Module:

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

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Module Title
Module Code	(ITS: LG5016)
Faculty		School
NFQ level		Credit Rating

Description

This module will introduce students to well-established and emerging criminological theories and trends. It will engage with critiques of criminological theories and particular emphasis will be placed upon the applicability of such theories to crime and justice in Ireland.

Learning Outcomes

1. Outline and discuss primary criminological theories and critiques of same.
2. Outline and discuss emerging criminological theories and critiques of same.
3. Apply criminological theories to the Irish criminal justice system.
4. Explain the value of criminological thinking within broader social science and police discourses.

Total Workload: 0

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	n/a	100%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Theoretical Criminology
Classical and Postivist Criminology; Sociologies of Crime; Radical and Critical Criminology; Late-modern theories of criminal justice (managerialism/privitisation/control)

Understanding Crime
Trends in crime; homicide; sexual and domestic violence; desistance and reintegration

Contexts of Crime
Victimology; media and crime; penal policy and the politics of punishment; women, imprisonment and social control

Emerging Ideas and Issues in (Irish) Criminology
Coercive confinement and the 'culture of control'; organised and 'gangland' crime; clerical sexual abuse

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Deirdre Healy, Claire Hamiliton, Yvonne Daly, Michelle Bulter: 2015, The Routledge handbook of Irish Criminology, Routledge,
Chris Hale, Keith Hayward, Azrini Wahidin, Emma Wincup: 2013, Criminology, 3rd, OUP,
Paul O'Mahony: 2002, Criminal Justice in Ireland, IPA,
David Downes, Paul Rock: 0, Understanding Deviance, 2011,
David Garland: 2002, The Culture of Control, OUP,
Shane Kilcommins, Ian O'Donnell, Eoin O'Sullivan, Barry Vaughan: 2004, Crime, Punishment and the Search for Order in Ireland, IPA,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None