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SP32067: Crime, media, culture

[Page last updated: 23 May 2025]

Academic Year: 2025/26
Owning Department/School: Department of Social & Policy Sciences
Credits: 10 [equivalent to 20 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 200
Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Period:
Academic Year
Assessment Summary: CWES 60%, CWRA 40%
Assessment Detail:
  • Essay (CWES 60%)
  • Reflective Assessment (CWRA 40%)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites:
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1) Identify and critically evaluate the core features of crime news, as well as how and why these have changed over time. 2) Discuss and analyse fictional renderings of crime, deviance, criminal justice, and victimisation using theoretical and/or conceptual frameworks from criminology, sociology, media studies, and cultural studies. 3) Assess the empirical evidence and theoretical underpinnings to criminological debates around media effects, representation, and sensationalisation. 4) Critically evaluate 'official' and 'alternative' uses of media in the spheres of crime and criminal justice.


Synopsis: "Explore the presence of stories of crime and criminal justice within media and culture. Whether its formal news stories, citizen journalists accounts on social media, superhero films, cop shows, `real life crime documentaries, or detective novels, this unit traces the core features of this cultural landscape. You will learn about key themes and trends, and critically assess what cultural depictions tell us about popular conceptions of crime, deviance, victims, punishment, and justice."

Content: Our culture is saturated with stories of crime and criminal justice - whether it's formal news stories, citizen journalists' first-hand accounts on social media, superhero films, cop shows, 'real-life' crime documentaries, or detective novels. This unit traces the core features of this cultural landscape, identifying key themes and trends, and asks what cultural depictions can tell us about popular conceptions of crime, deviance, victims, punishment, and justice. The unit goes beyond debates about media effects and representation, to consider what cultural treatments of crime and criminal justice might illuminate about the cultural mechanisms of legitimacy, blame, responsibility, and accountability.

Course availability:

SP32067 is Optional on the following courses:

Department of Social & Policy Sciences
  • UHSP-AFB34 : BSc(Hons) Applied Social Studies (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AFB30 : BSc(Hons) Criminology (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB22 : BSc(Hons) Criminology with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UHSP-AFB32 : BSc(Hons) Social Policy (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB16 : BSc(Hons) Social Policy with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UHSP-AFB37 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB05 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UHSP-AFB35 : BSc(Hons) Sociology (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB04 : BSc(Hons) Sociology with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UHSP-AFB36 : BSc(Hons) Sociology and Social Policy (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB10 : BSc(Hons) Sociology and Social Policy with Year long work placement (Year 4)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2025/26 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2026/27 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2025/26.
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