Undergraduate - UnitAZA2466 - Women and crime: Damsels in distress

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
Offered	South Africa Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Tara Harris

Synopsis

The focus on women and crime 'enriches' and 'complicates' societies' understanding of the crime problem. The unit examines the gendered nature of crime and how stereotyping is played out in the Criminal Justice System. The unit explores key feminist and theories to better understand how crime and criminality is portrayed in contemporary society.

Outcomes

By the successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

A grounded working knowledge of the major theoretical approaches that constitute the field of feminist approaches to crime and justice.
An informed understanding of how gender is constructed in society, the media and the criminal justice system, particularly from an African perspective.
Library and internet based research skills.
The ability to think critically and analytically, and to be able to articulate those ideas.
A focus upon the production of scholarly research as the end point of a process of reading, discussion, drafting and debate.
The production of well-researched, well-documented and presented essays.
The ability to work independently as scholars.
The ability to conduct independent research effectively and responsibly when dealing with gender and crime.