SC205-5-FY-CO:
Policing, Punishment and Society
2024/25
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 27 June 2025
30
06 June 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA M900 Criminology,
BA M901 Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
BA M903 Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA M904 Criminology (Including Placement Year),
BA MT26 Criminology and American Studies (UK Study),
BA MT27 Criminology and American Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA MT28 Criminology and American Studies (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA MT2R Criminology and American Studies,
BA MT3R Criminology and American Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA MT62 Criminology and American Studies (UK Study) (Including Placement Year),
BA LM11 Criminology with Criminal Law,
BA LM12 Criminology with Criminal Law (Including Year Abroad),
BA LM13 Criminology with Criminal Law (Including Placement Year),
LLB MM00 Law with Criminology,
LLB MM01 Law with Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MM02 Law with Criminology (Including Placement Year),
LLB MM03 Law with Criminology (Including Foundation Year)
This module is delivered across the full year with the focus shifting between the Autumn and Spring terms. The Autumn term examines institutional and non-institutional forms of punishment, surveillance and control.
The Spring term focuses on the police and broader issues of policing. Particularly important here is the situation of the police as the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system but also the way that changes to policing reflect wider social changes.
The aims of this module are:
- to introduce students to the key understandings of, and controversies surrounding, policing and punishment as social phenomena.
- to draw together material from across criminology, history, law, philosophy and sociology to emphasise the complexities of policing and penal institutions.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Have advanced knowledge of core debates and controversies relating to policing and punishmen
- Have awareness of the ethical and political dimensions of policing and punishment
- Understand the latest theoretical and practical developments relating to policing and punishment
- Understand the complex governance of policing and punishment
- Have critical awareness of the ways formal and informal justice practices interrelate with issues of disadvantage and discrimination
- Have the ability to locate analyses of policing and punishment within broader criminological and sociological debates.
- Understand of the relationship between theory and empirical research in this area
- Have confidence in sourcing, evaluating and critiquing relevant academic and policy literature
- Have skills of interpretation and evaluation of empirical evidence used in the study of policing and punishment
No additional information available.
Most modules in Sociology are divided into lectures of around 50 minutes and a class of around 50 minutes. Some are taught as a 2hr seminar, and others via a 50-minute lecture and 2-hr lab.
Please note that you should be spending up to eight hours per week undertaking your own private study (reading, preparing for classes or assignments, etc.) on each of your modules (e.g. 32 hours in total for four 30-credit modules).
The lectures provide an overview of the substantive debates around the topic of the week, while the classes will give you the opportunity to reflect on your learning and actively engage with your peers to develop your understanding further.
The lecture and classes will take place face-to-face. You are strongly encouraged to attend the classes as they provide an opportunity to talk with your class teacher and other students. The classes will be captured and available via Listen Again. However, if you want to gain the most you can from these classes it is very important that you attend and engage. Please note that the recording of classes is at the discretion of the teacher.
-
Carrabine, E. (2020)
Criminology: a sociological introduction. Fourth edition. London: Routledge. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6144300.
-
-
Jones, T. and Newburn, T. (1998) ‘1. The Sociology of Policing p. 1-27’, in
Private Security and Public Policing. Oxford University Press, pp. 1–27. Available at:
https://academic.oup.com/book/37239/chapter/329830961.
-
Bowling, B., Reiner, R. and Sheptycki, J. (2019c) ‘5. The police role, function and effects’, in
The Politics of the Police. Oxford University Press, pp. 101–122. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198769255.003.0005.
-
Ben Bowling
et al. (2016) ‘Policing, Past, Present and Future’, in Roger Matthews (ed.)
What is to be done about crime and punishment?: towards a ‘public criminology’. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 77–95. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1253798&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_123.
-
Brogden, M. (no date) ‘The emergence of the police—the colonial dimension’,
The British Journal of Criminology, 27(1), pp. 4–14. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23637268.
-
Hall, S. (2013)
Policing the crisis: mugging, the state, and law and order. 2nd ed., 35th anniversary ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1522746&site=eds-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
-
Harrison, A. (1999) ‘The English Police 1829–1856: Consensus or Conflict?’,
International Journal of Police Science & Management, 2(2), pp. 175–186. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/146135579900200208.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Critical Essay 1 |
11/12/2024 |
50% |
| Coursework |
Critical Essay 2 |
19/03/2025 |
50% |
| Exam |
Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 180 minutes during Summer (Main Period)
|
| Exam |
Reassessment Main exam: In-Person, Open Book, 180 minutes during September (Reassessment Period)
|
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou, email: k.hadjimatheou@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Sobia Ahmad Kaker, email: s.kaker@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Sobia Ahmad Kaker & Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou
E-mail: socugrad@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Emily Gray
University of Warwick
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Available via Moodle
Of 31 hours, 31 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.