School Of Social Sciences And PsychologyPrisons, Punishment and Criminal JusticeWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 102036.1
Discipline: CRIMINOLOGY
Student Contribution Band: 1
Level: 2
Credit Points: 10
Equivalent Units
101558 - Prisons and Punishment
About this Unit
The demise of corporal punishment and the regular use of imprisonment are defining features of control in modern states. This unit provides an historical and sociological examination of the models, practices and justifications for punishment and incarceration. It begins with an overview of early liberal notions of the social contract, the modern movement away from corporal punishment towards incarceration, and criminology's emphasis on treatment, reform and rehabilitation. Following from this, the unit explores the development of probation and parole systems, decarceration, community corrections, mass imprisonment, and the contemporary control of risk and 'dangerous' populations. These themes are considered through the role of intersecting structural factors such as age, gender, sexuality, social class, racial/ethnic identity and disability, and the impact of imprisonment and corrections on different individuals and groups.