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Offer semester
Lecture time
Lecture venue
Credits awarded

1st semester

Tuesday

19:00-21:50

CPD-LG.59

6

  • Exploring what is crime, why people commit crime, why some do not, what we could and should do in managing crime and criminals. We will begin with an appreciation of the classicist approaches to thinking about crime, deviance, disorder, and punishment by sociologists and criminologists from the nineteenth centuries, though, many of these works has been criticized and subsequently modified, these early thoughts provide very useful road maps into contemporary debates about crime, disorder, social problems and vulnerable populations, and what could be and should be done about them. We will then look at more recent accounts of crime that came into prominence in the twenty-first century in the USA, UK, and Asia, and assess the limits and possibilities of criminological theorizing in the current global and local contexts. Many of these numerous and diverse approaches to crime and offender management can be seen as a response to earlier theories – challenging them, debating them, extending them, or even a resurrection of part of them. Finally, the course will encourage students to see the relevance of criminological perspectives to their research and enhance their preparation for their dissertations.

    • An ability to understand main criminological concepts and debates about crime and social problems and associated key works.

    • An ability to critically assess the diverse and competing assumptions and rationales in the study of crime and social problems.

    • An ability to identify key theoretical debates and implications surrounding the application of ideas about crime and criminality to contemporary crime control policies in the local and global context.

    • An ability to develop a reasoned argument and to present ideas in a clear and concise manner in oral presentation and in written work.


  • Tasks

    Weighting

    Individual portfolio of 2000 words

    20%

    In-class Seminar Contest

    10%

    Group presentation

    20%

    Participation

    10%

    Examination (3-hr written)

    40%


    • Adler, F. and Laufer, W. (Eds.) (2023). New Directions in Criminological Theory. New York: Routledge. (online access - full text downloadable)

    • Liebling, A.; Maruna, S. and McAra, L. (Eds.) (2023). The Oxford handbook of criminology (7thedition) comprises a collection of excellent summaries of research and has useful chapters across the spectrum from theory through to practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.(online access)

    • McLaughlin, E. and Muncie, J. (Eds.) (2019). The SAGE Dictionary of Criminology (4thedition). London: SAGE Publications.

    • Posick, C. and Rocque, M. (2019). Great Debates in Criminology. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. (online access)

    • Snipes, J., Bernard; T., and Trinkner, R. (2024). Vold’s Theoretical Criminology (9th edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

    • Lilly, R.; Cullen, F. and Ball, R. (2025). Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences (8th edition). Thousand Oaks, Cal.: SAGE Publications, Inc.

    • McLaughlin, E. and Newburn, T. (Eds.) (2010). The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory. London: SAGE Publications.

    • McLaughlin, E. et al. (Eds.) (2013). Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings (3rd edition). London: SAGE Publications.

    • Newburn, T. (2017). Criminology (3rd edition). New York: Routledge.

    • Siegel, Larry (2018). Criminology: Theories, Patterns, and Typologies (13th edition). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Offer Semester
Lecture Day
Lecture Time
Venue
Credits awarded
1st semester
Tuesday
19:00-21:50
CPD-LG.59
6

Adjunct Associate Professor

Dr Kalwan M T Kwan
Course co-ordinator and teachers
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