CODE | CRM5005 | ||||||||||||
TITLE | Probation and Other Forms of Community Based Alternatives | ||||||||||||
UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||
DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||||||
DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is to provide students with a legal understanding of the probation services, with special emphasis on the local experience. Thus the Maltese Probation Act and the suspended sentence will be discussed in detail – as will their ramifications. During this unit, students will learn how to compile the various reports required in probation. They will have the opportunity to read and write reports. Consequently students will acquire the necessary skills to write pre-sentencing reports for the Maltese Courts. This will include in-depth instruction of how the probation officer gathers information, assesses its reliability and validates it. Furthermore, this unit will make students aware of all the forms of alternatives to imprisonment that could be useful in controlling/rehabilitating offenders. Thus, students will also discuss alternatives to imprisonment that are not yet available locally and the possibility of their implementation in Malta. Learning Outcomes: By the end of this study-unit students will: 1. Have a legal understanding of the probation service in Malta; 2. Learn how to write probation reports; 3. Learn how to collect, analyse and present information on offenders in court; 4. Know the mechanisms involved in monitoring and supervising offenders in the community; 5. Be able to critically discuss the implementation of alternatives to imprisonment. Reading List: - Clear, TR, Clear VB and Burrell, WD (1998) Offender Assessment and Evaluation: the Pre-Sentence Investigation. Anderson Publishing Co. USA. - Gelsthorpe, L. and Morgan, R. (2007) Handbook of Probation. USA: Willan Publishing. - McCarthy, B.R. and McCarthy B.J. (1997) Community Based Corrections. Wadsworth Publishing Company. - Maier, K., Ricciardelli, R.and McNeill, F. (Ed.) (2023). Punishment, Probation and Parole: Mapping Out ‘Mass Supervision’ In International Contexts, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds. - Morgan, K., (2022). Probation, parole and community corrections work in theory and practice: Preparing students for carreers in probation and parole agencies. (2nd Ed.). North CarolinaL Carolina Academic Press. - Petersilia, J. (1998) Community Corrections: Probation, Parole and Community Corrections. Oxford University Press: Oxford. - Probation Act, Chapter 446 of the Laws of Malta. - Stevens, DJ (2006). Community Corrections: An applied approach. USA: Prentice Hall. - Suspended Sentence (found in the Criminal Code Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta section 28). |
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STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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LECTURER/S | Janice Formosa Pace Sandra Scicluna (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. |