Criminal Justice Policy
Code: 100445 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2500257 Criminology | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Daniela Gaddi
- Email:
- daniela.gaddi@uab.cat
Teachers
- Joan Baucells Llados
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites to enroll in this course. However, it is recommended students pass "Criminal Law" and "Introduction to Law" with an above average mark.
Seminar 11 will be taught in Catalan and seminar 12 in Spanish.
The course will be given taking into account the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This course aims to develop students’ ability to identify institutional approaches to crime as complex political decisions involving different inputs and interests, which go beyond the effectiveness of crime prevention plicies. Moreover, the course intends to encourage critical thought about the principles, the motivations, the aims, the functions and the ideologies in regard to crime policy options. Finally, at the end of the course students should be able to identify the current trends in crime policy, as defined by relevant literature, and to match them with specific political decisions (on issues such as terrorism, gender violence, drugs, immigration, petty property offences and sexual offences).
Competences
- Ability to analyse and summarise.
- Drawing up an academic text.
- Generating innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
- Reflecting on the foundations of criminology (theoretical, empirical and ethical-political ones) and expressing this in analysis and propositions.
- Students must be capable of autonomously updating their criminological knowledge.
- Students must demonstrate they comprehend the criminological theories.
- Students must demonstrate they know a variety of criminal policies in order to face criminality and its different foundations.
- Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking.
Learning Outcomes
- Ability to analyse and summarise.
- Applying the variety of criminal policies and their foundations in the criminological field.
- Drawing up an academic text.
- Effectively using the theoretical foundations of criminology.
- Generating innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
- Inferring the scientific knowledge of criminology in the applied field.
- Students must show interest for the scientific updates in the criminological field.
- Verbally transmitting ideas to an audience.
- Working autonomously.
- Working in teams and networking.
Content
- Topic 1: Conceptual approach: "Crime policy", "Criminology", "Criminal Law Policy" and "Criminal law"
- Topic 2: The transformation of the State and different models of Crime Policy
- Topic 3: Limits to Crime Policy in a social and democratic State subject to the rule of law
- Topic 4: Characteristics of contemporary Crime Policy: The crisis of penal welfarism
- Topic 5: Trends in contemporary Spanish criminal law
- Topic 6: Criminology and its influence on Crime Policy
- Topic 7: The influence of the media and lobbies on Crime Policy
- Topic 8: The influence of Supranational Organizations on Crime Policy
- Topic 9: Crime Policies at the federal and local levels
- Topic 10: Crime Policy at the judicial and penitentiary level
- Topic 11: Trends in contemporary Crime Policy: the restorative paradigm
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lecture Classes | 19.5 | 0.78 | 2, 6, 7 |
| Workshops | 19.5 | 0.78 | 2, 6, 7, 1, 8, 10 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual work and group work | 106 | 4.24 | 2, 6, 7, 3, 1, 8, 9, 10 |
Introductory session. Part of the first lesson will be devoted to explaining objectives, methodology and evaluation criteria.
Lectures. Lectures will present the theoretical aspects of each topic of the course.
Individual work. Students will be expected to study the assigned readings in order to strengthen and deepen their understanding of the readings. In other words, students should not only study the notes they take during lectures but should also broaden their knowledge of each topic of the course by making use of the provided bibliographic material.
Workshops. The workshops will usually be devoted to working in group on case studies, in order to strengthen theoretical knowledge.
Tutorials. Students will be offered personal tutorials, both to clarify some doubts about specific topics of the course and to discuss their on-going evaluation process.
All the activities described above will be complemented with conferences offered by experts who will provide students with practical examples of some of the topics of the course.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendance and participation (lectures and seminars) | 5% | 0 | 0 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 1, 8, 10 |
| Exam | 30% | 0 | 0 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 3, 1, 8, 9, 10, 4 |
| Final exam (test) | 35% | 5 | 0.2 | 2, 6, 3, 1, 9 |
| Group project | 30% | 0 | 0 | 2, 6, 7, 3, 1, 8, 10 |
Evaluation model. The evaluation model is continuous; therefore, the final mark will be obtained by evaluating the following activities throughout the semester:
a) Two individual assessment activities will check the students’ understanding and knowledge of bibliographic and lectures material of first and second part of the course and will consist in four brief questions to be answered in writing (individual work, 30% of the final mark, 15% each activity).
b) A group work will evaluate the students' ability to apply theoretical concepts to a practical case. In this case, groups will work on the assignment throughout the course, with 4 partial deliveries on set dates. For each delivery, groups will receive feedback. Based on this, they will be able to improve their work and submit it again for grading. At the end of the course, they will submit the complete work (weight on final grade: 30%, 6% for each partial delivery and the final one).
c) A final test will check the students’ understanding and knowledge of all course's contents and will consist of a multiple-choice test (35% of the final mark).
Active participation: Active participation, which demonstrates that students have achieved an above average mastery of the course material and objectives, will be positively evaluated (5% of the final mark).
Scoring criteria. Each activity will be graded on a scale from 0 to 10. In order to pass the course, students will need to obtain an average of 5 or above for any of the evaluated activities. Students who do not obtain the minimum mark will be able to resit for that activity during the reassessment period.
Requirements to be assessed. Students will be assessable as long as they have completed a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the final mark. If the value of the completed activities does not reach this threshold, professors may consider students as not assessable.
Attendance. Attendance to lectures and workshops is compulsory. Therefore, a student who does not attend at least 80% of the classes will not be assessed. Absences will be allowed only in case of medical reasons or exceptional circumstances. An absence note will be required. Any academic reason for nonattendance should be previously authorized by the professor. Attendance will be supervised in both lectures and workshops.
Punctuality. Classes start on time. Late arrival or early exit is not admitted, save in duly justified circumstances.
Cheating. Cheating at any evaluation activity will imply a fail mark (0) and students will lose the right to a new assessment. Plagiarism will lead to a fail mark (0) and to a warning. In the case of reoccurrence, the student will be given a fail mark (0) and will lose the right to resit.
Single evaluation model
For students who opt for the single evaluation model the final mark will also be obtained by evaluating three types of activities to be completed in 1,5 hours on the same day:
1) One assessment activity will check the students’ understanding and knowledge of bibliographic and lectures material as well as their analysis and synthesis skills. This activity will consist in two brief questions to be answered in writing in 20 minutes (30% of the final mark).
2) One assessment activity will check the students’ ability to apply the theoretical content of the course to resolve a practical case and to infer appropriate intervention models based on an effective prior assessment of needs. Students will first have to elaborate in 40 minutes an appropriate solution in class (without the possibility of consulting course material) (weight on final mark: 30%).
2) One assessment activity will objectively check students’ knowledge of distinct aspects of the course and will consist of a multiple-choice exam to be completed in 30 minutes (weight on the final mark: 40%).
Just as the rest of the students, those who choose the single evaluation model shall have the right to be attended by the professor responsible for the course, throughout the semester, during the established tutoring hours.
Bibliography
Mandatory readings
Topic 1: Conceptual approach: "Crime policy", "Criminology", "Criminal Law Policy" and "Criminal law"
- Class material
Topic 2: The transformation of the State and different models of Crime Policy
- Class material
- Borja-Jiménez, E. (2011). Curso de política criminal. Tirant Lo Blanch. Only pp. 33-59
Topic 3: Limits to Crime Policy in a social and democratic State subject to the rule of law
- Class material
Topic 4: Characteristics of contemporary Crime Policy: The crisis of penal welfarism
- Class material
- Garland, D. (2020). Penal controls and social controls: Toward a theory of American penal exceptionalism. Punishment & Society, 22(3), 321–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474519881992
Topic 5: Trends in contemporary Spanish criminal law
- Class material
Topic 6: Criminology and its influence on Crime Policy
- Class material
- Welsh, B. C., & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Evidence-based crime policy. In M. Tonry (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of crime and criminal justice (pp. 60-92). Oxford University Press
- Díez-Ripollés, J.L. (2021). La utilidad política criminal del instrumento RIMES. In Ana Isabel Cerezo-Domínguez (Coord.). Política criminal y exclusión social (pp. 103-118). Tirant Lo Blanch
Topic 7: The influence of the media and lobbies on Crime Policy
- Class material
- Varona-Gómez, D. (2011). Medios de comunicación y punitivismo. InDret. Revista para el Análisis del Derecho, 1, 1-34
Topic 8: The influence of Supranational Organizations on Crime Policy
- Class material
Topic 9: Crime Policies at the federal and local levels
- Class material
- Fernández-Bessa, Cristina, & Di-Masso-Tarditti, A. (2018). Diez años de civismo “a golpe de ordenanza”: Estudio sobre la aplicación de la ordenanza de convivencia en el espacio público de Barcelona. Barcelona Societat. Revista de Investigación y Análisis social, 22, 1-21
Topic 10: Crime Policy at the judicial and penitentiary level
- García-España, E., & Díez-Ripollés, J.L. (Dirs.) (2011). Realidad y política penitenciaria. Tirant Lo Blanch. Only pp. 237-245
- Stancu, Oana, & Varona, D. (2017). ¿Punitivismo también judicial?: Un estudio a partir de las condenas penales por homicidio en España (2000-2013). Revista Electrónica de Ciencia Penal y Criminología, 19(12), 1-33
Topic 11: Trends in contemporary Crime Policy: the restorative paradigm
- Varona, Gema (2014). Who sets the limits in restorative justice and why? Comparative implications learnt from restorative encounters with terrorism victims in the Basque Country. Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 4(3), 550-572. http://dx.doi.org/10.15496/publikation-55495
Software
Basic software (MS Office tools)
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |