SOC30390 Punishment and Social Control

Academic Year 2020/2021

For any society, the question of social control is crucial. How should societies respond to deviance and/or law-breaking? How is order to be maintained and who should have responsibility for this? What processes or institutional forms should it take? What powers and sanctions should be involved? What outcomes should be sought? And also of course, how do these issues relate to wider debates about justice, equality, and inclusion/exclusion?

Over the course of this module, we will address these and related questions by examining, in broad terms, the nature of punishment and social control. We begin by considering how social control has developed historically and comparatively, and highlighting that law is only one of a range of methods of social control. We examine the ways in which a range of social theorists have analysed social control, particularly through the role of punishment. We then consider the development and role of different institutions in modern society, including the penal system and the police. We explore various aspect of these institutions, how they operate, and the impact they have on different sections of society. In addition to examining the current operation of these institutions, we also examine a range of emerging issues in social control and assess their wider implications.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

• demonstrate an awareness of how social control varies across different historical and social contexts
• provide a detailed description and assessment of the main theoretical frameworks that seek to understand social control;
• analyse and assess the development, operation and consequences of different elements of the criminal justice system, including the prison system and policing;
• demonstrate an understanding of the social context of social control, including how it affects different groups in society; and
• demonstrate an understanding of key trends in social control in contemporary society.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

20
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

120
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is based around a set of substantive lectures, presentations and discussion. However, my goal throughout is for the module to be as interactive as possible, with a view to ensuring that students engage as much as possible with the module content, and with the discipline of sociology more generally.

Through specified assignments, the module also involves independent learning. Here is it important to engage critically with the relevant theoretical and research literature on a specific topic - to reflect on it, to understand it, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an argument, and to develop an ability to assess and evaluate evidence. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
SOC30090 - Crime & Society


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Assignment Week 6 n/a Graded No

34
Assignment: Assignment Week 12 n/a Graded No

66

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be provided on assessed coursework as individual comments published in the VLE, in group sessions at lectures/seminars, and/or in person during office hours as appropriate