Undergraduate - UnitATS2056 - Race, crime and difference

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Criminology
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2014 (Day) Clayton First semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Claire Spivakovsky

Synopsis

This unit will examine the ways in which Criminology has dealt with issues of race, difference and inequality in crime and criminal justice. Students will be introduced to a range of theoretical paradigms and empirical approaches for identifying and understanding difference, discrimination, and criminal justice responses to both. In addition, the unit will examine: trends and patterns of offending and victimisation; experiences of criminalisation and discrimination in criminal justice systems for diverse groups; and the increasing and disproportionate representation of Aboriginal peoples, people with disabilites and other culturally and ethnically diverse groups in the criminal justice system.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit, students will have developed:

Awareness of race, ethnicity, gender, disability and other social categories as historically changing constructs;
Awareness of the key ways racism and discrimination can be identified and/or measured, and the implications of these measurements;
Awareness of the key implications of post-colonial and settler-colonial frameworks for Criminology when studying Aboriginal Australian's experiences within historical and contemporary criminal justice contexts;
The skills to analyse and apply a variety of theoretical perspectives on race, diversity and inequality to questions of crime and justice;
The ability to present a fluid and logical argument about the role of discrimination and inequality (with focus on race, ethnicity, gender and disability) in crime and criminal justice.