Crime and justice
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| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | 1 Interactive computer-marked assignment (iCMA) |
| Examination | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown.
Summary
Crime, disorder, and justice are increasingly pressing concerns across the world. Fear of crime and proliferating global threats contribute to an increasing sense of insecurity. Local concerns – for example street crime – are now accompanied by twenty-first century global concerns about human trafficking, cyber-crime, terrorism and human rights violations to name but a few. These ‘threats’ have implications for justice, as the boundaries between crime control and civil liberties are being increasingly redrawn. You’ll explore crime and justice in both global and local contexts, and in particular the way that crime and justice are being continually redefined by global economic, social and political change.
Course content
Crime and how to respond to it are major concerns and this course offers critical questions to help you to better understand complex local and global trends in crime and crime control. It asks you to question why particular behaviours are criminalised at certain points in time and in certain places but not in others and why some harmful acts are not defined as crimes at all.
Crime and justice is designed to enable you to gain an understanding of the contemporary nature of crime and criminal justice ‘beyond borders’. You will learn how to recognise the different ways in which crime is constructed, conceived and controlled. You will discover how criminologists have explained and rationalised these issues and explore how ideas and theories have been constructed to underpin these explanations. The course structures your understanding of crime and justice through a sustained engagement with relevant and accessible topics brought together under the themes of power, violence and harm.
Key issues for this course are:
- What do we mean by ‘crime’ and ‘criminal justice’?
- In what ways do crime and criminal justice have a global dimension?
- What is the difference between crime and the idea of social harm?
- How is the concept of violence intrinsic to understanding both crime and criminal justice?
- How does power work itself into networks of crime and the practices of criminal justice?
Throughout the course these issues will be explored through a series of topics, ranging from the production and selling of drugs, cities, slums and transgression, cyber-crime, human trafficking, corporate crime, torture and genocide to surveillance and global monitoring, the science of risk prediction, cultures of control, trans-national policing, international criminal courts and universal human rights. Throughout we ask what are the implications of only recognising ‘crime’ through the criminal laws enacted by individual societies? What are the consequences of responding to harms, disputes and conflicts primarily through the agencies of criminal justice? Asking such questions sheds light not only on 'the problem of crime' and 'the effectiveness of criminal justice', but also encourages imaginative thinking of how these issues might be reformulated and readdressed.
Vocational relevance
This course is for anyone who has a serious interest in studying one of society’s most pressing social problems at a local and global level. It is of professional relevance for those who work for, or who wish to work for, the agencies of the criminal justice system, or for organisations concerned with the care and resettlement of offenders, civil liberties, human rights, social justice, victim support, crime prevention, community safety and conflict resolution.
Entry
This is a Level 3 course, for which you are expected to be acquainted with the social sciences or with humanities. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably with the OU. The skills you need include understanding and using abstract ideas, reading and extracting concepts and arguments, developing your own arguments, and recognising and assessing different viewpoints. Ideally you should have already taken a Level 2 social science course. Your regional or national centre will be able to tell you where you can see reference copies of course materials, and can advise you about appropriate skills.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
You could ease yourself into studying criminology by taking an active interest in all aspects of media coverage of crime and the criminal justice system.
Qualifications
DD301 is a compulsory course in our
- Diploma in Social Policy and Criminology (D56)
- BA (Honours) Business Studies (B04)
- BA/BSc (Honours) Criminology and Psychological Studies (B48)
- BA/BSc (Honours) Social Policy and Criminology (B57)
It is an optional course in our
- BA (Honours) History (B01)
- BA/BSc (Honours) Social Sciences (B06) (with Social Policy)
- BA/BSc (Honours) Social Sciences (B06)
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is equally appropriate to a BA or BSc. 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.
Excluded combinations
Sometimes you will not be able to count a course towards a qualification if you have already taken another course with similar content. To check any excluded combinations relating to this course, visit our excluded combination finder or check with our Student Registration & Enquiry Service before registering.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Large print versions of the course materials can be provided on request. Other alternative formats of the course materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
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 books, other printed materials, DVD, course website.
You will need
DVD player.
Computing requirements
This course includes 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 material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course.
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.
One of the TMAs is called the ‘independent essay’, and is an opportunity for you to conduct your own small-scale research on a topic of interest to you in the course, supported by your tutor. Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all. But if you unavoidably miss or do badly in an assignment, some courses allow you a ‘substitution score’. In DD301 this rule can apply to one assignment only. You will be given more detailed information when you begin the course.
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 October 2009. We expect it to be available once each year.
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
An undergraduate course in Social Sciences.
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