Kriminologiska perspektiv och metoder

Course Code: KA611E

Institution:

Criminology

Revision:

1

For students admitted fall 2012  

Approval

The course was established 01 October 2009.
This course syllabus (version 1) was approved 20 December 2011 by the Faculty Board of Health and Society.
The syllabus is valid from 03 September 2012.

Education level

Second cycle

Course description

The aim of the course is to provide an advanced study of criminological perspectives. More specifically the course aims to illustrate how and in what ways individual characteristics and environmental factors interact in an individual’s decisions to commit and react to crime.An additional aim is for the students to develop a knowledge of data collection and analysis methods that may be used for studying the significance of the effects of interactions between individual and environmental factors for criminality, victimology, and ill-health.

Advancement in relation to the degree requirements

The course is given as the first semester of the Masters Program in Criminology and consists of three modules. It is a course within the main field of study that may be counted towards the Masters Degree in Criminology. Is also given as an independent course.

Entry requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree with a major in social science or medicine that is of relevance to the aims and content of the course.
2. English B

Learning outcomes

The course is divided into three modules:

1.Individual characteristics, environment and crime, 7.5 credits
After completing this module of the course, the student will be able to:
- identify criminological theories that focus on the interaction between individual characteristics, environment and crime,
- analyse those theoretical perspectives that illuminate the interaction between individuals’ propensity for crime and their social environment, and
- argue for the advantages and disadvantages of the various theoretical perspectives discussed in the course.

2. Advanced research methods, 7.5 credits
After completing this module of the course, the student will be able to:
- critically assess different designs and data collection methods that are used to study individual and environmental factors, both in isolation and in interaction,
- construct instruments for the measurement of relevant individual and environmental factors,
- motivate how the use of a multi-level perspective may contribute to research on e.g. health and ill-health, antisocial behaviour and crime, and
- plan a study of relevance for the contents of the course.

3. Victimology, 15 credits
After completing this module of the course, the student will be able to:
- apply concepts and explanatory models of relevance to victimisation and fear of crime,
- analyse the various central areas of the field of victimology,
- identify central issues and questions within the field of criminology,
- explain methods employed in the study of criminal victimisation,
- discuss the situation of highly vulnerable groups,
- analyse typical reactions to exposure to crime and variations in such reactions (individual vulnerability), and
- explain the role of the justice system and other forms of support with regard to contacts with crime victims.

Assessments

The course content is graded as follows:

A - Excellent
B - Very Good
C - Good
D - Satisfactory
E - Pass
U - Fail

1.Individual characteristics, environment and crime, 7.5 credits
The assessment of the students’ performance will be made on the basis of their participation at lectures, group discussions, written exams and the obligatory oral presentation of an individual study task. Attendance at seminars is obligatory. Absence on a small number of occasions may be compensated for following agreement with the examiner. In order to measure the extent to which the learning outcomes have been achieved, an assessment will be made of the following examination tasks:

a) a written home-examination with questions relating to this modules learning outcomes or some of the theoretical perspectives dealt with in this module.
b) an oral presentation of an independent study task that deals with one or more of the theoretical perspectives dealt with in this module.

2. Advanced research methods, 7.5 credits
The assessment of the students’ performance will be made on the basis of their participation in seminars and lectures, their attendance at oral presentations of project work and an individual paper. Absence on a small number of occasions may be compensated for following agreement with the examiner.

For a Pass grade (E), the student must fulfil the stated learning outcomes by means of participation in seminars and lectures, attendance at oral presentations of group assignments and an individual paper. To achieve the grade Excellent (A), the examination assignments must also show originality and meta-theoretical understanding.

3. Victimology, 15 credits
For a Pass grade (E), the student must independently organise a workshop and present a poster on a theme chosen by the examiner. Following each workshop, an independently written reflection must be written and compiled in a portfolio. For an Excellent grade (A) the examination assignments must also show originality and meta-theoretical understanding.

Examination Re-sits
A student who fails to achieve a pass grade in the course examinations will be given the opportunity to be re-examined twice on the same module content and with the same requirements. In addition, students also have the right to be examined on the same modulethe next time the course is given, with the same rule applying. If the course has been discontinued or undergone major changes, the student has a right to re-examination on two occasions within one year, based on the syllabus that was in place at the time the student registered for the course. Examination and re-examination take place at the times specified in the module guide.

1. Individual characteristics, environment and crime, 7.5 credits
This module begins with a review of relevant criminological theories which illuminate the correlations between individual differences, social environment and crime. Further, relevant criminological theories which illuminate the interaction between individual differences and the social environment in the explanation of crime will be presented. Finally, this first module highlights discussions of how theoretical perspectives of this kind may be applied to crime prevention work.

2. Advanced research methods, 7.5 credits
Criminological research fields and methods for studying these will be presented in this module. This module further presents a range of research designs and data collection instruments that are used to study individual and environmental factors, both in isolation and in interaction. Instruments for measuring relevant individual and environmental factors and methods for studying interactions between the two are discussed.

3. Victimology, 15 credits
In this module of the course students are introduced to the field of victimological study in terms of central concepts and definitions, theoretical models for explaining criminal victimisation and methods for studying victimisation. More specifically, this third module provides an overview of different groups of crime victims and of their typical characteristics. Additionally this module provides an overview of the treatment of the crime victims in the Swedish justice system and presents the various forms of support available to crime victims in the form of victim support centres and women’s shelters.

Learning activities

The teaching takes the form of lectures, seminars and group discussions and assignments such as organising workshops and creating posters and producing papers. Attendance at seminars is obligatory.

Grading system

A,B,C,D,E,U.

Reading list and other media

1. Individual characteristics, environment and crime

Bursik, R (1988) Social disorganization and theories of crime and delinquency: Problems and prospects. Criminology. 26: 519-552. 33 pages.



Cohen, L E & Felson, M (1979). Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach. American Sociological Review. 44:588-608. 20 pages.



Geis, G (2000). On the absence of self-control as the basis for a general theory of crime: A critique. Theoretical Criminology. 4: 35-53. 18 pages.



Gottfredson, M R & Hirschi, T (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 80 pages.



Hirschi, T (2002) Causes of delinquency. New Brunswick: Transaction publishers. Introduction and Chapter 1 and 2. 45 pages.



Hirschi, T & Gottfredson, M R (2000) In defence of self-control. Theoretical Criminology. 4: 55-69. 14 pages.



Lynham, D. R. & Miller, J. D. (2004). Personality pathways to impulsive behavior and their relations to deviance: Results from three samples. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 20: 319-341. 22 pages.



Sampson, R J (2006). How does community context matter? Social mechanisms and the explanation of crime rates. In: Wikström, P-O & Sampson, R J (Eds.) The Explanation of Crime: Context, Mechanisms and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, s 31-60. 29 pages.



Shiner, R. & Caspi, A. (2003). Personality differences in childhood and adolescence: Measurement, development, and consequences. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44: 2-32. 30 pages.



Wikström, P-O (2006) Individuals, Settings and Acts of Crime. Situational Mechanisms and the Explanation of Crime. In: Wikström, P-O & Sampson, R J (Eds.) The Explanation of Crime: Context, Mechanisms and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, s 61-107. 25 pages.



Wikström, P-O H. (2010). Explaining crime as moral actions. In Hitlin, S. & Vaysey, S. (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of morality. Springer Verlag. 44 pages.



Wikström, P-O & Sampson, R J (2003) Social Mechanisms of Community Influences on Crime and Pathways in Criminality. In: B B Lahey, T E Moffitt & Caspi, A (Eds) The Causes of Conduct Disorder and Serious Juvenile Delinquency. New York: Guilford Press, s 118-148. 30 pages.



Wilson, J., Q., & Kelling, G. (1982). Broken Windows: The Police and Neighbourhood Safety. Atlantic Monthly. 249 (3): 29-38. 9 pages.



Additional articles from scientific journals will also be included.

2. Advanced research methods

Janson, C-G (2000) The longitudinal study. In Janson, C-G (Ed), Seven Swedish longitudinal studies in behavioral sciences. Stockholm: FRN, s 29-43. 15 pages.



King, R & Wincup, E (2007) Doing research on crime and justice (2d edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 500 pages.



Nagin, D, Farrington, D & Moffitt, T (1995) Life-course trajectories of different types of offenders. Criminology, 33: 111–139. 27 pages.



Raudenbush, S, Johnson, C & Sampson, R J (2003) A Multivariate, Multilevel Rasch Model with Application to Self-Reported Criminal Behavior. Sociological Methodology, 33: 169-211. 40 pages



Raudenbush, S W & Sampson R J (1999) Ecometrics: toward a science of assessing ecological settings, with application to the systematic social observation of neighborhoods. Sociological methodology, 29:1-41. 40 pages.



Sampson, R J (2008) Moving to Inequality: Neighborhood Effects and Experiments Meet Social Structure. American Journal of Sociology, 114 (1):189–231. 40 pages.



Singer, J D & Willet, J B (2003) Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis. Modeling change and event occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press, s 3-15. 13 pages.



Wikström, P-O H, Ceccato, V, Hardie, B & Treiber, K (2010) Activity Fields and the Dynamics of Crime. Advancing knowledge about the role of the environment in crime causation. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 26(1):55-87. 30 pages.



Additional articles from scientific journals will also be included.

3. Victimology

Ditton, J, Farrall, S, Bannister, J, Gilchrist, E & Pease, K (1999) Reactions to Victimization: Why has Anger been Ignored? Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal, 1/3:37-54. 18 pages.



Farrall, G & Pease, K (2001) Repeat Victimization. Studies in Crime and Crime Prevention. Vol. 12. New York: Criminal Justice Press. 254 pages.



Gabriel, U & Greve, W (2003) The Psychology of Fear of Crime. Conceptual and Methodological Perspectives. British Journal of Criminology, 43:600-614. 14 pages.



Hale, C (1996) Fear of Crime: A Review of the Literature. International Review of Victimology, 4:79-150. 70 pages.



Karmen, A (2009) Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology (7th edition). Florence: Wadsworth Publishing. 400 pages.



Martens, P (2001) Immigrants as victims of crime. International Review of Victimology, 8 (2):199-216. 20 pages.



Smith, W R & Torstensson, M (2001) Perceived Risk and Fear of Crime: Gender Differences in Contextual Sensitivity. International Review of Victimology, 8 (2):159-181. 20 pages.



Additional articles from scientific journals will also be included.

Course evaluation

Module 1 and 2:
The module coordinator/examiner is responsible for ensuring that a summary module evaluation is conducted at the end of each module. The results will be compiled and relayed to the students as soon as possible. Minutes of feedback sessions with students, including proposals for changes to the module, will be documented and made available on the modules website, and will also be relayed to the students who begin the module the next time it is given.

Module 3:
The module coordinator/examiner is responsible for ensuring that two module evaluations will be conducted for the module. A preliminary module evaluation will be conducted upon the completion of half of the module. The results will be compiled and relayed to the students as soon as possible. The results will be presented on the module website and will be relayed to students during lesson time. A summary module evaluation will be conducted in connection with the completion of the module. The module coordinator will relay the results to the students at a prearranged time. Minutes of feedback sessions with students, including proposals for changes to the module, will be documented and made available on the module website, and will also be relayed to the students who begin the module the next time it is given.