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• Undergraduate study:
• Courses
• Order a prospectus
• How to apply
• Information for applicants
• Why choose Kingston University
• Disability and mental health support
• Accommodation
• Undergraduate fees
• Fees, funding and payments
• Access, participation and inclusion

Youth Crime

• Module code: CM5005
• Year: 2018/9
• Level: 5
• Credits: 15
• Pre-requisites: Successful completion of level 4 Sociology/Criminology or equivalent.
• Co-requisites: None

Summary

This module considers what is understood by the term youth, as a social category and life stage, and explores young people's lived experiences. As such, it examines the history of youth culture and subcultures and styles, and critically considers the notion of ‘problem' youth and societal responses to this including intervention and multi-agency working. Bringing together sociological, criminological and cultural studies theory from Level 4, the module considers youth from both an individual and structural view point. We will also look at how we have come to deal with young offenders in the youth justice system and considers the contradictory messages about welfare, diversionary measures, human rights, punitive justice, managerial and crime prevention discourses and strategies.

Aims

• To identify academic debates around youth crime and deviance and place these debates within a multidisciplinary perspective
• To stimulate understanding of the different social, economic, political and cultural factors that impact upon and shape young people's lived experience.
• To critically examine the position of 'youth' in contemporary criminal justice discourses and policy and explore the social and political debates regarding youth crime and deviance.

Learning outcomes

• Critically analyse the concepts of 'youth' and 'deviancy' within dominant theoretical perspectives in the criminology of youth.
• Engage critically with current discourses of, and responses to, 'problem' youth through multi-agency partnerships, policing and the justice system more generally.  
• Understand the impacts of social and economic structure, politics and culture upon young people's experiences.
• To critically understand the position of young people in contemporary criminal justice discourses and policy as both 'victims' and 'offenders'.

Curriculum content

• The social construction of youth
• Youth and (un)employment
• Classic theories of subculture, crime, and deviance developed from Level 4.  
• Critiques of subculture: retrospective criticism, post­-subcultural perspectives, ethnic minority youth, gender.
• 'Problem youth' - a historical analysis
• Critical criminology of youth
• Contemporary youth justice policies and practices in an international context
• The 'lived experience' of excluded young people
• Social class, culture and deprivation
• Critical analysis of justice
• Young people in the criminal justice system
• Young people as victims of crime
• Youth victimisation (hate crime)
• Youth and the Criminal Justice System - Roles of the Youth Justice Board, Youth Offending Teams and multi-agency working
• Restorative justice
• Radicalisation, youths, and the war on terror - Exploring the PREVENT agenda and British responses to radicalisation
• Gang culture

Teaching and learning strategy

The module is taught through a two hour workshop. The workshops will introduce students to the main issues of the field and provide a thematic framework. Students will be guided in both their general research and directed readings in preparation for the workshop activities and discussions. The workshops will provide students with a forum in which to discuss theoretical debates and practical examples raised.

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Assessment strategy

This module is summatively assessed by a 2000 word pre-sentence report (PSR) and a 2000 word essay. The pre-sentence report will allow students to develop their technical knowledge of the youth justice system and the essay will help students develop their academic writing and their academic knowledge and understanding of the subject. Student learning will be monitored through a formative peer assessment of the draft PSR and essay, before the submission.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Elements of Assessment

Achieving a pass

It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module

Bibliography core texts

Bates, I., and Riseborough, G. (eds) (1993) Youth and Inequality. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Brown, S. (2005) Understanding youth and crime, 2nd ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press

Bourdieu, P. (2005) [1984] Distinction. London: Routledge

Evans, R. (2007) Understanding youth justice. Maidenhead: UOP

Fionda, J. (2005) Devils and Angels. Oxford: Oxford Hart Publishing

France, A. (2007) Understanding youth in Late Modernity. Maidenhead: OUP

Furlong, A., and Cartmel, F. (2006) Young People and Social Change (2^nd Edition), Buckingham: Open

Furlong, A. (ed) (2009) Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood: new perspectives and agendas, Oxon: Routledge

Gelder, K. and Thornton, S. (1997) (eds.) The Subcultures Reader. London: Routledge

Goldson, B. and Muncie, J. (eds). Youth Crime and Justice, London: Sage

Huq, R. (2006) Beyond Subculture. London: Routledge

MacDonald, R. and Marsh, J. (2005) Disconnected Youth: growing up in Britain's poor neighbourhoods, London: Palgrave Macmillan

Muncie, J. (2009) Youth and Crime, London: Sage

Muncie, J. and Goldson, B. (eds) (2006) Comparative Youth Justice, London: Sage

Smith, R. (2003) Youth Justice: Ideas, policy and practice. London: Willan Publishing