| CODE | CRI1002 | ||||||
| TITLE | Sociological, Biological and Psychological Theories of Crime | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | One of the questions Criminologists try to answer is: why do people commit crime? This study-unit underlines the multi-disciplinary nature of this area of study by examining the etiology of crime from the biological, psychological and sociological perspectives. This study-unit thus sheds light on the influencing factors to crime and deviance arising from one's: upbringing, socialization, environment, brain chemicals, hormones, medical problems, contaminants in the environment, nutrition, psychological make-up and development (or lack of it). Hence, it exposes students to various biological, psychological and sociological theories of crime and deviance with emphasis on their relevance to the area of policing Study-unit Aims: - To enable students to explain the major causes of crime, supported by main sociological, biological and psychological theories; - To make students aware of the relevance of main sociological, biological and psychological theories of crime to policing. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a sociological perspective; - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a biological perspective; - Explain why a person might engage in crime, from a psychological perspective; - Apply the knowledge acquired (on sociological, biological and psychological processes) to explain how one's socialization and biological and psychological make-up influence offenders and their behaviours in the examination, analysis, and interpretation of crime and deviance. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply sociological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point; - Apply biological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point; - Apply psychological theories to particular situations in a police officer's life, while arguing and sustaining a point. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Barkan, S. E. (2001). Criminology: A sociological understanding. Prentice-Hall. - Downes, D. M., Rock, P. E., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: A guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press. - Hagan, F.E and Daigle, L.E. (2023). Introduction to Criminology Theories, Methods, and Criminal Behavior (11th ed). Sage Publications Inc. - Jones, S. (2021). Criminology (7th ed). Oxford University Press. - Liebling, A., Maruna, S. & McAra, L. (Eds.) (2023). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. (7th ed.) Oxford University Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Chantal Avellino Mary Grace Vella (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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