Community safety, crime prevention and social control
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| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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Summary
Crime prevention and reduction, community safety and security – alongside the challenge of ‘community governance’– are at the heart of many of the most significant and controversial questions about crime control, social control and social policy. This course introduces you to new thinking and practice on prevention, safety and risk management. You’ll study the perceived failures and limitations of traditional approaches to crime prevention, and then investigate contemporary contexts of crime reduction and community safety – exploring the rise of the ‘what works’ approach in the UK and abroad.
Course content
Crime prevention and community safety, both as fields of academic study and as areas of policy and practice, have been transformed by political and intellectual developments over the last two decades. New directions are being set and new questions are being asked. These transformations are related both to the perceived failures and limitations of previous strategies and techniques of prevention and safety, and to the new possibilities being constructed out of wider cultural, social, political and economic changes. This course for the postgraduate studies in social sciences programme introduces this emerging new field of study and practice. Moving beyond the traditional boundaries of both criminology and social policy, it offers an original and challenging reframing of the fields of crime prevention and community safety, based on a synthesis of new thinking in social theory and research. It takes a guided study approach; you will be reading material from a variety of leading authors in the fields, with the aid of a specially prepared study guide.
The course begins by examining the contested and turbulent history of crime prevention and community safety policies in the modern era, focusing on the competing discourses of crime prevention that have been most influential in both academic and policy circles. It then looks at the contemporary context and practice of crime reduction and community safety, exploring the rise to prominence of community safety partnerships to facilitate the local delivery of crime reduction and the promotion of security. Finally, the course explores the possible future developments in new thinking and practice to do with prevention, safety and risk management.
The course should enable you to:
- acquire a sound grasp of the key concepts and research findings that help us to analyse the new directions in, and possible futures of, social control
- understand the main trends in crime prevention and community safety in the UK at the beginning of the new millennium
- examine how developments in crime reduction and community safety in the UK compare and contrast with trends in other societies
- interrogate the relationship between the work of academic researchers and scholars and practitioners, policy makers and politicians in this field.
The course is based on a reader, Crime Prevention and Community Safety: New Directions (Sage/The Open University, 2002). This is an edited collection of specially commissioned articles by leading international criminologists, social policy analysts and social theorists.
Vocational relevance
This course is especially relevant to criminal justice and community justice professionals, such as community safety managers and officers, youth justice workers, police officers, probation officers, magistrates and prison officers. It is also very relevant to welfare professionals in the statutory, non-statutory and private sectors. It will help you to reflect constructively on your own experiences and perceptions as a practitioner and policy maker, and to explore the relationship between social theories, academic research and policy and practice.
Entry
You must hold a UK honours degree (or equivalent), ideally though not necessarily in the subject that you wish to pursue.
It is expected that you will commence your studies with the preferred postgraduate foundation course for the qualification you are studying towards, either Investigating the psychological world (D821) or Investigating the social world (D822) (please refer to the relevant qualification description).
We also strongly recommend that you take Rethinking social policy (D860) before undertaking D863 if you are studying towards the MA in Social Policy and Criminology. A complementary course to D863 is Youth justice, penality and social control (D864).
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, or whether your subject knowledge and study skills are adequate for study at this level, please contact the Postgraduate Studies in Social Sciences Learner Support Team at the OU in Yorkshire (telephone 0113 234 1225, or email).
Preparatory work
If you have not studied criminology at undergraduate level it is advisable that you do some preparatory reading. The following introductory texts will give you a useful grounding in some of the core debates.
G. Hughes, (1998) Understanding Crime Prevention: Social Control, Risk and Late Modernity. Buckingham, Open University Press.
A. Crawford, (1998) Crime Prevention and Community Safety, London, Longman.
If you need any assistance in understanding some of the concepts used, the following might be helpful:
E. McLaughlin, J. Muncie, (eds) (2001) The Sage Dictionary of Criminology, London, Sage.
Qualifications
D863 is a compulsory course in our
D863 is an optional course in our
- Postgraduate Certificate in Social Sciences (C24)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Social Policy and Criminology (E48)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Social Research Methods (E12)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Social Sciences (D41)
- Master of Public Administration (F44)
- MA in Social Policy and Criminology (F18)
- MA in Social Sciences (F09)
- MSc in Social Research Methods (F24)
- MSc in Forensic Psychology and Criminology (F49)
D863 together with either the foundation course Investigating the psychological world (D821) or Investigating the social world (D822) (or the discontinued course D820) will qualify you for a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Sciences and with an additional 60 points of specified courses for a Postgraduate Diploma.
Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course reader, other printed materials.
Computing requirements
This course has online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course materials and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. Your tutor may not be local, so contact will be by correspondence, email or telephone. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in November 2009. We expect it to be available once more, in November 2010.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
A postgraduate course in Social Sciences.
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