Recommended Study Sequence

Globalisation has become a key term in contemporary social science, and is much debated, in both popular and academic forums. The processes of globalisation appear to be creating not so much a single homogenous world culture, but rather, a world in which citizens participate in , and identify with, both global and local cultures. This unit traces the emergence of a global capitalism and through the use of case studies drawn from throughout the world, examines the links between global structures and local cultures. It aims to provide students with a broad understanding of global social science.

Social Research Methods is an interdisciplinary research unit which explores research methods appropriate to the understanding of broad, complex, interconnected social issues and processes. The understanding of research in the social sphere is based on the premise that research seeks to both understand and improve the material social conditions of peoples. Students are introduced to key methods, paradigms and techniques in social research. Skills in using multiple research methods in both generating and testing theory are developed and students are encouraged to assess critically both published research and research in progress. Research in the social world requires a socially responsible and ethical application of methods, as such, political and ethical issues in social research are central.

The unit reviews historical trends in the evolution of thoughts in the social sciences and introduces some key arguments of their critics. While addressing philosophical questions on the nature of knowledge, truth, science and psychoanalysis, this unit covers the birth and death of modern philosophies, and of the modern subject. All these topics, and others such as those on postmodernism and the risk society, equip the social science student with a strong philosophical and theoretical background to their discipline and with skills required for critical thinking.

This unit integrates theory, research and practice within the social sciences thus preparing students for employment in a variety of organisations. Through a modular structure students will further develop and consolidate their academic life and career competencies. Students will be encouraged to explore critically their understandings of the social sciences, the influence of the wider social context in organisations and social institutions and their philosophy of social science in action. Workshops, readings, and on-line discussions will establish a framework for students to explore critically institutional life and their role within it and will develop professional analytic skills to complement the emphasis of units within their major. Students may take the opportunity, in negotiation with the unit coordinator, to prepare for working within their disciplinary framework or in an area or field chosen by the student. Case studies will be used to enhance student learning.

This unit provides the social context for the detailed study of criminological theories in Crime and Criminology. The definition of particular social problems as crimes, how crime is measured and explained and who are identified as criminals or victims is not straightforward. This unit challenges conventional criminology that accepts at face value that crime can be defined by criminal law or by a conceptual analysis of the harm done. The unit examines how police, courts and corrections influence processes of criminalisation and victimisation and the societal context in which this occurs.

The unit introduces students to the major theoretical approaches within criminology, from the eighteenth century criminology of the Enlightenment through nineteenth century criminological positivism to contemporary forms of critical criminological theory. It does this through a careful study of the work of particular thinkers associated with these traditions and the international body of scholarship in the field of criminology. Students will explore a range of issues and apply criminological theory and research in an integrated way while developing their skills at working in groups.

This unit aims to give students a basic understanding of scientific methodology as it applies to the collection, analysis and interpretation of forensic evidence. Students are introduced to a range of analytical methods that are used with various types of forensic evidence, and these are discussed in relation to case studies. The role of human factors is discussed, together with the importance of critically evaluating forensic evidence and the means by which it was obtained.

This unit is a critical introduction to the social practices surrounding death in modernity. Although primarily addressing social arrangements in the West, the unit examines the bio-politics of death in a wider cultural framework, with attention to geographies of power and economic influence in excess of East/West or North/South polarities. The unit traces the historical development of concepts of the individual; the impact on Western ideas around death of genocide and modern warfare; and assesses contemporary ethical and medical controversies as well as critical theories of risk. The unit attempts to demonstrate the relationship of death to: the construction of social institutions; ideas of community and the exercise of power.

Criminological research and literature increasingly associates crime and criminalization with drug use and the prohibition of some substances. This unit will offer students an insight into this important field of criminological enquiry by critically engaging with drugs policy, legislation, and representations of drug use. It also critically discusses the global implications of the US/UN driven ‘war on drugs’.

This unit examines the sociology and history of policing in New South Wales and Australia more generally. There will also be some focus on other countries with similar police practices to that of the Australian police service – particularly Britain and North America. The police are the visible embodiment of state sanctioned power, however, policing is an activity carried by numerous state and private instrumentalities, often on very mundane and obscured levels. While this unit will focus primarily on the social and cultural organisation and activities of ‘the police’ – salaried officers of the state mostly in a uniform capacity – we will also look at broader notions of social governance and indeed governance of ‘the police’.

The focus of the unit is on the ways social order is produced, maintained, reproduced, and transformed. Constructions of normality and deviance are framed within the structured power relations of social class, ethnicity, religion, gender and age. The aim is to provide a critical understanding of hegemonic ideologies; of practices of ethnic, youth and religious (e.g. ‘cults’) groups; and of the language of control. This unit also addresses issues of social control and deviance within popular culture and the information society. The units ends with an assessment of the validity of deviance theories in postmodernity and consumer culture.

This unit explore the interrelationship between gender, sexuality and the law. It explores feminist criminological work critiquing the masculinist and heterosexist bias of law and crime. At the same time it considers emerging work on the impact of gender on men as well as women and how this influences the social practices of citizenship and criminality. The role of political movements will be explored to highlight historical and contemporary public policy responses to crime, gender and sexuality. Examples of contemporary crime policy will be analysed to examine how they construct gender and sexuality and their impact on citizenship.

This unit examines key contemporary crime and criminal justice issues in their global and domestic context. Utilising a range of theoretical approaches, students will increase their understanding of how politics, economics, media, popular culture, personal experience, policy and law contribute to the impact of crime on our daily lives. Students will have the opportunity to explore the ways in which a range of contemporary issues such as terrorism and anti-social behaviour emerge as key concerns for governments, or remain in the background. Students will explore how these concerns are dealt with by governments through criminalisation or civil/administrative/regulatory means. Students will examine the tensions that this may present in relation to the protection of human rights and civil liberties, and intersections with other public policy areas. Topics in the course may vary from year to year as new issues emerge worldwide and domestically.

People commit crimes for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons may be to gratify the person committing the crime – such as financial benefit, sexual satisfaction or emotional thrills. Other reasons are more obscure and it may not be immediately obvious why the crime was committed since the offender appears to get little or no benefit from the act of committing the crime. Psychological knowledge can be useful in understanding some aspects of criminal behaviour. In this unit, the contribution of criminal psychology to the understanding, apprehension, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders will be introduced and critically reviewed. The relationships between personality, psychological disorder, environmental and situational factors and group influences on criminal behaviour will be explored.

This unit introduces the main concepts of law and the legal system. Fundamentals of the Australian legal system are analysed including: case law, statute law, the court hierarchy and the legal profession. In addition, this unit seeks to give an appreciation of the nature and role of law through a contextual understanding of the interaction between law and society. In order to analyse the relationship between law and society a variety of topics are covered, including morality and law; sex and law and alternative legal systems. Content: Topics include: introduction to the Australian legal system, case law and statutory interpretation, Aboriginal law; morality and law; the legal profession; war and law; access to justice; sex and law; alternative legal systems.

This is an introductory unit that assumes that students have no prior specific knowledge of criminal law. The unit is structured to give students an understanding of the criminal justice system. The unit also examines elements of specific crimes, the processes of criminal law, and the administration of criminal justice through the institutions of the criminal justice system. Students are encouraged to critically evaluate the criminal justice system and understand the role of law reform. Assessment includes: seminar participation, court report, and research paper. Essential reading includes distributed materials.

This unit aims to make the study of statistics meaningful to students by presenting them in the context of a social issue. It provides students with a critical understanding of the theory and practice of statistical research without complex mathematics. The lectures will examine theoretical, philosophical and social power issues related to the production and usage of statistics. The workshops will allow the students to develop a basic capacity to produce, use and manipulate statistical data.

This unit deals with the evolution of the figure of the detective and of the criminal; the development of an aesthetics of crime from the later 18th century on; and the dynamic nature of fiction, film and television genres of detection. Literatures of sensation, detective fictions, true crime writing and the non-fiction novel will all be examined to allow an in-depth analysis of the changing ethical and psychological character of the detective, and of his nemeses. The crime story in film, television and in other new media may also be addressed to facilitate an analysis of changing cultural contexts for the crime story.

Crime control has been described as a reactive, time-limited strategy targeting offenders, the domain of few criminal justice agencies. Crime prevention is a longer-term strategy directed to changing conditions and eliminating opportunities which contribute to crime. Crime prevention is the responsibility of all agencies, organisations, communities and individuals. This unit considers the theories, models and strategies for the prevention of crime as an alternative to prosecutorial policing. The unit also explores the concept and steps necessay in the planning of crime prevention programs.

This unit seeks to develop theory, practice and critical skills in the planning, delivery and evaluation of a range of correctional programs for offenders in the criminal justice system in both prison and community settings. The subject will address three broad areas in this regard: historico-political-social perspectives on correctional programs; correctional programs within and outside of prisons; reform and evaluation of correctional programs.

The unit examines traditions of criminological theorising and research, and, public intervention that take the social and spatial context(s) and determinants of crime and its governance as its object of inquiry. It introduces participants to the principal sources of data collection, their methodologies and theoretical underpinnings concerned with the spatial and social ecological dispersion of crime and deviance and its techniques of management and control. It also explores the relationship of public safety and crime prevention to public policy/interventions in areas such as urban and regional planning, housing, local government and community services.

The prevention of interpersonal relationship violence is complex. This unit will critically examine current approaches to prevention focused on the role of legal procedures in assisting survivors and perpetrators of relationship violence, primary prevention through anti-violence education and the preventative role of specialist victim services and other agencies. These issues will be considered in relation to the particular needs of a diversity of groups including women and men, culturally diverse groups, lesbians, gay men, young people and people with disabilities. It also explores prevention policy and practice responses to the issue and encourages students to develop further knowledge and skills in addressing this issue in a variety of professional contexts. Students will also be encouraged to analyse the barriers to developing non-violent relationships in communities and develop skills to challenge these barriers.

This unit offers a distinctive field of sociological and cross-disciplinary inquiry in peace and conflict studies. It builds on concepts in sociology, criminology and peace studies to develop critical insights as to the causes of conflicts, violence and war. It looks forward to ways of lessening destructive conflicts and building cultures of peace and sustainability, including matters of global governance and the United Nations. There is a strong emphasis on peace theory and non-violent practice. Students can explore in depth issues such as refugees, terrorism, war crimes, war propaganda, gendered and racist violence, non-violent social action, peace-building in post-conflict situations.

The unit develops an understanding of the complexity of juvenile crime in Australian society by addressing the historical, political, cultural and socio-economic factors associated with youth crime, constructions of youth, and, governmental strategies for regulating and preventing juvenile crime. An inter-disciplinary framework is used to develop a critical appreciation of the impacts of the regulation of particular youth subjectivities that contribute to their over-representation in the juvenile justice system, with a particular focus on Aboriginal youth. The unit promotes an awareness of a broad range of youth-positive interventions for working with young people within/at risk of entering the juvenile justice system.

This unit provides a philosophical, historical and sociological exploration of practices and theories of punishment. It begins by introducing students to the deep-seated cultural impulse to inflict punishment and to philosophical debates about the goals of and practices of punishment. It examines the shift from bodily punishments to the rise of prisons that took as their object the ‘soul’ of the offender. It then explores the nature and impact of punishment as it relates to particular marginalised groups. Finally the unit explores contemporary shifts to develop alternative restorative and therapeutic justice.

This unit considers the significance of anxiety, ‘fear of crime’, risk and insecurity in the late modern world. It uses sophisticated analytical tools to discuss both the supposed growth in ‘fear of crime’ and the emergence of an array of technologies aimed at the reduction of crime risks. It also critically examines just what ‘fear of crime’ might actually be and how newspapers, security products, and insurance can be sold to us using the hook of our own anxieties. It also examines the anxieties related to terrorism and threats to national security and sovereignty.

This unit explores strategies and skills used by criminal justice professionals working in justice, community and legal fields to effectively work with offenders and manage rehabilitation programs within the criminal justice system and community settings. Content in this unit addresses ethical work practices across a wide range of settings including: case management, community development, social policy, managing programs and people, and, individual and systemic advocacy. Students are encouraged to seek to develop inter-disciplinary competencies that are linked to working in both community and government settings as well as involving work with victims, offenders and communities.

The needs of victims of crime have been largely ignored by practitioners in the criminal justice system. It was not until the 1970s that victims of crime attracted any serious public attention. The victims of crime movement has largely been a loose association of groups and individuals with a particular interest in specific areas of crime. Political lobbying by victims’ groups has had a range of influences on government policies in crime prevention and the sentencing and treatment of offenders. Other social movements such as the women’s movement and the gay rights movement have highlighted particular issues for groups affected by particular crimes and have been instrumental in changing legislation and gaining government funding for services for groups of victims of specific crimes.