Artefact 1: 2,500 word (+/- 10%) – Essay (50%)
Choose from either classicism, positivism or sociological perspectives and critically compare and contrast the early formation of theory with its contemporary manifestation.
Assessment criteria:
In each artifact you should focus on one criminological perspective addressing its early or original formation and its contemporary or recent manifestation.
Although there may be variances between perspectives, as a general (rather than strict) rule you should infer ‘contemporary’ to refer to theories that have been advanced since the year 2000
Be careful to avoid simply describing and offering broad overviews of the chosen theories and simply addressing findings and conclusions. Rather what you need to develop is discussion concerning the underlying core principles of the perspectives. This should involve identifying key (past and present) theorists associated with the chosen perspective (hence you are advised to identify these theorists in your introduction).
Once you have identified the underlying core principles and key past and present theorists you can then compare how the past or early formation of the theories may relate to contemporary manifestation. How, in other words, recent developments may develop or alter ideas as originally introduced possibly due to the new innovations, different economic, cultural and social contexts or new technologies or methods of research.
In other words consider factors such as:
• changes that may be due to different social, historical, social & political context in which each of the theories were advanced
• changes or advances in research method or approach
• whether the theory aims to be applied or theoretical
So ensure you focus the discussion of your essays on the similarities (or continuities) and differences (how they diverge) between the early/past formation of the chosen perspective and its more contemporary/present incarnation. So things to avoid are
• simply describing the work of different contributors to the perspective you have chosen
• offering a chronological/historical description of the perspective you have chosen (the point of the essay is to compare the past with the present not to describe various contributions to the perspective).
• offering criticisms of the theories whereby you identify flaws and shortcomings. Rather the analytical aspect of the question is the comparison between past and present.
Assignment must be coherently structured and argued, demonstrating wide reading and research, with all supporting evidence correctly referenced in the text and included in a reference list. Please also be careful not to over-rely (or only rely) on introductory texts. Whilst you are welcome to use introductory texts (especially if you are new to the subject) they should be a start point (not the only point of your research). The potential problem with not making use of higher level and more specialist texts is that you will produce essays that are confined to descriptive matters rather than develop depth, analysis and insight in relation to the question.
You are strongly advised to begin to read around the perspective you have chosen as soon as possible irrespective of whether you have had the lecture on your chosen topic. The sooner you begin to read the more confident you will be with identifying and exploring the underlying concepts and thinking about the contextual issues in which the theory emerged and now exists. In developing your understanding of the topic please ensure that you have relied upon the texts/sources identified in the reading list for this unit.