Unit name | Criminology |
---|---|
Unit code | LAWD30100 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Dr. Naughton |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
In contrast to Criminal Law, which is concerned with the rules which determine whether a person has committed a criminal offence, Criminology considers what factors may have led to the offender's breaking the law in the first place. The explanations of criminality which comprise the bulk of this unit can be roughly divided into (a) sociological, (b) physiological, and (c) psychological. The wide range of sociological accounts considered includes the importance of the neighbourhood where the offender grows up, the type of friends the offender makes, the formation of delinquent groups or gangs and the effect of poverty.
The Criminology unit has three principal aims, which are to explain:
i) the origins and development of criminology
ii) the data and methods employed in criminological inquiry
iii) the principal theoretical perspectives advanced by criminologists regarding the epidemiology and aetiology of crime
By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
Ten one-hour lectures and 10 two-hour seminars.
Two summative pieces of coursework of 2,000 words, each contributing 50% to the final mark.
Students will also be required to submit one formative essay.
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
There are no formal set texts for this unit. However, there the following text books usefully cover much of the ground: