Course specification for CRI2213

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CRI2213 Youth, Deviance and Juvenile Justice

Semester 1, 2020 On-campus Toowoomba
Short Description: Youth Deviance Juvenile Justic
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Law and Justice
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 099903 - Criminology
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

Rationale

The age-crime curve is a well-known and consistently demonstrated trend within criminological literature. This trend shows that deviant and offending behaviour peaks during adolescence, followed by a sharp decline, levelling out by mid to late 20s. During the adolescent years, young people will/may engage with a variety of community institutes actively involved in the lives of young people during their development years. Individuals located in this institutes include teachers, employers, health services professionals, community group leaders, and more specifically as it relates to juvenile justice - youth workers, police, and courts and corrections workers. Duet to the higher frequency of deviant and offending behaviour during adolescent years, as well as the various community institutes young people are likely to be connected with, studies of youth, deviancy and offending are applicable to a broad range of students beyond those studying criminology and law. Youth, deviancy and juvenile justice course is relevant for any student anticipating a career where they are likely to encounter young people. Students will gain insights into the explanations, issues and challenges of deviancy and offending among young people. In addition, by developing an understanding of deviancy and offending during adolescence, and the additional challenges associated with indignity, ethnicity, socio-economic status and gender, students will be equipped with a broader knowledge base in responding to and dealing with young offenders within the context of their own careers.

Synopsis

Adolescence is a time of great change and development during a person's life. Also, during the adolescent years is when the rate of deviant and offending behaviour peaks. This course introduces students to theoretical explanations around why offending behaviour is most problematic amongst juveniles. The history of juvenile justice and the institutes in place to provide justice services to young offenders, as well as the various justice models that guide these responses is also examined. Students will learn that dealing with young offenders requires a number of special considerations. For example, the socio-demographic characteristics of young people such as socio-economic status, indignity, ethnicity, and gender lead to differential ways of young people being dealt with and processed through the juvenile justice system. These social dynamics are examined during this course as well as the juvenile justice system's responses to young people who offend, the challenges associated with those responses, punishment of young offenders and alternative responses that emphasise rehabilitation.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. explain theoretical explanations around juvenile delinquency and offending;
  2. articulate the importance for particular responses to delinquency among disadvantaged groups;
  3. critically appraise juvenile justice responses to delinquents and young offenders;
  4. communicate responses to questions about youth offending, in writing and verbally;
  5. contribute independent thought to a variety of topics associated with youth, deviancy and juvenile justice.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Course introduction and overview of Youth, Deviance and Juvenile Justice 10.00
2. Theories of juvenile delinquency and offending 15.00
3. Juvenile Justice history and institutions 10.00
4. The social dynamics of juvenile justice 30.00
5. Justice responses to young offenders 20.00
6. Youth deviance and offending - Prevention and rehabilitation 15.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=CRI2213)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Cunneen, C, White, R, and Richards, K 2015, Juvenile justice. Youth and crime in Australia, 5th edn, Oxford ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, South Melbourne, Australia.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 65.00
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 37.00
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 63.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Objectives Assessed Notes
Quiz 20 20 20 Mar 2020 4,5
Argumentative Essay 30 30 02 Apr 2020 1,2,3
Oral Presentation 30 30 07 May 2020 1,3,4,5
Presentation Paper 20 20 07 May 2020 1,3,4,5

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination in this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the APA referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ library's referencing guide. These guides can be found at

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:

Conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement and is benchmarked against the internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.

Date printed 19 June 2020