Crime and Criminal Policy
Full course description
Crime and Criminal Policy provides a comprehensive exploration of the fundamental concepts, theories, and contemporary issues surrounding crime and criminal justice policy. It focuses on the interaction between criminal law, society, and governance and considers how laws and policies are created, implemented, and adapted in response to crime. Students will analyze the social, political, and legal dimensions of crime control and prevention and examine the effectiveness, fairness, and consequences of criminal justice policies.
The challenging course requires students to think outside the box and, in addition to the application of legal methods, the course will explore criminological, social-scientific, and empirical methods. Behavioral theories, crime statistics, and various disciplines such as victimology and penology form an integral part of the endeavor to achieve a deeper understanding of crime and criminal policy. The focus, however, of the course is legal, and each session is complemented by a case study to stimulate discussion and give students the opportunity to train their argumentation skills and demonstrate their intellectual abilities. The course is designed around a series of lectures on a wide range of criminal law topics, given by various members of the Department of Criminal Law at Maastricht University. Students will gain an insight into the research activities of the department, meet some of the department's finest scholars, and be brought up to date on current debates in crime policy, criminal justice, and criminological research in the Netherlands, Europe, and the world.
Course objectives
The course Crime and Criminal Policy invites students to reflect on various aspects with regard to the definition of crime and the development of criminal policy and criminal law. The students are challenged to scrutinize the basic elements of the concept of crime, the origins of crime policy, the rationale behind the contemporary response to crime and its implications on the development of criminal law.
Course objectives are:
- Understanding the Legal Framework: Introduce students to the legal foundations of criminal law, including its role in shaping criminal policy and how laws are formulated and interpreted to address crime.
- Explore Theories of Crime: Provide a grounding in criminological theories, helping students understand various explanations of why crime occurs and how these theories influence criminal policy.
- Critical Analysis of Criminal Policy: Develop students’ ability to critically analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of different criminal policies, considering their impact on society and the rule of law.
- Assessing Reform and Innovation: Investigate contemporary debates and reforms in criminal policy, such as decriminalization, crime prevention and the culture of control.
- International Perspectives: Compare and contrast crime control strategies and criminal policies across different legal jurisdictions and their relation to transnational crime and global governance.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the concepts and principles of substantive criminal law is required.
Recommended reading
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