Overview

This unit will examine various issues of criminality in relation to conceptions of deviance and conformity. Students will undertake a theoretical exploration to the study of crime and deviance with an investigation into the historic and contemporary discourses including the representations of certain groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, queer and gender diverse individuals, people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities (CALD), and young people as ‘deviant’, the situations and contexts within which crime and deviance is defined and take place, and the explanations put forward for the causes and consequences of deviance in society. The unit encourages students to think critically and practically engage with the key questions that criminologists face, including why and how some behaviours and groups within society are regarded as deviant or criminal and others are not.

Requisites

Prerequisites
CRI20003 Crime, Deviance, and Conformity

Rule
50 credit points of Level 1 Units

Equivalent units
SOC20020 Deviance, Difference & Conformity

Equivalent
SOC20014 - Deviance, Difference and Conformity; SOC30015 - Deviance, Difference and Conformity

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
29-July-2024
27-October-2024
Last self-enrolment date
11-August-2024
Census date
31-August-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
13-September-2024
Results released date
03-December-2024
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
04-November-2024
09-February-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-November-2024
Census date
29-November-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
27-December-2024
Results released date
04-March-2025
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Explain the main concepts and debates within a range of criminological perspectives and theories.
  • Identify and differentiate the major theoretical perspectives that explain the concepts of deviance, crime and social control.
  • Evaluate the contribution of different criminological perspectives and theories to the study of deviance, crime, and social control.
  • Discuss and critique published work and communicate this through informed written argument.

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online
Lecture (asynchronous)
1.00  12 weeks  12
On-campus
Class
2.00  12 weeks  24
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning
9.50  12 weeks  114
TOTAL     150

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Class
3.00 12 weeks 36
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning
9.50 12 weeks 114
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Essay Individual  30%  1,2,3,4 
Presentation Individual  20%  3,4 
Project Report Individual 50%  1,2,3,4 

Content

  • Theories of deviant behaviour
  • Stigma and social exclusion
  • Discursive constructions of identities as deviant 
  • Social change and social problems
  • Subcultures and deviating social codes
  • Acts of transgression
  • Changing technologies and harms
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.