Penology

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Demonstrate an ability to utilize ideas and research from social sciences and to understand the value of interdisciplinary approaches.
• 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.
• 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.
• Demonstrate an ability to work both independently and constructively with others.
• The contested, multi-faceted purposes and contemporary use of the correctional services, in theory and practice, in England and Wales.
• Demonstrate an ability to think critically and independently and to problem-solve.
• 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 written and verbal skills of comprehension, analysis, evaluation, comparison, interpretation, presentation, and debate.
• Demonstrate organizational and time management skills.

Penology is organized around three substantive themes: Punishment in practice and theory; Experiences of imprisonment; and After imprisonment.

We begin by reviewing the contemporary practices of imprisonment and probation (supervision in the community) in England and Wales. 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 second theme focuses upon the sociology of imprisonment and how the prison experience differs for 'vulnerable' populations. Our final theme is the the theory and practice of release and resettlement.

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

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External