School Of Social SciencesPunishmentWestern Sydney University Unit Code: 400685.2
Discipline: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE NOT ELSEWHERE CLASSIFIED
Student Contribution Band: 1
Level: 3
Credit Points: 10
Assumed Knowledge
Foundation criminology units
Unit Enrolment Restrictions
Successful completion of 80 credit points.
About this Unit
This unit provides a philosophical, historical and sociological exploration of practices and theories of punishment. It begins by introducing students to the deep-seated cultural impulse to inflict punishment and to philosophical debates about the goals of and practices of punishment. It examines the shift from bodily punishments to the rise of prisons that took as their object the ‘soul’ of the offender. It then explores the nature and impact of punishment as it relates to particular marginalised groups. Finally the unit explores contemporary shifts to develop alternative restorative and therapeutic justice.