Critical Reflection on Criminology

This course builds upon existing criminological knowledge that students already have from their Bachelor or earlier undergraduate studies. It implies a theoretical deepening and a focus widening. The aim of the course is that students learn to build and support independent, well-grounded opinions about criminological problems, theoretical explanatory models and the formal and informal reactions to them. We will handle several key contributions to criminology from a critical perspective. Each week, a classical or key criminological text will be read and commented upon. With the help of some questions, students will be asked to analyse the texts and put them in context. Students will analyse these texts through questions such as: what theoretical perspectives can be identified in the text, and why? Or, how could we describe and explain the same criminological problem from a different theory or perspective? The course has discussion meetings and feed-back sessions. During the discussion meetings, students confront their different positions on the text, while one or more students will also moderate the meeting. During feed-back sessions, students have the opportunity of writing on paper their positions in the form of short essays, under the supervision of the teacher.

Place of the course within the curriculum: