Criminology

Criminology

Criminology aims to help students understand the world of crime from a multitude of perspectives. Students will be introduced to the reasons people commit crime and how we, as a society, can go about reducing crime. The academic principals underpinning this come from Psychology and Sociology and there are many overlapping elements with these courses. We aim to help students better understand the how and why of crime from committing, to reducing to punishing.

The course follows the WJEC Diploma specification and we study changing awareness of crime, criminological theories, crime scene to court room and crime and punishment as our four units. It follows a methodical pace of two units in the first year and two units in the second year, one assessed by controlled assessment internally and one assessed externally by exams. These units are all compulsory, but we feel we have a good balance of expertise within the department to feed into these as the course follows many Psychological and Sociological theories as well as covering some fundamentals of the English legal system.

The course is challenging to students by design, it is contemporary and by the nature of assessment flexible and up to date. The controlled assessment has the ability to be really up to date with contemporary crimes and students can enjoy it for its challenge and relevance. Throughout students are encouraged to make links to other areas of curriculum, most obviously Sociology and Psychology but will also be able to make links to other humanities. Criminology is a good foundation for students moving on to study social science or humanities-based subjects at University. It would also be beneficial for students moving on to public services such as Police.

Exam Board: WJEC

Criminology Curriculum

Year 12Year 13
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Changing awareness of Crime

AC1.1 Analyse different types of crime

AC1.2 Explain the reasons that certain crimes are unreported

AC1.3 Explain the consequences of unreported crime

AC1.4 Describe media representation of crime

AC1.5 Explain the impact of media representations on the public perception of crime

 Changing awareness of crime

AC1.6 Evaluate methods of collecting statistics about crime

AC2.1 Compare campaigns for change

AC2.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of media used in campaigns for change

AC3.1 Plan a campaign for change relating to crime

AC3.2 Design materials for use in campaigning for change

AC3.3 Justify a campaign for change

 Criminological Theories

AC1.1 Compare criminal behaviour and deviance

AC1.2 Explain the social construction of criminality

AC2.1 Describe biological theories of criminality

AC2.2 Describe individualistic theories of criminality

 Criminological Theories

AC2.3 Describe sociological theories of criminality

AC3.1 Analyse situations of criminality

AC3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories to explain causes of criminality

AC4.1 Assess the use of criminological theories in informing policy development

 Criminological Theories exam preparation

AC4.2 Explain how social changes affect policy development

AC4.3 Discuss how campaigns affect policy making

 Crime Scene to Courtroom

Mock Trial preparation and completion

Scenario based group project

Learning including courtroom set up

Crime scene reports

Rules in criminal law

Key factors influencing outcomes.
Autumn 1
Autumn 2
Spring 1
Spring 2
Summer 1
Summer 2
Crime Scene to Courtroom

AC1.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal investigations

AC1.2 Assess the usefulness of investigative techniques in criminal investigations

AC1.3 Explain how evidence is processed

AC1.4 Examine the rights of individuals in criminal investigations

AC2.1 Explain the requirements of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for prosecuting suspects

 Crime Scene to Court Room

AC2.2 Describe trial processes

AC2.3 Understand rules in relation to the use of evidence in criminal cases

AC2.4 Assess key influences affecting the outcomes of criminal cases

AC2.5 Discuss the use of laypeople in criminal cases

AC3.1 Examine information for validity

AC3.2 Draw conclusions from information

 Crime and Punishment

AC1.1 Describe processes used for law making

AC1.2 Describe the organisation of the criminal justice system in England and Wales

AC1.3 Describe models of criminal justice

AC2.1 Explain forms of social control

AC2.2 Discuss the aims of punishment

 Crime and Punishment

AC2.3 Assess how forms of punishment meet the aims of punishment

AC3.1 Explain the role of agencies in social control

AC3.2 Describe the contribution of agencies to achieving social control

AC3.3 Examine the limitations of agencies in achieving social control

AC3.4 Evaluate the effectiveness of agencies in achieving social control

Future Careers

Law, Police, Detective, Probation Office, Community Development Worker, Social Worker, Youth Worker, Adult Guidance Worker, Charity Officer, Housing Management, Paralegal, Solicitor.

 

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