MA Criminal Justice

This module aims to give you a comprehensive and critical guide to both the theory and practice of research on crime and the criminal justice process. It aims to:

• prepare you for the compulsory dissertation on the MA Criminal Justice course
• enable you to develop an advanced and critical knowledge of the key ontological, epistemological and methodological issues that impact on research into crime and criminal justice
• consider and demonstrate a critical appreciation of the particular research theories, and methods of data collection and analysis, which researchers use to study crime and criminal justice
• examine and demonstrate advanced and critical understanding of issues relating to the politics and ethics of crime and criminal justice research

This module aims to provide you with the opportunity to critically analyse key issues in contemporary criminal justice at an advanced level. It helps you develop advanced knowledge and critical understanding of specific issues relating to the principles and practice of criminal justice in England and Wales.

This module will critically evaluate the phenomenon of sexual offences from a variety of perspectives: historical and modern; social/cultural; ethical and moral; political. Within these contexts, the criminalisation of sexual behaviour will be evaluated and the law applied critically to specific factual situations. The module aims to:

• develop a knowledge and understanding of the principles, policies and doctrines relating to the criminalisation and de-criminalisation of sexual, and sexually-related behaviour within society
• provide a critical analysis of the rationale for, and scope of, a selective range of sexual offences in their socio-legal context

The aim of this module is to explore the complex and dynamic relationship between policing services/agents and members of the diversity of publics these organisations serve. It seeks to help you to develop a critical appreciation of the historical and conceptual development of modern policing forms, evaluate contemporary policing structures/methods/networks, and explore future challenges for service provision. It:

• encourages you to engage with the evolving and multi-faceted challenges facing the workings of one of the key institutions of criminal justice, whilst also exploring the emerging ethical, moral and practical concerns raised by the increasingly powerful played by the private and quasi-private forms of policing and security management.

• improves your understanding of the role the police as an organisation, in shaping notions of belonging, citizenship and identity

This module aims to develop your understanding of drug and alcohol use within contemporary society. It deconstructs the drug and alcohol status quo so you can acknowledge the complexities and contradictions that exist within this sphere. It aims to:

• provide a broad critical understanding of the different paradigms and perspectives on substance (mis)use and relevant policy in relation to crime and criminal justice
• set a critical socio-cultural scene for you to build up a comprehensive picture of drug and alcohol use within contemporary capitalist society
• develop your understanding of drug policy and critically consider the rationale and motivations that mould policy developments within this sphere
• develop your knowledge of how drug and alcohol users are responded to within a criminal justice context

This module is designed to examine the social construction of crime. It aims to:

• provide a balance between theoretical perspectives and empirical, practical knowledge about the power imbalances in society
• critically examine the relationship between these imbalances and crime (reported and unreported), as well as the criminal justice system's responses to them
• equip you with the skills required to demonstrate a critical understanding of crimes involving the abuse of social and/or individual power

This module critically evaluates, at an advanced level, the role and function of the prison and probation services in relation to the delivery of state punishment and rehabilitation. It aims to:

• critically reflect on the values and principles that underpin the delivery of contemporary penal policy through the creation of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
• scrutinise the extent to which contemporary penal policy and practice actually delivers a more systematic approach to the management of offenders

This module aims to give you a critical, theoretically-informed and socially-orientated grounding in the study of youth justice. It enables you to:

• develop an analytical approach to understanding the treatment and experiences of young people within, and at the hands of, the criminal justice system
• consider the historical basis of the youth justice system and how political influence has played a significant role in the current development of youth justice policy
• critically compare youth justice policy and practice in England and Wales

This module allows students to showcase their knowledge of an international criminal justice issue, enabling them to create a well-structured and extensive assignment that demonstrates critical thinking and the use of suitable research methods.

This module seeks to critically explore the complex and dynamic relationship between policing services/agents and members of the diverse public these organisations serve. It will help you develop a critical appreciation of the historical and conceptual development of modern policing forms, evaluate contemporary policing structures/methods/networks, and explore future challenges for service provision.