Course Coordinator:Timothy Prenzler (tprenzle@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.
Corruption and misconduct have been recurring issues in criminal justice agencies. This course examines the nature and extent of the problem, and various causal factors. Ethical issues and dilemmas for criminal justice professionals are also examined. Methods of identifying and preventing misconduct are now highly developed. A diverse range of these integrity management strategies and institutions is examined, including anti-corruption commissions, codes of conduct, complaints investigations and profiling, and covert tactics.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – For consumption before tutorials | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – For consumption before tutorials | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorial | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Ethics and accountability in the public sector
Policing – (1) ethical issues and standards, (2) misconduct and misconduct case studies, and (3) integrity management.
Criminal courts – (1) ethical issues and standards, (2) misconduct and misconduct case studies, and (3) integrity management.
Corrections – (1) ethical issues and standards, (2) misconduct and misconduct case studies, and (3) integrity management.
Mature content is discussed across all topics.
300 Level (Graduate)
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 | Critically evaluate ethical issues and standards, the nature and causes of misconduct, and the rationales for integrity strategies in the public sector and police. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Empowered Ethical Engaged |
| 2 | Critically evaluate ethical issues and standards, the nature and causes of misconduct, and the rationales for integrity strategies in the criminal courts. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Empowered Ethical Engaged |
| 3 | Summarise and critique ethical issues and standards, the nature and causes of misconduct, and the rationales for integrity strategies in corrections. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Empowered Ethical Engaged |
| 4 | Apply scholarly writing, research and reference practice. |
Knowledgeable Empowered Ethical |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Years 1 and 2 of a criminology, social science or law degree
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Quizzes and follow up discussions and activities in class will provide early feedback.
| 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 | Essay | Individual | 35% | 1800 words |
Week 5 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 2 | Essay | Individual | 35% | 1800 words |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 30% | 1.5 hours |
Week 12 | Online Submission |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Essay | ||||||||||
| Goal: | To develop a substantive critique of the main ethical issues and standards, misconduct types and cases, and integrity strategies in the public sector and policing. |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Essay completed individually. Topics and guidance will be provided by Week 1. Quizzes and follow up discussions and activities in class will provide early feedback for the essay. Students will be required to use Cadmus as part of their submission of this task. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Essay | ||||||||||
| Goal: | To develop a substantive critique of the main ethical issues and standards, misconduct types and cases, and integrity strategies in the criminal courts. |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | Essay completed individually. Topics and guidance will be provided by Week 6. Quizzes and follow up discussions and activities in class will provide early feedback for the essay. Students will be required to use Cadmus as part of their submission of this task. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Final Exam | |||||||
| Goal: | Assess learning in the final block of the course |
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| Product: | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | ||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||
| Format: | Online multiple choice test. Guidance will be provided in advance. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Organisation, Applying technologies, 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 | Tim Prenzler | 2021 | Ethics and Accountability in Criminal Justice: Towards a Universal Standard | 3 | Australian Academic Press |
N/A
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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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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