LAWS5223 Theories of Justice and Punishment
- Credit
- 6 points
- Offering
(see Timetable) Availability Location Mode Non-standard teaching period UWA (Perth) Face to face - Details for undergraduate courses
- Honours option in Law and Society [Bachelor of Arts (Honours)]
- Content
- This unit introduces students to contemporary theories of punishment. To do this, punishment needs to be seen in the broader context of economical, political, social, historical and cultural changes. Starting from an international perspective, it explains the mechanisms that have influenced penal policies over the last decades. The unit enables students, on a theoretical and an empirical level, to critically examine to what extent macro and meso analyses are able to explain convergences and divergences in penal practices.
- Outcomes
- Students are able to (1) identify and explain drivers of contemporary penal policy on a global and local scale; demonstrate advanced understanding on a theoretical and empirical level; apply this knowledge to the penal situation in Australia, including local differences; (2) translate this knowledge into research questions; transfer this knowledge to real-life policy; demonstrate practiced skills of problem analysis and critical reasoning applied to the subject matter of the field situation; (3) demonstrate research skills appropriate for locating and assessing relevant primary and secondary materials; and (4) communicate information, ideas and argument related to the field of penal policy in a coherent and logical manner in both written and oral forms.
- Assessment
- Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) literature review; (2) group case study; and (3) class participation. Further information is available in the unit outline.
Supplementary assessment is not available in this unit. - Unit Coordinator(s)
- Associate Professor Hilde Tubex
- Unit rules
- Contact hours
- Teaching dates for this unit are 28 August and 4,11,18,25 September. Please refer to the timetable website for session times and venues. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory.
- Texts
Cunneen, C., et al. Penal Culture and Hyperincarceration: The Revival of the Prison Farnham: Ashgate 2013
Tonry, M., ed. Determinants of Penal Policies. In Crime, Punishment, and Politics in a Comparative Perspective, vol. 36 'Crime and Justice: A Review of Research': University of Chicago Press 2007
Tubex, H. Contemporary Penal Policies: Oxford Handbooks Online in Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Books and other material wherever listed may be subject to change. Book lists relating to 'Preliminary reading', 'Recommended reading' and 'Textbooks' are, in most cases, available via the Booktopia Textbook Finder, which has the functionality to search by course code, course, ISBN and title, and may also be posted or available at the appropriate school's administrative offices. Where texts are listed in the unit description above, an asterisk (*) indicates that the book is available in paperback.