Teacher(s)
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.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| By the end of the course the student should be able to situate the historical roots of contemporary thought on crime and penalty, as they appear in eighteenth and nineteenth century. Despite the inflections of the different currents and the different theories examined, the aim will be to understand the cultural invariants (and deadlocks) of the modern penal rationality. | |
Content
This course offers a dual focus:
- An introduction to the foundations of criminology, along with an interdisciplinary reflection on its core concepts, such as various understandings of crime, criminal action, social reaction, punishment, and alternatives to criminal justice.
- An exploration of the challenges posed by interdisciplinarity in the construction of knowledge within the field.
1. Criminology
- Exploring various definitions of criminology
- Examining the paradigms of “criminal action” and “social reaction”
- Understanding the role of the criminologist
2. Crime
- Investigating different conceptions of crime
- Analyzing the implications of using the term “crime”
- Considering the possibilities of “decriminalization”
3. The Criminal
- Exploring different conceptions of the criminal
4. The Victim
- Examining various conceptions of the victim
- Introducing “primary victimology” (offender–victim relationships)
- Assessing the impact of crime on victims
- Understanding the concept of “victimization surveys”
- Identifying victims’ needs
- Evaluating risks of victimization
- Discussing the notion of a “victim-centered society” and its implications for criminal justice
5. Social Reaction
- Defining “social norms” (including distinctions between formal and informal norms, and characteristics of penal norms)
- Defining “social reaction” (including distinctions between formal and informal reactions, factors influencing concrete responses to offenses, mechanisms of social control, and punishment as a specific form of social reaction)
6. Criminal Process (Criminal Justice System)
- Introducing the “CJS” (Criminal Justice System) framework
- Exploring the stages of the criminal process (offense visibility, referral, the penal funnel, case selection, case orientation)
- Discussing the status and limitations of criminal statistics
7. Restorative Justice
- Examining this alternative form of justice, including its advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional criminal justice
Teaching methods
Ex-cathedra course (lecture course).
Evaluation methods
Type of Assessment
Written Exam There is no change in the type of assessment between sessions.Language of Assessment
FrenchEvaluation Criteria
- Factual recall questions
- Comprehension questions
- Application of criminological concepts to concrete cases
Additional Information
A review session of the exam papers will be organized within one month following the release of results, in the presence of the course instructor or a designated representative.
Online resources
Lecture session PowerPoint presentations will be available on Moodle.
Optional reading texts (on Moodle).
Optional reading texts (on Moodle).
Bibliography
Une bibliographie indicative sera fournie sur Moodle aux étudiant·es en vue d'un approfondissement de la matière.
An indicative bibliography will be provided on Moodle for students who wish to explore the subject further.
An indicative bibliography will be provided on Moodle for students who wish to explore the subject further.
Faculty or entity
