Crime in Law, Literature and Culture

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• read texts 'critically', that is to say, to understand the subtext of a piece of writing, whether in a legal, literary or some other context;
• conduct research and better organise and manage your time and personal (intellectual) resources.
• understand the character and use of 'principles': their interpretation, arguments surrounding them, their effects and wider impacts;
• critically analyse texts and contexts in such a way that will help to broaden your analytical skills more form your own independent view of relevant law, policy and critique;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• interpret, analyse and critically comment upon the decisions and reasoning in criminal case law.
• critically analyse a broad range of texts including legislation, case law, fiction and drama, and connections between them;
• evaluate critically the specific criminal law and policies studied comment on and evaluate arguments put forward by others;
• form your own independent view on relevant law and policy in the light of a range of critical perspectives;
• explain what literary and cultural depictions of themes such as justice, desert, power and inequality bring to bear on law and policy;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• criminal legal rules both in England & Wales and other jurisdictions on violence and sex;
• literary, cultural and critical themes as they apply to criminal law.

The module content is structured around three key topics: 1) The tools used for constructing criminal law arguments, judgments and critiques (metaphor, analogy, metonym); 2) The importance of 'stories' (narrative, plot, myth and genre) for legislators, trial lawyers and judges (e.g. human rights, asylum and the 'refugee story'); 3) criminal law's 'characters' (e.g. the figure of the murderer, and the pirate) and how the characterisation of people assists in generating legal initiatives and judgments.

Teaching will be by ten 2-hour classes across a single semester (20 hours total). These 10 classes comprise a mix of 7 lectures and 3 seminars, and places a strong emphasis on active engagement and interactivity.

As part of the learning activities you are expected to prepare for the seminars to the appropriate level as instructed by the module coordinator..

Preparation for and participation in the seminars will develop:

• Your knowledge and understanding of relevant law and critical perspectives;
• Your ability to evaluate relevant case law, literature and critical perspectives to assess the underlying concerns about norms;
• Your effectiveness in working both individually and also in a group.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Essay

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: Written feedback on a standard form, as well as a mark.
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.