Crime, Media, and Policy is designed to provide second year undergraduate students with a critical introduction to the field of crime and the media. The module provides a historical foundation to the subject before reviewing key media and criminological debates against twenty-first century concerns about crime and deviance. The syllabus develops to explore criminological theory, crime in media culture and the complex interactions between consumers and producers. The module is designed to provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to critically engage with debates about crime news reporting, media and moral panic, media constructions of women and children, crime fiction, film and television crime drama, crime and surveillance society, and crime online. Direction to core factual material and substantive material will be provided via Canvas, with weekly lectures and seminars used to explain and explore key concepts, and present visual material for dissemination and discussion.
On completion of the module you should be able to demonstrate that you have an understanding of the concepts of crime and deviance within the media, and the ability to engage critically with debates and developments within this controversial sphere of criminological theory and public policy. You should also be able to undertake a content analysis and show that you can apply appropriate context and theory to set questions on crime, media and associated policy.
Students on the module will be directed to weekly readings and viewings (video, film, podcast) which will provide the foundation knowledge for the module, each week new material will be released into Canvas for students to read and/or view to discuss prior to their weekly lecture/workshop. The weekly lecture/workshop will be designed to explain key concepts with linkage to the set reading, and to introduce students to visual media where appropriate; such as news broadcasts, documentaries, television drama, and film footage. Key questions will then be introduced to test and evaluate understanding of the material.
| Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | Lecture/Workshops Blocks | 44 |
| Guided independent study | Reading and note taking Production of formative and summative assessment | 256 |
| Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 | |
A combination of formative and summative assessment strategies will be used on this module to support learning. Students will be given individual guidance and feedback on the formative assessment. Content Analysis is a key methodological skill that criminology students will need to have a firm grounding in, should they wish to focus on topics related to representations of crime and justice in their research modules at level 6.
The module is assessed via two pieces of written coursework. The first is a Content Analysis Report (50%) submitted at the end of semester one which involves detailed content analysis of a single newspaper crime story from a set list. The second is a traditional style Essay (50%) submitted at the end of semester two, with a choice of questions which encompasses the full syllabus, allowing students to study an area(s) of particular interest in more detail.
Report (Content Analysis) (formative)
A1: Report (Content Analysis) (50%) summative
A2: Essay (50%) summative
| Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
|---|---|
| 1) draw on knowledge of the concept of crime and the media within its socio-political and cultural context. | Report (formative) Report (summative) Essay (summative) |
| 2) have the ability to engage critically with debates about new concepts within the subject area such as globalised media, cybercrime and the mediascape. | Report (formative) Report (summative) Essay (summative) |
| 3) possess a critical appreciation of the construction of crime news and crime fiction alongside an understanding of criminological theory within the subject area (in particular the media construction of deviancy amplification and moral panic). | Report (formative) Report (summative) Essay (summative) |
| 4) have the ability to critically locate, analyse, and discuss visual depictions of deviance. | Report (formative) Report (summative) Essay (summative) |
| 5) utilise knowledge of the growth of surveillance culture and the impact of the world wide web. | Report (formative) Report (summative) Essay (summative) |
| Description of Assessment | Definitive UNISTATS Categories | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| CWK | 2,500 word Report | 50% |
| CWK | 2,500 word Essay | 50% |
| Total (to equal 100%) | 100% | |
It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.
Cohen, S. (2002) Folk Devils and Moral Panics, London: Routledge
Haywood, K. and Presdee, M. (2010) Framing Crime, London: Routledge
Jewkes, Y. (2010) Media and Crime: A Critical Introduction, London: Sage
Carrabine, E. (2008) Crime, Culture and the Media, London: Polity Press
Critcher, C. (2006) Critical Readings: Moral Panics and the Media, Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Ferrell, J. et al. (2004) Cultural Criminology Unleashed, London: Routledge
Franko-Ars, K. (2010) Globalisation and Crime, London: Sage
Greer, C. (ed.) (2008) Crime and Media: A Reader, London: Routledge
Hassan, R. (2008) The Information Society, London: Pluto
Marsh, I. and Melville, G. (2008) Crime, Justice and the Media, London: Routledge
Mason, P. (ed.) (2003) Criminal Visions: Media Representations of Crime and Justice, Collumpton: Willan
Penfold-Mounce, J. (2010) Celebrity, Culture, and Crime, London: Palgrave