Unit Outline

This is a foundational unit in Criminology. You will focus on criminological approaches to understanding crime and criminalisation. The unit will introduce various categories of crime (e.g. property crime and violent crime) and debates about what counts as crime and harm (e.g. crimes of the powerful versus the less powerful). You will engage not only with research that highlights patterns of crime but also with important critiques about the measurement of crime. The unit invites you to consider the relationships between specific social groups (e.g. young people, women, Indigenous people) and the criminal justice system.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Apply criminological terms and concepts in the study of crime and criminal justice.
2.	Explain specific crimes and crime categories, with awareness of relevant measurement issues.
3.	Analyse the power relations and inequalities associated with criminalisation processes.
4.	Communicate your ideas clearly in verbal and written forms.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

In response to feedback from 2023, we have:

extended tutorials to 2-hours to allow more time for activities, discussions, and further opportunities for feedback

included some further time to develop skills related to specific assessment tasks

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Essay plan & Annotated bibliography	Week 6	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Essay	Week 9	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Short written assignment	Week 13	25 %	LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Fortnightly online quiz (15%) and in-class or online participation (10%)	Refer to Assessment Description	25 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Essay plan & Annotated bibliography

Task Description:

You will complete an annotated bibliography and plan for your essay (AT2). You will be required to locate and summarise references on a specific crime type from various academic and professional sources. You should present your reference list in Harvard style.

Task Length:

1000 words

Due Date:

Week 6 (08/Apr/2024)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply criminological terms and concepts correctly throughout annotation.	LO1
2	Select references that are appropriate to the topic, and demonstrate awareness of the strengths and limitations of those sources.	LO2
3	Critically reflect on the value of the sources to the topic and how these will be used in essay.	LO4
4	Use appropriate academic referencing and high quality references.	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Essay

Task Description:

Essay on crime (using relevant references from a range of sources, see AT2).

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 9 (01/May/2024)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Define and apply key criminological terms and concepts in the study of crime and criminal justice	LO1
2	Explain specific crime and crime categories relevant to essay topic and showed awareness of relevant measurement issues.	LO2
3	Critically examine the criminalisation of particular social groups, and the limits and possibilities of its various responses to crime.	LO3
4	Justify your own position on key debates in the study of crime and criminal justice, with reference to relevant sources that are appropriately resourced.	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Short written assignment

Task Description:

You will produce a blog post or poster presentation based on content covered from Weeks 6-12.

Task Length:

1000 words

Due Date:

Week 13 (31/May/2024)

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Explain your chosen crime type and identify issues with measuring it.	LO2
2	Create visually engaging content that clearly communicates ideas in a written format.	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Fortnightly online quiz (15%) and in-class or online participation (10%)

Task Description:

You will be required to complete fortnightly online quizzes starting from Week 3. Each quiz will contain questions related to the content of the previous two weeks, including lectures, required readings, and online content
Participation.
On-campus students will participate in weekly on campus tutorials. Online students will participate in weekly zoom tutorials OR weekly asynchronous activities in the online discussion forum. Participation in tutorials and online discussion threads will be assessed on the extent and quality of engagement with unit material.

Task Length:

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

25 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply criminological terms and concepts correctly.	LO1
2	Define specific crimes and crime types with an awareness of issues related to measure of these crimes.	LO2
3	Distinguish how individuals and social groups are criminalised and examination of how this affects offending behaviours .	LO3
4	Communicate ideas related to criminological study succinctly and convincingly, and persuasively justify positions while also demonstrating active listening.	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.