Course Catalogue

LJMU Partner Taught

1. To understand the fundamental connection between criminological and social policy theoretical approaches and the significance of these to analyses of social (in) justice. 2. To understand welfare and criminal justice institutions in their historical and contemporary contexts. 3. To critically examine the ways in which social policy and policymaking processes inform constructions of 'social problems' and the criminal justice responses to them

Outline Syllabus:Advanced introductory content surrounding social policy, criminology (theoretical and applied), institutions of (in)justice, social harm, power, and social control.

Additional Information:This module provides a conceptual and theoretical framework for the study of criminology and social policy. We will examine the inter-relationship and conflicts between these two disciplines and consider how the study of criminology can be both challenged and enhanced by incorporating a social policy focus. In doing so, the module critically examines how we understand concepts of crime and harm, and considers the benefits of examining the responses to them within a broader framework of social policy. We examine the historical development, and contemporary function, of the core institutions of criminal justice and social policy, and consider how changes in policy in recent decades have led to the criminalisation of social policy. By taking this innovative approach, the module questions conceptions of justice and critically explores processes of social control.