CULT 3010 Culture and Crime

This is an archived copy of the 2021-2022 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit https://hbook.westernsydney.edu.au.

Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 101562

Coordinator Ken Yates Opens in new window

Description In 2020 this unit replaced by 102710 - Crime, Media, Culture. Contemporary societies are replete with images of crime, including in fiction, the media, film and television. In this unit we explore this phenomenon through the lens of cultural criminology and its interest in the exciting and adrenaline-inducing aspects of crime. We explore the link between culture and crime by looking at both textual/visual and ethnographic research. This means studying the way crime is experienced as 'thrilling' not only by those who consume it via images but also by those who actually engage in violent and transgressive conduct. This unit examines the relationship between cultural images of crime, the lived experience of criminal activity and its social and cultural impact.

School Social Sciences

Discipline Criminology

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 4 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 3 subject

Equivalent Subjects CULT 3024 - Crime Media Culture

Restrictions Successful completion of 80 credit points

Assumed Knowledge

A basic understanding of foundational criminological theory.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical accounts and topics of research that are part of Cultural Criminology.
  2. Make appropriate links between theoretical accounts and independent research.
  3. Demonstrate the capacity to disseminate theoretical and empirical evidence of the links between culture and crime to a professional audience.
  4. Critically assess cultural depiction of crime, criminals and the criminal justice system
  5. Evaluate the value of textual analysis and ethnographic research for the development of criminal justice policy.

Subject Content

1. An Introduction to Cultural Criminology: Introduces Cultural Criminology as a sub-discipline of Criminology.
2. Rebellion: Explores symbolic resistance and social justice.
3. The Spectacle: Explore how spectacular images are used to dramatise crime and criminal justice issues in ways that remove or simplify context.
4. Hyper-reality: Explores the blurred distinction between the represented and the real.
5. Method: Outlines the way Cultural Criminologists do research through both textual and ethnographic analysis.
6. Technology: Discusses how technology alters the way we receive and interact with information about crime.
7. News: Discusses the way the relationship between commercial interests and criminal activity inform and impact news about crime.
8. Film: Discusses how popular culture representations of crime in film impact social expectations about crime and criminal justice issues.
9. Pleasure: Discusses the role of pleasure and enjoyment in the consumption and commission of crime.
10. The Night-Time Economy: Discusses the way cultural fantasies are played out through illicit practices in night-time entertainment districts.
11. Violence: Discusses the relationship between the consumption and commission of violence and aggression.
12. Militarisation: Discusses the way military imagery and ideology is increasingly incorporated into representations of and practices associated with crime control.

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.

Item Length Percent Threshold Individual/Group Task
Quiz 3 quizzes of 5 questions each (at least one quiz to be submitted) 15 N Individual
Professional Task 1,000 words 40 N Individual
Essay 2,000 words 45 N Individual

Teaching Periods

Structures that include subject