Interdisciplinary Approach of Criminological Practices

Teacher(s)

Das Neves Ribeiro Nelson Romeu; Vander Elst Martin;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

Identification of the conditions and circumstances on which any practice depends. Study of methodological models and their theoretical basis from the point of view of:

• their notion of potentially criminal problematic situations and of the change these situations are liable to lead to in it;
• their differential indications;
• their procedures and techniques of intervention as well as the specific processes used;
• their ability to lead to different kinds of intervention and desired goals (of a legal, sociological, psychological, psychiatric and medical nature);
• their ability to form the basis of individual, collective and institutional intervention;
• their adaptability to intercultural contexts;
• their ethical implications and social consequences.

Development of methods of analysis of these practice issues and of evaluation of their effects and results.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students will be able: to understand the specific details of practice in relation to its conditions, context, its discipline of team work, its network of cooperation, its reference to the theoretical-methodological models it aims to employ; to identify these specific details in the different fields where criminology is employed to proceed to the intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary comparison of the testing that practice brings to bear on the models that govern it.

Content

The course has two main themes : decolonial studies (15H) and the (criminal) uses of drugs (15H).
The first theme will be addressed in three parts. The first is devoted to a general overview of the various authors and theories. The second part is devoted to the impact of these theories on the field of social sciences in Belgium, particularly from the point of view of the history of Belgian criminology. The third part is devoted to formulating the ethical and political issues at stake in this reflection from the point of view of research methodologies.
The second theme will be addressed in two parts. The first is devoted to the criminological practices of the researcher in the context of the study of populations in conditions of illegality and extreme precariousness. The second is devoted to the study of the criminal justice system in the field of drug use.
The first theme will examine 'criminological practices' from the perspective of the field of decolonial studies. The following major themes will be addressed :

• the socio-historical conditions of the emergence of the decolonial turn, from an interdisciplinary point of view, in the human sciences (general overview of the different currents).
• the consequences of these changes in perspective (dismantling of ethnocentrism, multidirectional relations, reflexive and self-critical turn, standpoint theory, etc.) for the human sciences and criminology in particular.
• decolonial ethical and political transformations in research methods and fieldwork approaches (engagement theory, observational participation, activist ethnography, critical archaeology, etc.).
• issues relating to the researcher's position.
• colonial genealogy of Belgian criminology (social defence in Belgium and the Congo, indigenous policy, indirect governmentality, co-construction of the figure of the 'criminal', the 'savage' and the 'fanatic' between Belgium and the Congo, indigenous courts, etc.).

The second theme looks at 'criminological practices' in the field of drug use. The following major themes will be addressed :

• The ethical and methodological position of the researcher-criminologist when he enters and studies social worlds (the world of drugs) from which he is a stranger.
• The difficulties of getting people to talk in conditions of great social and psychological fragility. How can the unspeakable be heard and accepted ?
• Scientific productions on the "criminal use of drugs".
• Analysis of these productions through the discursive productions of users. The aim is to examine how the criminal justice system works through the criminal justice experience of its 'clients'.

At the end of the course, students will be able to :

•  have a general knowledge of the various decolonial currents and theories ;
•  translate the consequences for criminological practices and the history of criminology in Belgium;
•  raise, in an interdisciplinary way, the issues of the researcher's positionality and the ethnicity of research from a decolonial point of view.
•  question the ethical and methodological stance of the criminology researcher in the context of 'difficult terrain
•  gain a critical understanding of penal practices in the field of drug use

 

Teaching methods

The course methodology is participative and collective (appreciation of the issues through group reading and reflection, collective choice of the themes for the assignments and production of the assignments by the students).

Evaluation methods

Evaluation is based solely on the oral presentation (during the third part of the course) and on the written version of students' work in group.
Attendance at this course is required. In accordance with article 72 of the General Regulations for Studies and Examinations, the Professors may propose to the jury that a student who has at least three unjustified absences for the course, be refused registration for the January, June or September session.

Other information

There is some compulsory reading in the second part of the course.

Faculty or entity

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