Working in Corrections and Youth Justice
36 hours
One Semester
Hawthorn
Overview
This unit develops students’ awareness of the issues associated with working in correctional and youth justice settings, particularly the tension between custodial and therapeutic practices, which can interfere with role effectiveness and desired outcomes. The unit will assist students to understand the impact of the correctional environment when working with offenders and will enhance their skills to identify effective systemic and clinical responses to assessing, treating and managing mental health issues within coercive environments.
Requisites
Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-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:
- Critique the purpose of correctional responses to crime in modern Western societies
- Assess systemic factors in coercive environments that can contribute to different kinds of challenging behaviours
- Discuss the shared and divergent goals of forensic mental health and offender rehabilitation services in correctional settings
- Articulate advanced understanding of ethical dilemmas that arise when working clinically in a coercive environment
- Appraise the utility of different approaches to managing and treating mental health concerns in correctional and youth detention settings
Teaching methods
Hawthorn Online
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Workshop | 12.00 | 1 week | 12 |
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 11.50 | 12 weeks | 138 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case Vignette | Individual | 25% | 1,3 |
| Case Vignette | Individual | 35% | 2 |
| Essay | Individual | 40% | 4,5 |
Content
- Background to correctional responses to crime
- Background to youth justice responses to crime
- Understanding challenging behaviours Part 1: self-harm and suicide in custodial and youth detention settings
- Understanding challenging behaviours Part 2: Institutional aggression
- Mental illness in custodial and youth detention settings
- Where does treatment of mental disorder fit in carceral settings?
- Reducing reoffending rates
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.