Introduction to Criminology

Everyday life is filled with references to crime, violence, and punishment, but how exactly do criminologists make sense of these categories?

How do criminologists explain complex questions about crime causation, or address issues about how much crime is actually present in a given society?

This course will address these and other important crime-related questions in a bid to introduce undergraduate law students to the discipline of criminology. More specifically, this module will introduce and examine the origins of criminological theory, the history and efficacy of the modern prison, the development of modern forms of social control, and the structure and nature of various comparative criminal justice systems.
Importantly, this course has been designed to build a bridge between traditional legal scholarship and the more interdisciplinary approach to crime and punishment advocated by criminologists.
To this end, focus will be placed on the various ways in which cultural dynamics intertwine with the practices of crime and crime control within contemporary society.
The module will be delivered via both innovative teaching techniques (including the use of complimentary media reportage, documentary film, and the close textual reading/analysis of contemporary crime news stories) and possibly through field trips to an appropriate Danish criminal justice organization/institution.
The course will be taught in either two or three-hour lecture blocks, with a final lecture reserved for questions and answers in relation to assessment. The lectures will cover the following subjects:

LECTURE CONTENT

The course will cover areas including:

1. What is criminology?
2. What is crime?
3. Psychological and sociological explanations of crime and criminality.
4. Crime prevention strategies.
5. Crime and deviance as meaning-making.
6. Crime and Punishment.
7. Gender and Crime.
8. Specialist guest lecturers will provide further criminological content.