Overview

This unit helps students understand Australia’s criminal justice systems by exploring how historical, social and cultural factors shape law, policy and criminal justice systems around the world. The unit explores how various jurisdictions conceptualise crime and the relative emphasis on rehabilitation and punishment in different countries. Furthermore, the unit explores how young people, women, people with mental health problems and those with intellectual disability who commit crime are treated following conviction and whether we can learn from other jurisdictions to improve Australia’s criminal justice systems.

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  1. Identify and compare how criminal behaviour is defined across different jurisdictions.
  2. Analyse legal and social responses to crime in different jurisdictions.
  3. Critically evaluate crime prevention and desistance strategies used internationally.
  4. Apply comparative perspectives to assess local criminal justice practices and examine the influence of cultural, historical, political and resourcing factors to international rehabilitation approaches.
  5. Examine the impacts of criminal justice policies on individuals and communities.
  6. Formulate evidence-based arguments about how international approaches might inform local efforts to reduce crime and victimisation.

Teaching methods

All applicable locations

Activity TypeActivityTotal HoursNumber of WeeksVenue Type and Activity Detail
Live OnlineLecture2412 weeksWeekly lecture
On-campusClass1212 weeksTutorial
Specified ActivitiesVarious2412 weeksPre-lecture material
Unspecified ActivitiesIndependent Learning9012 weeks

 

Total Hours:150 

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULOs
2D Folio and Presentation Individual  35% 1,2,3,4,5
Online Quiz Individual  25% 1,2,4
Case Report Individual  40% 1,2,3,4,6

Hurdle

As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all ULOs to a minimum standard, an undergraduate student must have achieved:

Nil

Content

  • Investigation and comparison of the role of rehabilitation and punishment in Australian criminal justice systems compared with other countries
  • The impact of history, culture, religion and resources on criminal justice systems around the world
  • International responses to crime committed by young people, women, people with mental health problems and those with intellectual disability
  • Focussed exploration of patterns of crime, criminal justice systems and responses to people who have committed crime in several international jurisdictions

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.