw-Hill, U.K. - Giddens A., (1984), The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press, Cambridge: ISBN 0-7456-0007-7pb. - Gudjonsson, G.H & Haward, L.R.C. (1999). Forensic Psychology. A guide to practice. London: Routledge. - Henry S., and Milovanovic D., (1996), Constitutive Criminology: Beyond Postmodernism. Sage, London cf, IN McLaughlin E. and Muncie J., (eds), (2001), The Sage Dictionary of Criminology. Sage Publications, London. - Hirschfield A., and Bowers K.J., (1997), The effect of social cohesion on levels of recorded crime in disadvantaged areas. Urban Studies, Vol. 34, No. 8, 1275-1295. - Hollin, C. (2004) . The essential handbook of offender assessment and treatment. Leicester: Wiley. - Howitt, D. (2006). Forensic and Criminal Psychology. London: Pearson / Prentice Hall. - Lilly, J.R., Cullen, F.T. and Ball, R.A., (1995), Criminal Theory: Context and Consequences. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. - McLaughlin E. and Muncie J., (eds), (2001), The Sage Dictionary of Criminology. Sage Publications, London. - Merton R.K., (1968), Social Theory and Social Structure. The Free Press, New York. - Sampson R.J., and Groves W.B., (1989), Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory. American Journal of Sociology 94, 774-802 (cf Kawachi I., Kennedy B.P., Wilkinson R.G., (1999), Crime: social disorganisation and relative deprivation. Social Science and Medicine 48 (1999, 719-731). - Stephenson, G.M (2001). The psychology of criminal justice. Oxford: Blackwell. |
||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Chantal Avellino Mary Grace Vella (Co-ord.) |
||||||||
|
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. |
|||||||||