Master of Criminology

Criminology is the study of crime, social harm and how we respond to it. In this subject, you will take on the big questions of the discipline: What is crime? Who is the criminal? Criminologists seek to understand and explain the complex causes and motivations for crime and how categorisations of crime can change according to time, place and politics.

In this subject, you will examine a range of topics including youth crime, street crime, crime in the home and crimes of the powerful. You will learn how understandings of crime inform and produce a range of state responses and varied experiences of justice/injustice. Given the local context of Australia, we pay particular attention to crime as a settler colonial construct. Through your reading, classroom activities with peers and assessment tasks, you will critically reflect on the ways that crime is constructed and popularised and build your academic skills. The subject will require you to read and think critically about your own assumptions, media representations, and how power shapes the ways that crime is defined, measured and regulated.

Crime, Criminology and Critique is available as a Bachelor of Arts Discovery subject, supporting your introduction to university and fostering connections within your course. If you are taking this as your Discovery subject, you will need to concurrently complete the three compulsory Joining Melbourne modules.

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Law in Society introduces students to theories, concepts, forms and practices of law in contemporary Australian society. It will provide a foundation both for socio-legal studies subjects in later years and for subjects in disciplines such as politics, criminology and law. In preparing students to engage critically with law, the subject looks at the ways that "harm" is constructed as a legal category. It encourages students to ask who is able to name something as either harmful, or not worthy of state intervention, and how this capacity to name effects socio-political relations. To develop this analysis, the subject discusses the norms that underpin the capacity to name particular practices as harmful, and engages critically with certain historical and current harms. Examples of such harms might include treachery, riot and disorder, terrorism, payback, the Northern Territory Emergency Response, torture, sadomasochistic sex acts, or female circumcision.

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Criminal law has a central importance in criminology, since it is the criminal law which determines the legality or illegality of behaviours. This subject studies social and political dimensions of the criminal law as it governs institutional processes and the construction of criminality. The first section of the course covers differences in the ways that criminal law and criminology construct social issues as crime, with particular emphasis on the legal processes of criminal justice. The next sections provide substantive examinations of different aspects of the social and political dimensions of criminal law with particular emphasis on topical areas currently subject to contestation and change: such as the regulation of public space; and the ways in which the criminal law seeks to regulate the production of images.

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This subject introduces students to the historical, political and social forces which shape police organisations, policies and practices. The subject covers the origins, functions and structures of contemporary policing , and identifies key emerging issues and challenges in policing such as the effectiveness of policing in crime control, the emergence of community policing, police culture, police misbehaviour and accountability, organisational change and organisational renewal. The emphasis is upon public (state) policing sector and to 21st century developments in multi-agency policing. Upon completion of the subject, students should be able to analyse critically current developments in policing in terms of their historical, theoretical, political and functional contexts.

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This subject invites students to look anew at things we, as individuals and society, often take for granted, by analysing the nature of social order and how it inevitably creates non-conformity and deviance. This subject will help students to (a) explore what crime and deviance mean within a society that is often riven with civil conflicts and to (b) discover how does society hang together – and at what cost and whose expense.

To do so, we will explore classical and contemporary sociological and criminological theories that help to explain the nature of social order and crime and deviance. To enhance students’ analytical skills, each theory will be examined through grounded examples, as diverse as terrorism, witch hunts, religious cults, and industrial disasters, as well as current events in Australia and beyond. The application of theory to real-life cases will help students to determine theories’ strengths and limitations, and ultimately their value in understanding the diversity of human behaviour and social reactions to it, whilst developing a critical stance on how we as society define and deal with crime, deviance, order, and disorder.

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This subject is designed to introduce students to the major forms and structures of punishment in our society. The subject examines why we punish individuals, how we do so, and how the punishment process can be viewed in a wider social context. The first part of this subject considers the broad justifications for punishment, and experiences of imprisonment with particular emphasis on hidden groups such as female and indigenous prisoners. We consider the process of punishment, from sentencing to imprisonment and punishment in the community. The second part of the subject examines the work of major writers who have provided a theoretical critique of punishment and the role it plays in our society. By the end of the subject students should have a good understanding of the correctional system and be familiar with the work of important theorists like Foucault, Cohen and Garland.

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This subject charts young people’s experiences as subjects and resistors of social control, victims of crime and young ‘offenders’. These experiences are contextualised by an appreciation of youth crime and justice as products of historical, theoretical and political junctures that have variously sought to protect, treat and punish. The first part of the subject critically explores young people and social control, considering the boundaries between rights and responsibilities, anti-social behaviour and offending, and adolescence and adulthood. The second part of the subject considers young people in relation to crime, as victims and ‘offenders’, and how these categories blur. The third part of the subject analyses systems and processes of youth justice in Australia.

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Many criminology graduates find themselves researching, developing, and applying crime and justice policy in government, political, and other contexts. This subject helps prepare students for such work through exploration of the interplay between criminology and public policy. As well as providing an overview of factors shaping policy in Australia and other countries, it reviews challenges associated with making criminological, sociological, and philosophical theory relevant in practical contexts. The subject explores the implications, challenges and opportunities for policy change and considers the systems and processes that determine what is considered deserving of state intervention as either public policy or criminalisation. Emphasis is placed on critically exploring contemporary public policy concerns such as those related to climate change, abolition, immigration, social security and policing.

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Global Criminology examines globalised forms of mass harm from both historical and contemporary perspectives. It focuses on harms that have typically gone below the criminological radar. The subject will ask students to think about the problem of crime outside the traditional parameters of criminological study. Linking past and present, it examines the longer histories, impacts and contexts of harms such as conflicts, colonialism, genocide and slavery. Case studies analysed may include the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the former Yugoslavia, Apartheid in South Africa, settler colonialism in Australia, and chattel slavery in the Americas amongst many others. Connecting decolonial theory and interdisciplinary inquiry, the subject explores crimes that cross national borders, crimes committed by nation states and international responses to them.

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This subject analyses the crimes and harms of the powerful. The subject examines the relationship between government, business and law both theoretically and through a series of case studies to explore the reasons behind business harms and crimes and why they are so difficult to tackle.

The subject traces three different entry points into crimes of the powerful: corporate and white collar crime; business corruption and crimes of the powerful in a globalised economy. Students will explore a range of criminological theories that can help explain the harms perpetuated by the powerful as well as the techniques employed by the state in regulating white-collar and corporate misconduct. This includes the challenges of defining such harm as criminal and the strengths and weaknesses of trying to use the criminal law in curbing such activities. Case studies are used to deepen student's understanding of the breadth of such crime and harm as well as the similarities and differences between them. Case studies include complex financial fraud, industrial disasters, professional misconduct, tax avoidance and environmental harm.

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Cinema and television have become immensely popular and influential cultural forms. This subject investigates the relationship between crime and culture by focusing on representations of crime and justice in film and television. The subject considers these representations in the context of recent debates about the cultural construction of crime in criminology, socio-legal studies, cultural studies and film theory. It will develop the skills necessary for analysing images of crime and justice in film and television and will also examine a number of case studies (including television crime drama, police procedurals and trial movies, cinematic fascination with the serial killer, cinematic representations of 9/11, and the cinematic depiction of violence and gender).

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This subject examines the intersections between social justice and criminal justice in the state's management of individuals and groups it considers to be at risk of harming, or being harmed, by others. Its core interests are to explore the relationship between different agencies and the state in the management of criminal justice in Victoria; the broader socio-political and historical context in which they operate; and the theory-practice nexus.

To complement scholarly perspectives on complex social concerns, (including, for example, in relation to youth justice; family violence and sexual assault; mental illness; drug and alcohol use; imprisonment detention), guest lecturers from local agencies and institutions will discuss contemporary practices of criminal justice management in Victoria and their implications for social justice more broadly. Students are encouraged to theorise, historicise, analyse and reflect upon these matters including with reference to a particular case study. The subject encourages critical reflection on the discipline and practice of criminology and holds additional appeal for those intending to work in criminal justice/social justice fields immediately after graduation, as well as those keen to pursue further studies (including internship options) at Honours, Graduate Diploma in Arts (Advanced) or Masters level.

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What does it mean for a criminal justice intervention to be effective? Why is it important to know? For whom? How does government emphasis on the impact of criminal justice programs affect the design and funding of programs? And what does this focus on effectiveness mean for research priorities and methods? This subject considers questions such as these in exploring how, why, and for whom criminal justice ‘evidence’ or ‘knowledge’ is produced. In this subject you will be asked to identify a particular criminal justice program or intervention (we will look at a range of examples), and to design an approach to discover whether or not it ‘works’ – thinking about how, why and for whom.

The subject is divided into three broad areas. First we will examine what ‘criminal justice governance’ actually is, what it means for criminal justice policy and practice, and the implications for ‘evidence’ about programs and interventions. In the second section we will explore different approaches to measuring effectiveness and gathering knowledge about criminal justice practices and programs. The last part will focus on different settings (e.g. prisons, policing) and subjects of criminal justice research (e.g. justice-involved young people), and the impact that different kinds of knowledge might have. Throughout, we will examine professional and political issues about the role and application of research in criminal justice, as well as ethical issues about engaging in research with vulnerable and offending populations.

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Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. There are many recent advances in a diverse array of theory fields that challenge and excite the foundations and practices of criminological inquiry. This subject takes a problem-centred approach to understanding the usefulness of theory in examining matters of pressing criminological concern including, for example, the lived effects of historic and structural injustice, shifting understandings and perceptions of what counts as crime (and what counts as justice), and contemporary challenges arising from the global movement of populations. Choosing different examples of how such problems might materialise (such as through racialised policing, definitions and regulation of anti-social behaviour, the privatisation of criminal justice, practices of preventative detention), this subject presents a variety of theories that can help criminologists look at these problems in new ways. The theories offered can be drawn from developments in history, race, feminism, culture, law, psychoanalysis, or post-colonialism, and the subject assesses their capacity to enrich criminological thinking.

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Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. This subject provides accounts of contemporary developments in the construction and application of theory in criminal justice and related settings with a focus on areas of innovation in policy and practice. It is axiomatic that practice in criminal justice ought to be founded on strong theoretical grounds, but this often is not the case. Drawing upon a range of enduring and emerging formulations, the subject explains and tests the relationships between theory and practice in criminal justice. Topics to be covered are drawn from a list which includes restorative justice, offender rehabilitation and desistance, developmental crime prevention, surveillance and control, community and intersectoral policing developments, risk prediction and offender classification, and antisocial behaviour orders.

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Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

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Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

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The focus of this subject is on the skills entailed in qualitative research projects that seek to understand and explain social and cultural phenomena. It introduces students to various approaches to socio-cultural research and their ethical and methodological implications, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. Students will workshop specific projects, as well as examining a range of qualitative research methods. On completion of this subject students should have the ability to design an original research project of their own, justifying the methodological and ethical approach to be taken.

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This subject is designed to provide students with hands-on professional writing and research experience in the context of the everyday operations of a social/criminal justice or community-based agency. The internship takes place in one semester and constitutes a structured and supervised student research consultancy rather than work experience. It provides students with the opportunity to employ formal research skills such as reviewing literature, collecting and analysing data and writing reports or portfolios. It also enables students to appreciate the relationship between criminological or sociological theory and practice, explore the criminological and sociological significance of social categories (such as gender or ethnicity), enhance skills of listening, observation, and cooperation and form relevant professional contacts.

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Too often government, social and criminal justice policy focuses on the symptoms rather than the causes of ongoing injustice in society. This subject partners with community agencies to work on a research problem identified by the agencies themselves. The agencies come in and discuss areas of their work that would benefit from criminological research. The subject coordinator works with you on developing a project, doing research, preparing a response and presenting this to the agency in conversation with them. Past agency partners have included the Human Rights Law Centre, Fitzroy Legal Service, WEstjustice, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Consumer Action Law Centre, Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) and Banksia Gardens Community Service.

This subject introduces you to the concepts of structural injustice and structural justice that help us to better recognise and address underlying causes of harm to people and their communities. It explores best practice in community-engaged research and the translation of research into policy and practice. Community Justice Project gives you the opportunity to use the conceptual frameworks and research skills developed through your degree to create practical outcomes in community justice.

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This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

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This subject examines the relation between Indigenous peoples, justice and the law, through the lens of sovereignty. It reflects critically on the concept of sovereignty, its powerful propensity to transcend its social origins, and its fortress status in law. Through first examining European law’s relation to Indigenous peoples from 1492, the course explores correlations between Europe’s economic expansion and the development of sovereignty, property, and race as key notions that underpin both individual nation-states and the international order they constitute. In bringing this analysis to bear on contemporary aspirations for structural justice, the course then considers the possibilities and limitations of current legal concepts and mechanisms – in both local and global domains – such as prevailing notions of sovereignty, native title, human rights, crimes against humanity, and transitional justice. Finally, the course presents examples of innovative contemporary interventions in support of structural justice in settler states, promoting new ways to think about their complex pasts and presents, and possible future directions.

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This subject is about the ways in which the criminal justice system responds to crime. It examines the principles that judges and magistrates must consider when sentencing offenders and the role of judicial discretion in the sentencing process. The subject includes an examination of some of the more recent approaches to dealing with offenders that are available in Australia, such as the restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudential practices used in problem-solving courts and alternative dispute resolution. The effectiveness of different sentencing options is considered, with a special focus on imprisonment and parole. Finally, the subject examines the research on public perceptions of sentencing, and considers the role of the public in sentencing policy and practice. At the end of this subject students should have a clear understanding of the principles and purposes of sentencing, an appreciation of the research literature on the effectiveness of different sentencing options and approaches, and a healthy skepticism of media representations of ‘lenient’ sentencing decisions.

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Crime prevention is a growth area in applied criminology, and many graduates find themselves working in this field. This subject provides a basic understanding of relevant theory and practice. Current national and international developments are summarised and analysed, and approaches to crime prevention are critically assessed. Specific topics include social prevention, environmental prevention, crime prevention through environmental design and the police and the business sector's roles in crime prevention. Evaluation of prevention programs and strategies also is discussed. In line with the subject's policy emphasis, part of the assessment involves summarising and assessing a major Australian crime prevention initiative.

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This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

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Mass violence inflicted by states and groups have a prolonged effect on communities and nations. This subject considers the forms of trauma people experience as a response to these forms of violence and explores how this trauma propels calls for apologies, truth commissions, retribution and torture. The subject employs psychoanalytic theory and practice to consider what it means to be traumatised and what it means to seek remedies from law, and uses examples of cross-cultural lawful practice to interrogate ideas of violence and trauma. Legal practices, apologies and demands for reconciliation will be discussed as methods of responding to the rage, pain and mourning that trauma demands. The course will be divided into 4 sections dealing with – trauma and violence, torture, testimony and reconciliation. In these sections we will look at events in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Australia and Nazi Germany, where legal mechanisms, apologies and vengeance have been utilised as responses to events such as genocide, terrorist acts, hostile occupation, and war. Note – some of the content of this course may be distressing.

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Crime is an issue of great social, individual and cultural concern. This subject investigates some of the ways in which crime is represented, talked about, and interpreted in popular culture and the media. The subject focuses on two issues: first, the skills and techniques required to interpret representations of crime (such as those in newspapers, film, literature, art, and television); and second, the significance and implications of images of crime in popular culture and the media. The subject includes an emphasis on interpretive and analytical skills, covering film and television analysis, aspects of narrative criticism, and techniques of news media analysis. The subject engages with a broad range of case studies of crime as it is represented in popular culture and the media, including street art and graffiti, controversial artwork, drug use, sexual assault, terrorism, the Holocaust, homicide and family violence.

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Comparative approaches to crime and justice have the potential to provide valuable insights into how social, cultural, and institutional contexts shape responses to offending and victimisation across different societies. This subject introduces students to the Japanese criminal justice system, exploring how its distinctive features contribute to markedly different crime rates and justice outcomes compared with Australia. Students will examine key institutions and practices in policing, courts and corrections, with a particular focus on responses to offenders with specialised needs (such as disability, age, and mental illness). Through comparative analysis, the subject highlights how culture, law and social policy intersect to influence justice processes and outcomes. Taught in Japan, the program combines seminars with Australian and Japanese academics and practitioners, and includes site visits to justice institutions. Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend a half-day of preparatory seminars designed to introduce them to key facets of the Japanese criminal justice system (on-campus). Students must also attend a concluding review session on-campus upon return from Japan.

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Genocide, mass harm and state crime demand a response. And yet, what can and does justice look like in the wake of state crime? What legal and non-legal processes should be put in place, at both the global and the local levels? This subject examines the rationale, operation and impact of legal, political and social initiatives designed to address these harms – from the establishment of international courts, national truth commissions and local justice processes which pursue goals such as accountability, truth and reconciliation, to grass-roots and civil society responses. It considers dominant definitions of genocide and state crime and their social, cultural, historical and political dynamics. It explores who is responsible and what might redress look like in light of this. It asks what forms of harm and suffering are addressed and which experiences and forms of injustice remain hidden from view. This subject critically examines attempts to understand and respond to mass harm in a global and a local context.

This subject will be taught intensively overseas on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia by Australian and Indonesian academics.

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How well-placed is the criminal justice system to meet the needs of victims? How can criminal justice actors and processes enhance victim experiences? And how might justice be pursued outside the criminal justice system?

This subject introduces students to issues and innovations relating to victims of crime. Victims have historically occupied a secondary place within liberal legal systems, as crimes are conceived as offences against the state. Yet victims are frequently required to narrate their experiences to assist in the adjudication of guilt — a process that may be cathartic for some and traumatising or re-victimising for others. Increasingly, many victims seek justice outside formal legal processes, pursuing alternative forms of recognition and redress.

Part One of the subject examines victims in relation to traditional criminal justice processes, including reforms aimed at enhancing victim participation. Part Two investigates alternative justice responses, such as public inquiries, apologies, memorialisation, and other non-legal mechanisms that reflect broader understandings of harm, healing and accountability.

The subject will explore the historical emergence of victimology; policy and procedural reforms within criminal justice; recognition and redress beyond legal processes; the role of testimony, truth-telling and memory in alternative justice; and future directions in victim-centred justice. Students will critically consider the evolving role of the victim in legal and social contexts, and debate the strengths and limitations of both legal and non-legal responses to harm. The subject includes content on sexual violence victimisation, which some students may find distressing.

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This subject engages with the common belief that criminal justice systems have become 'the new asylums' for people with disabilities. It will introduce students to the historical, structural and socio-cultural factors contributing to the disproportionate contact of people with disabilities with the criminal justice system, including their current over-representation within prisons. The subject will also evaluate the different ways governments have attempted to reduce the flow of people with disabilities into the criminal justice system, exploring the development of preventative and protective mechanisms within both civil and criminal law, and examine the consequences of these mechanisms on the lives of people with disabilities.

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This subject engages with emerging and pressing issues in criminology and criminal justice. Focusing on a selection of key topics of criminological interest, this subject will enable students to broaden and deepen their understanding of contemporary issues in criminological research, policy and practice. The subject will be taught as an intensive at the University of Oxford and will include sessions by University of Oxford academics.

Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend an on-campus briefing session.

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Fear of terrorism and a desire to defend communities has given rise to legal responses and new security regulations centred on surveillance. This subject is an in-depth study of the political, legal and the criminological rhetoric and practices around violence targeted at racialised communities. It explores terrorism, state and community responses to four extreme violent events through the lens of emotions they generate. Using criminological and socio-legal theory the subject examines how emotions become a site of political struggle after extreme violence, shaping how we understand harm, criminality, victimhood and justice. Connecting critical theory, criminological inquiry and lived community experience, the subject explores the ways in which liberal democracies live with political violence by policing emotions and how this can produce feelings of democratic belonging and alienation.

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Cultural, ideological, and political attachment to involuntary detention persists in most societies across the globe. This subject examines carcerality in its numerous incarnations and interrogates our attachment to it. The subject invites students to critically examine things we often overlook or take for granted as ‘natural’ or ‘commonsensical’. Students will learn and employ theoretical tools and empirical data to scrutinise the reasons, justifications, ‘effectiveness’, and consequences of our societal zeal to criminalise and incarcerate individuals and communities.

The subject aims at helping learners to appreciate punishment and detention as a complex social, political, historical, and economic phenomenon, rather than merely a purported crime-control measure. Equipping students with analytical tools, the subject promotes the development of a critical stance on how we as a society define, create, and perpetuate harm and social divisions. The subject offers students an opportunity to grow intellectually, becoming critical about public discourses and government policies concerning crime and punishment, whilst also facilitating checking one's own preconceptions and interrogating personal prejudices.

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The history wars between Japan and China over Japan's war time roles periodically cause diplomatic fall outs between these two countries. Within the borders of Indonesia and Cambodia memories of violence are equally contested. Drawing on theoretical reflections on history and memory, on memory and identity politics, memory and the body, memory and gender students in this subject will learn to critically analyse memories or representations of violence in a range of Asian contexts. We will also engage with and reflect on a variety of media of memory such as narratives or testimony, museums, monuments, commemorative ceremonies, Internet sites, art and photographs. We will also reflect on the ethics and problems associated with researching and writing about memories and violence and related issues of truth and justice. The subject will include a number of case studies such as Japanese historical revisionism, the related memory wars in China over Japanese representations of the Nanjing Massacre and in Korea over the so called 'Comfort Women'. Further case studies might include memories of decolonisation wars, commemoration of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, representations of the 1965 anti-communist killings in Indonesia, representations of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, representations of the Cultural Revolution in China and representations of the Vietnam War in Vietnam.

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This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

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This subject is about the role of international organisations in global politics and governance. States have established these formal institutions to better cooperate in addressing global economic, environmental, and security problems, but there is considerable debate in international relations scholarship about their efficacy. In this subject, we will critically assess the world’s foremost international organisations, notably the United Nations and its many specialised agencies, international financial institutions including the World Bank and World Trade Organization, and regional organisations, such as the European Union and NATO. We will ask: to what extent do these organisations only reflect the interests of powerful member states? To what extent can they address global inequality and empower marginalised peoples? Do they enable or constrain efforts toward a more sustainable world? These questions and others will lead us to a better understanding of the factors that shape these organisations, the ways in which they operate, and the impact they have in global politics.

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In this subject, students work in teams to transfer their knowledge of global politics gained in the Master's degree to practical, real world problems in international relations. Using the research and critical thinking skills they have developed, students will identify pressing political issues, analyse their key drivers, and develop a research, policy, or campaign project to address them. Students will, in turn, develop a deeper understanding of political interests and identities in global politics, with emphasis on the fundamental role of power . Students will gain experience in project design and teamwork and will develop professional writing and oral presentation skills relevant to communicating project goals and outcomes to different stakeholders. Where possible, relevant stakeholders will be invited to discuss project outcomes with students.

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Taking a global perspective, this subject explores contemporary relationships between Indigenous people and settler societies from a legal, political and social perspectives. In a comparative perspective, it examines the dynamics of these relations in terms of global, national and regional political orders, exploring the impact and management of the dispossession of Indigenous people. It explores Indigenous social and political movements for land rights and self-determination, as well movements of resurgence and reconciliation. This subject is also concerned with the methodological and ethical complexities of conduction research on Indigenous issues both within settler societies and globally.

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This subject examines various social research design and evaluation approaches to the study of social interaction. Students will critically examine the utility of, and theoretical underpinnings behind advanced methods of collecting, analysing and writing up social research. They will also conduct a small-scale research project, giving them practical skills in designing, conducting and writing up policy research. The subject will prepare students for engaging in real-world policy research and give them a practical understanding of the relationship between policy evaluation and social research in the context of debates around evidence-based policy.

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This subject is an introduction to contemporary approaches to inclusive social policy through the lens of ageing. Students will specifically explore issues and challenges that have arisen due to population ageing and discuss topics such as paid and unpaid caregiving, retirement and financial inclusion, and social isolation and loneliness. Students will engage with case studies of programs and policies to consider how governments and NGOs have attempted to address these issues. The subject will also draw on students’ own experiences of inclusive policy development and implementation and learn how to defend their practical policy ideas through scholarly arguments and evidence.

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This subject covers the five eras of Indigenous policy and introduces a set of strategies for analysing and evaluating government policy in a range of fields. Applicable in all policy areas, analysis and evaluation skills are often required in government agencies, industry and community organisations in order to identify the impact of policy and provide direction on opportunity for change.

Indigenous affairs is frequently associated with narratives of failure. This subject provides the opportunity to understand the cause of those narratives and work within strengths-based approaches to analyse and evaluate of key policies in Indigenous affairs.

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What does it mean for a criminal justice intervention to be effective? Why is it important to know? For whom? How does government emphasis on the impact of criminal justice programs affect the design and funding of programs? And what does this focus on effectiveness mean for research priorities and methods? This subject considers questions such as these in exploring how, why, and for whom criminal justice ‘evidence’ or ‘knowledge’ is produced. In this subject you will be asked to identify a particular criminal justice program or intervention (we will look at a range of examples), and to design an approach to discover whether or not it ‘works’ – thinking about how, why and for whom.

The subject is divided into three broad areas. First we will examine what ‘criminal justice governance’ actually is, what it means for criminal justice policy and practice, and the implications for ‘evidence’ about programs and interventions. In the second section we will explore different approaches to measuring effectiveness and gathering knowledge about criminal justice practices and programs. The last part will focus on different settings (e.g. prisons, policing) and subjects of criminal justice research (e.g. justice-involved young people), and the impact that different kinds of knowledge might have. Throughout, we will examine professional and political issues about the role and application of research in criminal justice, as well as ethical issues about engaging in research with vulnerable and offending populations.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. There are many recent advances in a diverse array of theory fields that challenge and excite the foundations and practices of criminological inquiry. This subject takes a problem-centred approach to understanding the usefulness of theory in examining matters of pressing criminological concern including, for example, the lived effects of historic and structural injustice, shifting understandings and perceptions of what counts as crime (and what counts as justice), and contemporary challenges arising from the global movement of populations. Choosing different examples of how such problems might materialise (such as through racialised policing, definitions and regulation of anti-social behaviour, the privatisation of criminal justice, practices of preventative detention), this subject presents a variety of theories that can help criminologists look at these problems in new ways. The theories offered can be drawn from developments in history, race, feminism, culture, law, psychoanalysis, or post-colonialism, and the subject assesses their capacity to enrich criminological thinking.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. This subject provides accounts of contemporary developments in the construction and application of theory in criminal justice and related settings with a focus on areas of innovation in policy and practice. It is axiomatic that practice in criminal justice ought to be founded on strong theoretical grounds, but this often is not the case. Drawing upon a range of enduring and emerging formulations, the subject explains and tests the relationships between theory and practice in criminal justice. Topics to be covered are drawn from a list which includes restorative justice, offender rehabilitation and desistance, developmental crime prevention, surveillance and control, community and intersectoral policing developments, risk prediction and offender classification, and antisocial behaviour orders.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The focus of this subject is on the skills entailed in qualitative research projects that seek to understand and explain social and cultural phenomena. It introduces students to various approaches to socio-cultural research and their ethical and methodological implications, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. Students will workshop specific projects, as well as examining a range of qualitative research methods. On completion of this subject students should have the ability to design an original research project of their own, justifying the methodological and ethical approach to be taken.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is designed to provide students with hands-on professional writing and research experience in the context of the everyday operations of a social/criminal justice or community-based agency. The internship takes place in one semester and constitutes a structured and supervised student research consultancy rather than work experience. It provides students with the opportunity to employ formal research skills such as reviewing literature, collecting and analysing data and writing reports or portfolios. It also enables students to appreciate the relationship between criminological or sociological theory and practice, explore the criminological and sociological significance of social categories (such as gender or ethnicity), enhance skills of listening, observation, and cooperation and form relevant professional contacts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Too often government, social and criminal justice policy focuses on the symptoms rather than the causes of ongoing injustice in society. This subject partners with community agencies to work on a research problem identified by the agencies themselves. The agencies come in and discuss areas of their work that would benefit from criminological research. The subject coordinator works with you on developing a project, doing research, preparing a response and presenting this to the agency in conversation with them. Past agency partners have included the Human Rights Law Centre, Fitzroy Legal Service, WEstjustice, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Consumer Action Law Centre, Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) and Banksia Gardens Community Service.

This subject introduces you to the concepts of structural injustice and structural justice that help us to better recognise and address underlying causes of harm to people and their communities. It explores best practice in community-engaged research and the translation of research into policy and practice. Community Justice Project gives you the opportunity to use the conceptual frameworks and research skills developed through your degree to create practical outcomes in community justice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject examines the relation between Indigenous peoples, justice and the law, through the lens of sovereignty. It reflects critically on the concept of sovereignty, its powerful propensity to transcend its social origins, and its fortress status in law. Through first examining European law’s relation to Indigenous peoples from 1492, the course explores correlations between Europe’s economic expansion and the development of sovereignty, property, and race as key notions that underpin both individual nation-states and the international order they constitute. In bringing this analysis to bear on contemporary aspirations for structural justice, the course then considers the possibilities and limitations of current legal concepts and mechanisms – in both local and global domains – such as prevailing notions of sovereignty, native title, human rights, crimes against humanity, and transitional justice. Finally, the course presents examples of innovative contemporary interventions in support of structural justice in settler states, promoting new ways to think about their complex pasts and presents, and possible future directions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is about the ways in which the criminal justice system responds to crime. It examines the principles that judges and magistrates must consider when sentencing offenders and the role of judicial discretion in the sentencing process. The subject includes an examination of some of the more recent approaches to dealing with offenders that are available in Australia, such as the restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudential practices used in problem-solving courts and alternative dispute resolution. The effectiveness of different sentencing options is considered, with a special focus on imprisonment and parole. Finally, the subject examines the research on public perceptions of sentencing, and considers the role of the public in sentencing policy and practice. At the end of this subject students should have a clear understanding of the principles and purposes of sentencing, an appreciation of the research literature on the effectiveness of different sentencing options and approaches, and a healthy skepticism of media representations of ‘lenient’ sentencing decisions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Crime prevention is a growth area in applied criminology, and many graduates find themselves working in this field. This subject provides a basic understanding of relevant theory and practice. Current national and international developments are summarised and analysed, and approaches to crime prevention are critically assessed. Specific topics include social prevention, environmental prevention, crime prevention through environmental design and the police and the business sector's roles in crime prevention. Evaluation of prevention programs and strategies also is discussed. In line with the subject's policy emphasis, part of the assessment involves summarising and assessing a major Australian crime prevention initiative.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Mass violence inflicted by states and groups have a prolonged effect on communities and nations. This subject considers the forms of trauma people experience as a response to these forms of violence and explores how this trauma propels calls for apologies, truth commissions, retribution and torture. The subject employs psychoanalytic theory and practice to consider what it means to be traumatised and what it means to seek remedies from law, and uses examples of cross-cultural lawful practice to interrogate ideas of violence and trauma. Legal practices, apologies and demands for reconciliation will be discussed as methods of responding to the rage, pain and mourning that trauma demands. The course will be divided into 4 sections dealing with – trauma and violence, torture, testimony and reconciliation. In these sections we will look at events in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Australia and Nazi Germany, where legal mechanisms, apologies and vengeance have been utilised as responses to events such as genocide, terrorist acts, hostile occupation, and war. Note – some of the content of this course may be distressing.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Crime is an issue of great social, individual and cultural concern. This subject investigates some of the ways in which crime is represented, talked about, and interpreted in popular culture and the media. The subject focuses on two issues: first, the skills and techniques required to interpret representations of crime (such as those in newspapers, film, literature, art, and television); and second, the significance and implications of images of crime in popular culture and the media. The subject includes an emphasis on interpretive and analytical skills, covering film and television analysis, aspects of narrative criticism, and techniques of news media analysis. The subject engages with a broad range of case studies of crime as it is represented in popular culture and the media, including street art and graffiti, controversial artwork, drug use, sexual assault, terrorism, the Holocaust, homicide and family violence.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Comparative approaches to crime and justice have the potential to provide valuable insights into how social, cultural, and institutional contexts shape responses to offending and victimisation across different societies. This subject introduces students to the Japanese criminal justice system, exploring how its distinctive features contribute to markedly different crime rates and justice outcomes compared with Australia. Students will examine key institutions and practices in policing, courts and corrections, with a particular focus on responses to offenders with specialised needs (such as disability, age, and mental illness). Through comparative analysis, the subject highlights how culture, law and social policy intersect to influence justice processes and outcomes. Taught in Japan, the program combines seminars with Australian and Japanese academics and practitioners, and includes site visits to justice institutions. Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend a half-day of preparatory seminars designed to introduce them to key facets of the Japanese criminal justice system (on-campus). Students must also attend a concluding review session on-campus upon return from Japan.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Genocide, mass harm and state crime demand a response. And yet, what can and does justice look like in the wake of state crime? What legal and non-legal processes should be put in place, at both the global and the local levels? This subject examines the rationale, operation and impact of legal, political and social initiatives designed to address these harms – from the establishment of international courts, national truth commissions and local justice processes which pursue goals such as accountability, truth and reconciliation, to grass-roots and civil society responses. It considers dominant definitions of genocide and state crime and their social, cultural, historical and political dynamics. It explores who is responsible and what might redress look like in light of this. It asks what forms of harm and suffering are addressed and which experiences and forms of injustice remain hidden from view. This subject critically examines attempts to understand and respond to mass harm in a global and a local context.

This subject will be taught intensively overseas on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia by Australian and Indonesian academics.

View detailed information in the Handbook

How well-placed is the criminal justice system to meet the needs of victims? How can criminal justice actors and processes enhance victim experiences? And how might justice be pursued outside the criminal justice system?

This subject introduces students to issues and innovations relating to victims of crime. Victims have historically occupied a secondary place within liberal legal systems, as crimes are conceived as offences against the state. Yet victims are frequently required to narrate their experiences to assist in the adjudication of guilt — a process that may be cathartic for some and traumatising or re-victimising for others. Increasingly, many victims seek justice outside formal legal processes, pursuing alternative forms of recognition and redress.

Part One of the subject examines victims in relation to traditional criminal justice processes, including reforms aimed at enhancing victim participation. Part Two investigates alternative justice responses, such as public inquiries, apologies, memorialisation, and other non-legal mechanisms that reflect broader understandings of harm, healing and accountability.

The subject will explore the historical emergence of victimology; policy and procedural reforms within criminal justice; recognition and redress beyond legal processes; the role of testimony, truth-telling and memory in alternative justice; and future directions in victim-centred justice. Students will critically consider the evolving role of the victim in legal and social contexts, and debate the strengths and limitations of both legal and non-legal responses to harm. The subject includes content on sexual violence victimisation, which some students may find distressing.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject engages with the common belief that criminal justice systems have become 'the new asylums' for people with disabilities. It will introduce students to the historical, structural and socio-cultural factors contributing to the disproportionate contact of people with disabilities with the criminal justice system, including their current over-representation within prisons. The subject will also evaluate the different ways governments have attempted to reduce the flow of people with disabilities into the criminal justice system, exploring the development of preventative and protective mechanisms within both civil and criminal law, and examine the consequences of these mechanisms on the lives of people with disabilities.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject engages with emerging and pressing issues in criminology and criminal justice. Focusing on a selection of key topics of criminological interest, this subject will enable students to broaden and deepen their understanding of contemporary issues in criminological research, policy and practice. The subject will be taught as an intensive at the University of Oxford and will include sessions by University of Oxford academics.

Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend an on-campus briefing session.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Fear of terrorism and a desire to defend communities has given rise to legal responses and new security regulations centred on surveillance. This subject is an in-depth study of the political, legal and the criminological rhetoric and practices around violence targeted at racialised communities. It explores terrorism, state and community responses to four extreme violent events through the lens of emotions they generate. Using criminological and socio-legal theory the subject examines how emotions become a site of political struggle after extreme violence, shaping how we understand harm, criminality, victimhood and justice. Connecting critical theory, criminological inquiry and lived community experience, the subject explores the ways in which liberal democracies live with political violence by policing emotions and how this can produce feelings of democratic belonging and alienation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Cultural, ideological, and political attachment to involuntary detention persists in most societies across the globe. This subject examines carcerality in its numerous incarnations and interrogates our attachment to it. The subject invites students to critically examine things we often overlook or take for granted as ‘natural’ or ‘commonsensical’. Students will learn and employ theoretical tools and empirical data to scrutinise the reasons, justifications, ‘effectiveness’, and consequences of our societal zeal to criminalise and incarcerate individuals and communities.

The subject aims at helping learners to appreciate punishment and detention as a complex social, political, historical, and economic phenomenon, rather than merely a purported crime-control measure. Equipping students with analytical tools, the subject promotes the development of a critical stance on how we as a society define, create, and perpetuate harm and social divisions. The subject offers students an opportunity to grow intellectually, becoming critical about public discourses and government policies concerning crime and punishment, whilst also facilitating checking one's own preconceptions and interrogating personal prejudices.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The history wars between Japan and China over Japan's war time roles periodically cause diplomatic fall outs between these two countries. Within the borders of Indonesia and Cambodia memories of violence are equally contested. Drawing on theoretical reflections on history and memory, on memory and identity politics, memory and the body, memory and gender students in this subject will learn to critically analyse memories or representations of violence in a range of Asian contexts. We will also engage with and reflect on a variety of media of memory such as narratives or testimony, museums, monuments, commemorative ceremonies, Internet sites, art and photographs. We will also reflect on the ethics and problems associated with researching and writing about memories and violence and related issues of truth and justice. The subject will include a number of case studies such as Japanese historical revisionism, the related memory wars in China over Japanese representations of the Nanjing Massacre and in Korea over the so called 'Comfort Women'. Further case studies might include memories of decolonisation wars, commemoration of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, representations of the 1965 anti-communist killings in Indonesia, representations of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, representations of the Cultural Revolution in China and representations of the Vietnam War in Vietnam.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is about the role of international organisations in global politics and governance. States have established these formal institutions to better cooperate in addressing global economic, environmental, and security problems, but there is considerable debate in international relations scholarship about their efficacy. In this subject, we will critically assess the world’s foremost international organisations, notably the United Nations and its many specialised agencies, international financial institutions including the World Bank and World Trade Organization, and regional organisations, such as the European Union and NATO. We will ask: to what extent do these organisations only reflect the interests of powerful member states? To what extent can they address global inequality and empower marginalised peoples? Do they enable or constrain efforts toward a more sustainable world? These questions and others will lead us to a better understanding of the factors that shape these organisations, the ways in which they operate, and the impact they have in global politics.

View detailed information in the Handbook

In this subject, students work in teams to transfer their knowledge of global politics gained in the Master's degree to practical, real world problems in international relations. Using the research and critical thinking skills they have developed, students will identify pressing political issues, analyse their key drivers, and develop a research, policy, or campaign project to address them. Students will, in turn, develop a deeper understanding of political interests and identities in global politics, with emphasis on the fundamental role of power . Students will gain experience in project design and teamwork and will develop professional writing and oral presentation skills relevant to communicating project goals and outcomes to different stakeholders. Where possible, relevant stakeholders will be invited to discuss project outcomes with students.

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Taking a global perspective, this subject explores contemporary relationships between Indigenous people and settler societies from a legal, political and social perspectives. In a comparative perspective, it examines the dynamics of these relations in terms of global, national and regional political orders, exploring the impact and management of the dispossession of Indigenous people. It explores Indigenous social and political movements for land rights and self-determination, as well movements of resurgence and reconciliation. This subject is also concerned with the methodological and ethical complexities of conduction research on Indigenous issues both within settler societies and globally.

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This subject examines various social research design and evaluation approaches to the study of social interaction. Students will critically examine the utility of, and theoretical underpinnings behind advanced methods of collecting, analysing and writing up social research. They will also conduct a small-scale research project, giving them practical skills in designing, conducting and writing up policy research. The subject will prepare students for engaging in real-world policy research and give them a practical understanding of the relationship between policy evaluation and social research in the context of debates around evidence-based policy.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is an introduction to contemporary approaches to inclusive social policy through the lens of ageing. Students will specifically explore issues and challenges that have arisen due to population ageing and discuss topics such as paid and unpaid caregiving, retirement and financial inclusion, and social isolation and loneliness. Students will engage with case studies of programs and policies to consider how governments and NGOs have attempted to address these issues. The subject will also draw on students’ own experiences of inclusive policy development and implementation and learn how to defend their practical policy ideas through scholarly arguments and evidence.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject covers the five eras of Indigenous policy and introduces a set of strategies for analysing and evaluating government policy in a range of fields. Applicable in all policy areas, analysis and evaluation skills are often required in government agencies, industry and community organisations in order to identify the impact of policy and provide direction on opportunity for change.

Indigenous affairs is frequently associated with narratives of failure. This subject provides the opportunity to understand the cause of those narratives and work within strengths-based approaches to analyse and evaluate of key policies in Indigenous affairs.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Crime prevention is a growth area in applied criminology, and many graduates find themselves working in this field. This subject provides a basic understanding of relevant theory and practice. Current national and international developments are summarised and analysed, and approaches to crime prevention are critically assessed. Specific topics include social prevention, environmental prevention, crime prevention through environmental design and the police and the business sector's roles in crime prevention. Evaluation of prevention programs and strategies also is discussed. In line with the subject's policy emphasis, part of the assessment involves summarising and assessing a major Australian crime prevention initiative.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Too often government and social and criminal justice policy focuses on the symptoms rather than the causes of ongoing injustice in society. This subject partners with community and government agencies to create effective change. In this industry project subject, community and government agencies come in and discuss areas of their work that would benefit from criminological research. We then work with you on developing a project, doing research, preparing a response and presenting this to the agency in conversation with them. Past agency partners have included the Human Rights Law Centre, Fitzroy Legal Service, WEstjustice, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Consumer Action Law Centre and Victoria Police (Priority Communities). This subject also introduces you to the concepts of structural injustice and structural justice that help us to better recognise and address underlying causes of harm and disadvantage. It explores best practice in community-engaged research and the translation of research into policy and practice. Community Justice Project gives you the opportunity to use the conceptual frameworks and research skills developed through your Criminology and social science studies degree to create practical outcomes in crime and justice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. There are many recent advances in a diverse array of theory fields that challenge and excite the foundations and practices of criminological inquiry. This subject takes a problem-centred approach to understanding the usefulness of theory in examining matters of pressing criminological concern including, for example, the lived effects of historic and structural injustice, shifting understandings and perceptions of what counts as crime (and what counts as justice), and contemporary challenges arising from the global movement of populations. Choosing different examples of how such problems might materialise (such as through racialised policing, definitions and regulation of anti-social behaviour, the privatisation of criminal justice, practices of preventative detention), this subject presents a variety of theories that can help criminologists look at these problems in new ways. The theories offered can be drawn from developments in history, race, feminism, culture, law, psychoanalysis, or post-colonialism, and the subject assesses their capacity to enrich criminological thinking.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Criminology draws its frameworks for inquiry and understanding from a wide range of intellectual traditions and contemporary conceptualisations. This subject provides accounts of contemporary developments in the construction and application of theory in criminal justice and related settings with a focus on areas of innovation in policy and practice. It is axiomatic that practice in criminal justice ought to be founded on strong theoretical grounds, but this often is not the case. Drawing upon a range of enduring and emerging formulations, the subject explains and tests the relationships between theory and practice in criminal justice. Topics to be covered are drawn from a list which includes restorative justice, offender rehabilitation and desistance, developmental crime prevention, surveillance and control, community and intersectoral policing developments, risk prediction and offender classification, and antisocial behaviour orders.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Students undertaking the criminology masters minor thesis option should demonstrate a clear understanding of a specific field of study at an advanced level. They should demonstrate clear thinking and an ability to integrate theory and method in a logical manner. Students must be able to work in a concentrated way over an extended period of two semesters and must present their research in a scholarly fashion.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The focus of this subject is on the skills entailed in qualitative research projects that seek to understand and explain social and cultural phenomena. It introduces students to various approaches to socio-cultural research and their ethical and methodological implications, particularly in cross-cultural contexts. Students will workshop specific projects, as well as examining a range of qualitative research methods. On completion of this subject students should have the ability to design an original research project of their own, justifying the methodological and ethical approach to be taken.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is designed to provide students with hands-on professional writing and research experience in the context of the everyday operations of a social/criminal justice or community-based agency. The internship takes place in one semester and constitutes a structured and supervised student research consultancy rather than work experience. It provides students with the opportunity to employ formal research skills such as reviewing literature, collecting and analysing data and writing reports or portfolios. It also enables students to appreciate the relationship between criminological or sociological theory and practice, explore the criminological and sociological significance of social categories (such as gender or ethnicity), enhance skills of listening, observation, and cooperation and form relevant professional contacts.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Too often government, social and criminal justice policy focuses on the symptoms rather than the causes of ongoing injustice in society. This subject partners with community agencies to work on a research problem identified by the agencies themselves. The agencies come in and discuss areas of their work that would benefit from criminological research. The subject coordinator works with you on developing a project, doing research, preparing a response and presenting this to the agency in conversation with them. Past agency partners have included the Human Rights Law Centre, Fitzroy Legal Service, WEstjustice, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Consumer Action Law Centre, Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO) and Banksia Gardens Community Service.

This subject introduces you to the concepts of structural injustice and structural justice that help us to better recognise and address underlying causes of harm to people and their communities. It explores best practice in community-engaged research and the translation of research into policy and practice. Community Justice Project gives you the opportunity to use the conceptual frameworks and research skills developed through your degree to create practical outcomes in community justice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject examines the relation between Indigenous peoples, justice and the law, through the lens of sovereignty. It reflects critically on the concept of sovereignty, its powerful propensity to transcend its social origins, and its fortress status in law. Through first examining European law’s relation to Indigenous peoples from 1492, the course explores correlations between Europe’s economic expansion and the development of sovereignty, property, and race as key notions that underpin both individual nation-states and the international order they constitute. In bringing this analysis to bear on contemporary aspirations for structural justice, the course then considers the possibilities and limitations of current legal concepts and mechanisms – in both local and global domains – such as prevailing notions of sovereignty, native title, human rights, crimes against humanity, and transitional justice. Finally, the course presents examples of innovative contemporary interventions in support of structural justice in settler states, promoting new ways to think about their complex pasts and presents, and possible future directions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject is about the ways in which the criminal justice system responds to crime. It examines the principles that judges and magistrates must consider when sentencing offenders and the role of judicial discretion in the sentencing process. The subject includes an examination of some of the more recent approaches to dealing with offenders that are available in Australia, such as the restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudential practices used in problem-solving courts and alternative dispute resolution. The effectiveness of different sentencing options is considered, with a special focus on imprisonment and parole. Finally, the subject examines the research on public perceptions of sentencing, and considers the role of the public in sentencing policy and practice. At the end of this subject students should have a clear understanding of the principles and purposes of sentencing, an appreciation of the research literature on the effectiveness of different sentencing options and approaches, and a healthy skepticism of media representations of ‘lenient’ sentencing decisions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Crime prevention is a growth area in applied criminology, and many graduates find themselves working in this field. This subject provides a basic understanding of relevant theory and practice. Current national and international developments are summarised and analysed, and approaches to crime prevention are critically assessed. Specific topics include social prevention, environmental prevention, crime prevention through environmental design and the police and the business sector's roles in crime prevention. Evaluation of prevention programs and strategies also is discussed. In line with the subject's policy emphasis, part of the assessment involves summarising and assessing a major Australian crime prevention initiative.

View detailed information in the Handbook

What does it mean for a criminal justice intervention to be effective? Why is it important to know? For whom? How does government emphasis on the impact of criminal justice programs affect the design and funding of programs? And what does this focus on effectiveness mean for research priorities and methods? This subject considers questions such as these in exploring how, why, and for whom criminal justice ‘evidence’ or ‘knowledge’ is produced. In this subject you will be asked to identify a particular criminal justice program or intervention (we will look at a range of examples), and to design an approach to discover whether or not it ‘works’ – thinking about how, why and for whom.

The subject is divided into three broad areas. First we will examine what ‘criminal justice governance’ actually is, what it means for criminal justice policy and practice, and the implications for ‘evidence’ about programs and interventions. In the second section we will explore different approaches to measuring effectiveness and gathering knowledge about criminal justice practices and programs. The last part will focus on different settings (e.g. prisons, policing) and subjects of criminal justice research (e.g. justice-involved young people), and the impact that different kinds of knowledge might have. Throughout, we will examine professional and political issues about the role and application of research in criminal justice, as well as ethical issues about engaging in research with vulnerable and offending populations.

View detailed information in the Handbook

This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

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Mass violence inflicted by states and groups have a prolonged effect on communities and nations. This subject considers the forms of trauma people experience as a response to these forms of violence and explores how this trauma propels calls for apologies, truth commissions, retribution and torture. The subject employs psychoanalytic theory and practice to consider what it means to be traumatised and what it means to seek remedies from law, and uses examples of cross-cultural lawful practice to interrogate ideas of violence and trauma. Legal practices, apologies and demands for reconciliation will be discussed as methods of responding to the rage, pain and mourning that trauma demands. The course will be divided into 4 sections dealing with – trauma and violence, torture, testimony and reconciliation. In these sections we will look at events in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Australia and Nazi Germany, where legal mechanisms, apologies and vengeance have been utilised as responses to events such as genocide, terrorist acts, hostile occupation, and war. Note – some of the content of this course may be distressing.

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Crime is an issue of great social, individual and cultural concern. This subject investigates some of the ways in which crime is represented, talked about, and interpreted in popular culture and the media. The subject focuses on two issues: first, the skills and techniques required to interpret representations of crime (such as those in newspapers, film, literature, art, and television); and second, the significance and implications of images of crime in popular culture and the media. The subject includes an emphasis on interpretive and analytical skills, covering film and television analysis, aspects of narrative criticism, and techniques of news media analysis. The subject engages with a broad range of case studies of crime as it is represented in popular culture and the media, including street art and graffiti, controversial artwork, drug use, sexual assault, terrorism, the Holocaust, homicide and family violence.

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Comparative approaches to crime and justice have the potential to provide valuable insights into how social, cultural, and institutional contexts shape responses to offending and victimisation across different societies. This subject introduces students to the Japanese criminal justice system, exploring how its distinctive features contribute to markedly different crime rates and justice outcomes compared with Australia. Students will examine key institutions and practices in policing, courts and corrections, with a particular focus on responses to offenders with specialised needs (such as disability, age, and mental illness). Through comparative analysis, the subject highlights how culture, law and social policy intersect to influence justice processes and outcomes. Taught in Japan, the program combines seminars with Australian and Japanese academics and practitioners, and includes site visits to justice institutions. Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend a half-day of preparatory seminars designed to introduce them to key facets of the Japanese criminal justice system (on-campus). Students must also attend a concluding review session on-campus upon return from Japan.

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Genocide, mass harm and state crime demand a response. And yet, what can and does justice look like in the wake of state crime? What legal and non-legal processes should be put in place, at both the global and the local levels? This subject examines the rationale, operation and impact of legal, political and social initiatives designed to address these harms – from the establishment of international courts, national truth commissions and local justice processes which pursue goals such as accountability, truth and reconciliation, to grass-roots and civil society responses. It considers dominant definitions of genocide and state crime and their social, cultural, historical and political dynamics. It explores who is responsible and what might redress look like in light of this. It asks what forms of harm and suffering are addressed and which experiences and forms of injustice remain hidden from view. This subject critically examines attempts to understand and respond to mass harm in a global and a local context.

This subject will be taught intensively overseas on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia by Australian and Indonesian academics.

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How well-placed is the criminal justice system to meet the needs of victims? How can criminal justice actors and processes enhance victim experiences? And how might justice be pursued outside the criminal justice system?

This subject introduces students to issues and innovations relating to victims of crime. Victims have historically occupied a secondary place within liberal legal systems, as crimes are conceived as offences against the state. Yet victims are frequently required to narrate their experiences to assist in the adjudication of guilt — a process that may be cathartic for some and traumatising or re-victimising for others. Increasingly, many victims seek justice outside formal legal processes, pursuing alternative forms of recognition and redress.

Part One of the subject examines victims in relation to traditional criminal justice processes, including reforms aimed at enhancing victim participation. Part Two investigates alternative justice responses, such as public inquiries, apologies, memorialisation, and other non-legal mechanisms that reflect broader understandings of harm, healing and accountability.

The subject will explore the historical emergence of victimology; policy and procedural reforms within criminal justice; recognition and redress beyond legal processes; the role of testimony, truth-telling and memory in alternative justice; and future directions in victim-centred justice. Students will critically consider the evolving role of the victim in legal and social contexts, and debate the strengths and limitations of both legal and non-legal responses to harm. The subject includes content on sexual violence victimisation, which some students may find distressing.

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This subject engages with the common belief that criminal justice systems have become 'the new asylums' for people with disabilities. It will introduce students to the historical, structural and socio-cultural factors contributing to the disproportionate contact of people with disabilities with the criminal justice system, including their current over-representation within prisons. The subject will also evaluate the different ways governments have attempted to reduce the flow of people with disabilities into the criminal justice system, exploring the development of preventative and protective mechanisms within both civil and criminal law, and examine the consequences of these mechanisms on the lives of people with disabilities.

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This subject engages with emerging and pressing issues in criminology and criminal justice. Focusing on a selection of key topics of criminological interest, this subject will enable students to broaden and deepen their understanding of contemporary issues in criminological research, policy and practice. The subject will be taught as an intensive at the University of Oxford and will include sessions by University of Oxford academics.

Please note: Prior to travelling overseas, students are required to attend an on-campus briefing session.

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Fear of terrorism and a desire to defend communities has given rise to legal responses and new security regulations centred on surveillance. This subject is an in-depth study of the political, legal and the criminological rhetoric and practices around violence targeted at racialised communities. It explores terrorism, state and community responses to four extreme violent events through the lens of emotions they generate. Using criminological and socio-legal theory the subject examines how emotions become a site of political struggle after extreme violence, shaping how we understand harm, criminality, victimhood and justice. Connecting critical theory, criminological inquiry and lived community experience, the subject explores the ways in which liberal democracies live with political violence by policing emotions and how this can produce feelings of democratic belonging and alienation.

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Cultural, ideological, and political attachment to involuntary detention persists in most societies across the globe. This subject examines carcerality in its numerous incarnations and interrogates our attachment to it. The subject invites students to critically examine things we often overlook or take for granted as ‘natural’ or ‘commonsensical’. Students will learn and employ theoretical tools and empirical data to scrutinise the reasons, justifications, ‘effectiveness’, and consequences of our societal zeal to criminalise and incarcerate individuals and communities.

The subject aims at helping learners to appreciate punishment and detention as a complex social, political, historical, and economic phenomenon, rather than merely a purported crime-control measure. Equipping students with analytical tools, the subject promotes the development of a critical stance on how we as a society define, create, and perpetuate harm and social divisions. The subject offers students an opportunity to grow intellectually, becoming critical about public discourses and government policies concerning crime and punishment, whilst also facilitating checking one's own preconceptions and interrogating personal prejudices.

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The history wars between Japan and China over Japan's war time roles periodically cause diplomatic fall outs between these two countries. Within the borders of Indonesia and Cambodia memories of violence are equally contested. Drawing on theoretical reflections on history and memory, on memory and identity politics, memory and the body, memory and gender students in this subject will learn to critically analyse memories or representations of violence in a range of Asian contexts. We will also engage with and reflect on a variety of media of memory such as narratives or testimony, museums, monuments, commemorative ceremonies, Internet sites, art and photographs. We will also reflect on the ethics and problems associated with researching and writing about memories and violence and related issues of truth and justice. The subject will include a number of case studies such as Japanese historical revisionism, the related memory wars in China over Japanese representations of the Nanjing Massacre and in Korea over the so called 'Comfort Women'. Further case studies might include memories of decolonisation wars, commemoration of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, representations of the 1965 anti-communist killings in Indonesia, representations of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, representations of the Cultural Revolution in China and representations of the Vietnam War in Vietnam.

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This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

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This subject is about the role of international organisations in global politics and governance. States have established these formal institutions to better cooperate in addressing global economic, environmental, and security problems, but there is considerable debate in international relations scholarship about their efficacy. In this subject, we will critically assess the world’s foremost international organisations, notably the United Nations and its many specialised agencies, international financial institutions including the World Bank and World Trade Organization, and regional organisations, such as the European Union and NATO. We will ask: to what extent do these organisations only reflect the interests of powerful member states? To what extent can they address global inequality and empower marginalised peoples? Do they enable or constrain efforts toward a more sustainable world? These questions and others will lead us to a better understanding of the factors that shape these organisations, the ways in which they operate, and the impact they have in global politics.

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Taking a global perspective, this subject explores contemporary relationships between Indigenous people and settler societies from a legal, political and social perspectives. In a comparative perspective, it examines the dynamics of these relations in terms of global, national and regional political orders, exploring the impact and management of the dispossession of Indigenous people. It explores Indigenous social and political movements for land rights and self-determination, as well movements of resurgence and reconciliation. This subject is also concerned with the methodological and ethical complexities of conduction research on Indigenous issues both within settler societies and globally.

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This subject examines various social research design and evaluation approaches to the study of social interaction. Students will critically examine the utility of, and theoretical underpinnings behind advanced methods of collecting, analysing and writing up social research. They will also conduct a small-scale research project, giving them practical skills in designing, conducting and writing up policy research. The subject will prepare students for engaging in real-world policy research and give them a practical understanding of the relationship between policy evaluation and social research in the context of debates around evidence-based policy.

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This subject is an introduction to contemporary approaches to inclusive social policy through the lens of ageing. Students will specifically explore issues and challenges that have arisen due to population ageing and discuss topics such as paid and unpaid caregiving, retirement and financial inclusion, and social isolation and loneliness. Students will engage with case studies of programs and policies to consider how governments and NGOs have attempted to address these issues. The subject will also draw on students’ own experiences of inclusive policy development and implementation and learn how to defend their practical policy ideas through scholarly arguments and evidence.

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This subject covers the five eras of Indigenous policy and introduces a set of strategies for analysing and evaluating government policy in a range of fields. Applicable in all policy areas, analysis and evaluation skills are often required in government agencies, industry and community organisations in order to identify the impact of policy and provide direction on opportunity for change.

Indigenous affairs is frequently associated with narratives of failure. This subject provides the opportunity to understand the cause of those narratives and work within strengths-based approaches to analyse and evaluate of key policies in Indigenous affairs.

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