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Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded

2nd semester

Friday

19:00-21:50

CPD-LG.59

6

  • Criminal justice are the moral and social philosophies of crime and justice that societies use to create formal mechanisms for enforcing laws, adjudicating criminal offences, and delivering prescribed outcomes for criminal conduct. In other words, a criminal justice system is the process by which justice is delivered to those who a society deems as “criminals”—and this process comes about through the moral and social politics of a society as it determines how to maintain a just state. The course will differentiate between Western and Chinese understandings and philosophies of justice, using Hong Kong’s colonial era and the resumption of Chinese sovereignty of the city as a space for dialogue between these worldviews and the lived realities they produce.

     

    This course will provide a critical overview of what criminal justice is to the West and the Chinese, the politics surrounding these differentiated criminal justice systems, and the actors and means by which these systems deliver justice. The course will cover topics and areas where criminal justice systems in the West struggle to deliver justice because much of criminological literature, being relatively Western-centric, focuses on these topics; but it will also provide insight into the Chinese perspective on these topics.

    1. Develop Personal Positions on Criminal Justice Topics: Argue their positions pertaining to criminal justice policies and processes with sensitivity to theoretical debates around those positions..

    2. Understand and Critically Assess Criminal Justice Policies: Examine recent developments in criminal justice and assess them against other rationales for crime control and criminal justice policies.

    3. Be Versed in Major Criminal Justice Debates and Topics: Demonstrate a clear understanding of major issues in criminal justice systems around the world, especially Hong Kong and mainland China.


  • Tasks

    Weighting

    Individual Topical Essay

    30%

    Group Presentation on Local Topics

    30%

    Examination

    40%


    1. Farmer, L. (2018). Civility, obligation and criminal law. In D. Matthews & S. Veitch (Eds.), Law, Obligation, Community. (Ch. 10). Routledge.

    2. Wozniak, K. H. (2016). Public opinion and the politics of criminal justice policy making: Reasons for optimism, pessimism, and uncertainty. Criminology & Public Policy, 15, 179.

    3. Ericson, R. V., & Haggerty, K. D. (1997). Chapter 1: Introduction. Policing the Risk Society. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    4. Rakoff, J. S. (2017). Why prosecutors rule the criminal justice system—And what can be done about it. Northwestern University Law Review, 111(6), 1429–1436.

    5. Aharoni, E., Kleider-Offutt, H. M., Brosnan, S. F., & Hoffman, M. B. (2022). Nudges for Judges: An Experiment on the Effect of Making Sentencing Costs Explicit. Frontiers in Psychology, 13

    6. Lu, H., & Zhang, L. (2005). Death penalty in China: The law and the practice. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33(4), 367-376.

    7. Alden, E. (2017). Is border enforcement effective? What we know and what it means. Journal of Migration and Human Security, 5(2), 481–490.

    8. Peng, Y. & Cheng, J. (2022). Ethnic disparity in Chinese theft sentencing: A modified focal concerns perspective. China Review, 22(3), 47–71.

    9. Gelles, R. J. (1977). Power, sex, and violence: The case of marital rape. Family Coordinator, 339-347.

    10. Holzer, K. J., AbiNader, M. A. , Vaughn, M. G., Salas-Wright, C. P., & Oh, S. (2022). Crime and violence in older adults: Findings from the 2002 to 2017 national survey on drug use and health. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 764–781.

    11. Carver, L., Morley, S., & Taylor, P. (2017). Voices of deficit: mental health, criminal victimization, and epistemic injustice. Illness, Crisis, and Loss, 25(1), 43–62.

    12. Scott, D. (2014). Beyond criminal justice. In J. M. Moore, B. Rolston, D. Scott & M. Tomlinson. Beyond Criminal Justice: An Anthology of Abolitionist Papers. (1–12). European Press Group.

    1. Confucius.      (2016). The Analects (1st ed.). Open Road Media.

    2. Cohen, S.      (2011). Folk Devils and Moral Panics: the Creation of the Mods and      Rockers (3rd ed.). Routledge.

    3. Beck, U.      (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage.

    4. Merton, R. K.      (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure (1968 enl.      ed.). Free Press.

    5. Braithwaite, J.      (2004). Restorative Justice and De-Professionalization. The Good      Society, 13(1), 28–31.’

    6. Foucault, M.      (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.      Vintage Books.

    7. Shaw, C. R.,      & McKay, H. D. (1969). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas :      a study of rates of delinquency in relation to differential      characteristics of local communities in American cities (Rev.      ed.). University of Chicago Press.

    8. Du Bois, W. E.      B. (2007). The Philadelphia Negro : A Social Study. Oxford      University Press.

    9. Broidy, L.,      & Agnew, R. (1997). Gender and crime: a General Strain Theory      perspective. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency,      34(3), 275–306.

    10. Cohen, L. E.,      & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: a routine      activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44(4),      588–608.

    11. Eysenck, H. J.      & Eysenck, M. W. (1985). Personality and individual      differences: a natural science approach. Plenum Press.

    12. Karstedt, S. (2002). Emotions and criminal justice. Theoretical Criminology, 6(3), 299–317.

Offer Semester
Lecture Day
Lecture Time
Venue
Credits awarded
2nd semester
Friday
19:00-21:50
CPD-LG.59
6
Course co-ordinator and teachers
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