Course overview
This course explores the various methods employed to control crime and deviance in contemporary society. Students will examine current forms of policing and crime control, trace the historical lineage of these approaches, and examine the rapid evolution and deployment of technology in this space. This course considers the broader political, social and cultural influences upon crime control practices, including the possibilities for resistance. Students will critically explore various state-centric, but also private approaches to the control of crime and how these approaches merge with, and influence, our everyday lives.
Course learning outcomes
- Understand theoretical concepts and perspectives used by sociologists and criminologists to analyse and explain crime control and surveillance practices, processes and policies
- Critically evaluate the social impacts and resonances of crime control and surveillance in contemporary societies, with particular reference to deviance and crime
- Understand the various reactions to crime control and surveillance practices in everyday life, particularly with regard to strategies of resistance
- Comprehend the relational interplays between crime control, surveillance practices, monitored populations and illegal activity
- Discern the political, economic and cultural influences responsible for the intensification of crime control and surveillance