Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | Ten one hour lectures (part of 30 hrs total lecture allocation) |
| Lecture | Ten two hour lectures (part of 30 hrs total lecture allocation) |
| Seminars / Tutorials | Three two hour seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours Exam at end of appropriate semester | 100% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours Exam | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the incidence and prevalence of youth crime and anti-social behaviour.
2. Describe how youth crime, deviance and victimisation are socially and legally constructed.
3. Analyse the reasons behind youth offending and anti-social behaviour by referring to research into the psychological and sociological aspects of adolescence and the transition to adulthood.
4. Appreciate how policy debates concerning the issue of youth crime are influenced by particular political discourses, popular opinion and the mass media.
5. Identify the key issues, policies, processes and institutions with respect to youth crime and the treatment of young offenders.
6. Explain how successful major criminological theories and perspectives have been in accounting for youth crime and its treatment.
7. Describe and critically evaluate policies and interventions within the criminal justice system designed to reduce youth crime and alter patterns of youth offending.
8. Illustrate an awareness of the different methods of investigation and research techniques used to explore the nature and extent of youth crime.
9. Describe how official and unofficial structures, methods and processes of criminal law enforcement, social policy and punishment systems feature in the attempt to control and prevent youth crime and deviance.
Aims
For over fifty years there has been a growing interest in investigating the links between young people and crime. Building on the introductory courses in criminology this course will familiarize students with the major debates surrounding youth participation in crime and anti-social behaviour, societal desires to control it and the ways in which this is done. The student will be encouraged to develop a deeper understanding of the problem, its solutions and other initiatives which may prove effective.
Brief description
Young people have been increasingly associated with criminal and anti-social behaviour. This course will investigate that association and disentangle the complex social and control issues involved in this area of study. It will build on knowledge assimilated in the earlier foundation courses concerning reasons for offending, put them into a youth justice context and illustrate how they are used to back up policy initiatives. It will evaluate many of the youth justice initiatives as well as introducing students to both the concept and reality of inter-agency working
Content
Young people as victims.
Explanations of 'Youth Crime'.
The Development of Youth Justice Philosophies, Laws and Policies.
The Current Framework of Youth Justice
Assessing Young People
Custodial Treatment of Young People
Community Orders
The Youth Offending Team
Inter-Agency Working
Managing Young People
Altering Behaviour Patterns
Comparative approaches and other initiatives.
Gender, Race and ethnicity
Reading List
Essential Reading(2001.) Children in Society :Contemporary Theory, Policy and Practice /edited by Pam Foley, Jeremy Roche and Stanley Tucker Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Consult pp. 34-41. Palgrave in association with the Open University Primo search (2006.) Comparative Youth Justice :Critical Issues /edited by John Muncie and Barry Goldson General Text SAGE Primo search Brown, Sheila (2005.) Understanding Youth and Crime :Listening to Youth? General Text 2nd ed. Open University Press Primo search Fortin, Jane E. S. (2003) Children's Rights and the Developing Law Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood. Consult 2nd ed. Butterworths Primo search James, A. and Jenks,C. (1996) British Journal of Sociology 'Public Perceptions of Childhood Criminality' Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Primo search Jones, Peter (1994.) Rights Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood Macmillan Primo search M.K.Rosenheim, F.E.Zimring, D.S. Tanenhaus and B. Dohrn (2002) A Century of Juvenile Justice 'The legal constructing of childhood' by Scott, E.S. Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Consult pp. 113-141. University of Chicago Primo search Muncie, John (c2009.) Youth & Crime General Text 3rd ed. SAGE Primo search S.Simpson. (2000) Of Crime and Criminality 'The dramatization of evil: reacting to juvenile delinquency during the 1990s' by Triplett,R. Pine Forge Press Primo search Smith, Roger S. (2007.) Youth Justice :Ideas, Policy, Practice General Text 2nd ed. Willan Primo search Recommended Text
Duckworth, Jeannie. (2002.) Fagin's Children :Criminal Children in Victorian England Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood Hambledon and London Primo search Ireland, Richard W. (2007.) 'A Want of Order and Good Discipline' :rules, discretion and the Victorian prison Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood. Consult pp. 175 - 181. University of Wales Press Primo search Jeffs, T. and Smith, M.K. (1996) Youth and Policy "Getting the dirt bags off the streets" curfews and other solutions to juvenile crime' Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Primo search Radzinowicz, Leon (March 1991) A History of English Law and Its Administration from 1750:Vol. 5: Victorian and Edwardian England: The Emergence of Penal Policy Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood. Consult Chapters 6, 7 and possibly also 12. Oxford University Press Primo search Wiener, Martin J. (1990.) Reconstructing the Criminal :Culture, Law and Policy in England, 1830-1914 Legal and psychological concepts of the child and childhood. Consult Cambridge University Press Primo search deMause, L. (1974) The History of Childhood 'The evolution of childhood' Psychohistory Press Primo search Recommended Background
(1997.) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood :Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood /edited by Allison James and Alan Prout Falmer Press Primo search Aries, Philippe (July 1965) Centuries of Childhood:A Social History of Family Life Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Vintage [Imprint] Primo search DeMause, Lloyd (Jan. 1974) The History of Childhood Concepts, Perceptions and Reactions - The concepts of childhood, adolescence and youth. Psychohistory Press Primo search
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6