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Course

Explaining Punishment - JURD7615

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 2

Enrolment Requirements:

Pre-requisite: 36 UOC of JURD courses for students enrolled prior to 2013. For students enrolled after 2013, pre-requisite: 72 UOC of JURD courses.

Excluded: LAWS8015

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

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. It is relevant for students with an interest in criminal law and combines theory with practical application. It has a stronger theoretical focus than the related (and cross-excluded) course JURD7405 Penology.

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


Course Objectives

The course aims to examine punishment and penalty in modern society, with reference to key theoretical frameworks. It will consider the relationship between sentencing and punishment. The course also aims to provide an understanding of the significance of punishment for socio-political order and of the impact of punishment on different social groups and to analyse contemporary issues in punishment and the related public policy dilemmas. Students will be encouraged to develop their skills in inter-disciplinary research.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
  1. Critically examine the use of punishment in modern society
  2. Analyse the relationship between race, gender and class and the administration of the punishment
  3. Examine the relationship between punishment and social structure, and the significance of punishment for socio-political order
  4. Analyse the relationship between sentencing and punishment
  5. Employ various theoretical approaches in examining the concept of punishment
  6. Analyse contemporary issues in punishment and the related public policy dilemmas
  7. Undertake research drawing on inter-disciplinary sources
  8. Demonstrate effective written communication

Assessment

Class Participation 10%
Seminar presentation and Essay synopsis 30%
Research Essay (6000 words) 60%

Law Books

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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