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Explaining Punishment - LAWS8015
Law Books

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200, 9210, 5740 or 9230
 
 
Fee Band: 1 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course provides a theoretical and policy-oriented consideration of how and why we punish criminal offending, particularly through the use of imprisonment. The course has an inter-disciplinary approach to penology which draws on law, history, sociology, and criminology.


LLM Specialisation

Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None.

Course Objectives

  • To explore punishment and penalty in modern society
  • To provide an understanding of the relationship between race, gender and class and the administration of the punishment
  • To consider the relationship between punishment and social structure, and the significance of punishment for socio-political order
  • To consider the relationship between sentencing and punishment
  • To explore various theoretical contributions to the concept of punishment
  • To analyse contemporary issues in punishment and the related public policy dilemmas
  • To encourage students to develop their skills in inter-disciplinary research

Main Topics

  • Contemporary law and public policy issues, including juvenile detention, women in prison, the imprisonment of ethnic and racial minorities, inequality and imprisonment, privatisation, the use of torture, deaths in custody, the death penalty, and the impact of law and order policies on punishment
  • Consideration of various theoretical contributions to our understanding of punishment including the work of Durkheim, Foucault, Weber, Marxist approaches, and contemporary writers like David Garland and John Pratt

Assessment

Class participation Preparation and engagement in class 20%
Research essay 6,000 - 7,000 words 80%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed
Garland, D. (1990) Punishment and Modern Society, Oxford University Press

Recommended
None

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer at the beginning of session.

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.