Course Coordinator:Nadine McKillop (nmckillo@usc.edu.au) School:School of Law and Society
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
Understanding the complex causes of crime is essential to developing just and effective responses to offending behaviour. This course introduces you to the main theories of crime developed over the last 250+ years. The approach explains the origins of theories according to their social contexts. The course also develops your knowledge of the main critiques of these theories focusing on evidence and scientific verification, and the implications of different theories for crime prevention and criminal justice practices.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous online learning materials | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Face-to-Face Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
| Seminar – Course Seminar | 1hr | Week 1 | Once Only |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous online learning materials. | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Online tutorial | 2hrs | Week 2 | 10 times |
| Seminar – Course Seminar | 1hr | Week 1 | Once Only |
Module 1: Introduction to Theory and Theory Testing
Module 2: Classical Criminology
Module 3: Positivist Criminology
100 Level (Introductory)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Identify and describe the origins and main concepts underpinning criminological theories. |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
| 2 | Apply different theories to explain specific crimes and crime patterns. |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered |
| 3 | Critique various crime theories from a scientific viewpoint and assess their potential impact on criminal justice policy and practice. |
Creative and critical thinker Ethical Engaged |
| 4 | Develop and support key arguments using evidence-based research and analysis |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Engaged |
| 5 | Demonstrate high-quality written and oral communication skills, including scholarly writing and reference practices. |
Empowered Ethical |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
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Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Interactive online quizzes and formative tasks are built into class activities from week 2 to assist you with learning and retaining key theoretical concepts taught throughout the course; and for you to bench mark your progress.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 25% | 1 hour |
Week 6 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 2 | Portfolio | Individual | 40% | 2,000 words |
Week 11 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Essay | Individual | 35% | 1,500 words |
Exam Period | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Online Exam | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this assessment is to test your knowledge and understanding of key concepts covered in Modules 1 and 2. |
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| Product: | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | This assessment task is in the form of a CANVAS online exam. More information will be provided in tutorials and on CANVAS to help you prepare for this task. Students are required to complete the task using Cadmus. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Theory Portfolio | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The purpose of this assessment task is to demonstrate your knowledge and application of criminological theories covered in module 3, and how these explanations might guide specific criminal justice responses. |
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| Product: | Portfolio | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | You will be required to complete all questions contained in the portfolio to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, and application of positivist theoretical concepts for explaining and responding to crime. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Essay | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To demonstrate your knowledge of Life-Course perspectives of criminality and apply them to a specific crime problem. |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | You are required to produce an essay that applies the Life-course perspective to a specific crime problem, and evaluates its strengths and limitations for explaining the crime. Students are required to complete the task using Cadmus. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Required | Stephen G. Tibbetts & Alex R. Piquero | 2023 | Criminological Theory: The Essentials | 4th edition | SAGE Publications |
Not applicable
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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