Penology

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Demonstrate organizational and time management skills.
• Demonstrate written and verbal skills of comprehension, analysis, evaluation, comparison, interpretation, presentation, and debate.
• Demonstrate research skills, including the ability to identify and gather appropriate library and web-based resources, to analyze them, and to use them to construct a coherent and logical argument.
• The contested, multi-faceted purposes of the penal system, in theory and practice, in England and Wales.
• The wider, Western context of punishment including the use of the death penalty in the United States and the alternative theory and practice of punishment offered by restorative justice.
• The realities of prison life for different categories of offenders and the challenges of successful resettlement in the community after a term of imprisonment.
• Demonstrate an ability to work both independently and constructively with others.
• Demonstrate an ability to think critically and independently and to problem-solve.
• Demonstrate an ability to utilize ideas and research from social sciences and to understand the value of interdisciplinary approaches.

Penology focuses on punishment in practice and theory with an emphasis on England and Wales although international comparisons are made across several jurisdictions such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

We begin by reviewing the contemporary practices of imprisonment and probation (penal supervision in the community) in England and Wales. We consider key contemporary issues including the prospects and challenges of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems deployed by prison and probation services internationally. We then compare the seemingly straightforward criminal justice purposes of punishment, with more controversial, sociological theoretical perspectives, and situate the expansion in the use of imprisonment within its international context. Relatedly, we consider two alternative approaches to punishment: capital punishment and restorative justice. The module then reviews the sociology of punishment, with a focus on how the experience of punishment differs for 'vulnerable' populations. We also explore the theory and practice of resettlement after punishment.

Teaching and learning methods

The module is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars delivered and facilitated by academic staff, with learning consolidated by students' private study.

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Jewkes, Y., Bennett, J. and Crewe, B. (Eds) (2016) Handbook on Prisons, 2nd edition. Abingdon: Routledge..

Textbooks

Cavadino, M., Dignan, J. and Mair, G. (2013). The Penal System: An Introduction. London: Sage.

Hudson, B. (2003). Understanding Justice: An Introduction to Ideas, Perspectives and Controversies in Modern Penal Theory. Buckingham: Oxford University Press.

Easton, S. and Piper, C. (2013). Sentencing and Punishment: The Quest for Justice. Oxford:: Oxford University Press.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External