School Of Social SciencesPolicing in AustraliaWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 400658.2
Discipline: POLICE STUDIES
Student Contribution Band: 1
Level: 2
Credit Points: 10
Assumed Knowledge
Foundational knowledge of the criminal justice system and criminological theories
Unit Enrolment Restrictions
Successful completion of 40 credit points.
About this Unit
This unit examines the sociology and history of policing in New South Wales and Australia more generally. There will also be some focus on other countries with similar police practices to that of the Australian police service – particularly Britain and North America. The police are the visible embodiment of state sanctioned power, however, policing is an activity carried by numerous state and private instrumentalities, often on very mundane and obscured levels. While this unit will focus primarily on the social and cultural organisation and activities of ‘the police’ – salaried officers of the state mostly in a uniform capacity – we will also look at broader notions of social governance and indeed governance of ‘the police’.