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SP32072: Incarceration

[Page last updated: 23 May 2025]

Academic Year: 2025/26
Owning Department/School: Department of Social & Policy Sciences
Credits: 5 [equivalent to 10 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 100
Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: EXOB 100%
Assessment Detail:
  • Open-book written examination (EXOB 100%)
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. Discuss and analyse a range of different forms of incarceration, understanding the similarities and differences between them; 2. Assess the key drivers behind mass incarceration and the growth of the prison complex; 3. Assess the differential 'effects' and impacts of incarceration on different demographic/population groups; 4. Use and critically evaluate academic prison studies in written work; 5. Recognise and marshal the main arguments for reform and discuss the differences between reform and abolition.


Synopsis: "Develop your knowledge of the social, political, cultural, and legal issues raised by the incarceration of offenders. You will consider the States power to use coercive force, punish, and deprive people of their liberty, and the extent to which the nature, use and form of custodial institutions is shaped by wider political, policy and social change. You will be encouraged to think about the lived experience, sociological dimensions and cultural aspects of custodial institutions."

Content: This unit aims to explore the social, political, cultural, theoretical and legal issues raised by the incarceration of offenders. It is concerned with the State's power to use coercive force, punish, and deprive people of their liberty, and the extent to which the nature, use and form of custodial institutions is shaped by wider political, policy and social change. In addition, the unit considers the lived experience, sociological dimensions and cultural aspects of custodial institutions. The main focus of the unit will be prisons, but several other forms of incarceration will be discussed including police custody, court cells, youth custody, secure hospitals and immigration detention centres.

Course availability:

SP32072 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-AFB37 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences (Year 3)
  • UHSP-AKB05 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences 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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