Demonstrate extensive empirical knowledge and a comparative understanding of the nature of youth gangs in Britain, North America and Mainland Europe and responses to them.

MA CRIMINOLOGY & MA CHILDHOOD & YOUTH STUDIES

 

Young People, Group Offending & Violent Crime: Unit ASS016-6

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome On completion of this unit you should be able to:	Threshold criteria In order to pass the assessment you will need to:
Demonstrate a critical appreciation of current debates and discourses on violent group offending and policy and practice responses.	Demonstrate extensive empirical knowledge and a comparative understanding of the nature of youth gangs in Britain, North America and Mainland Europe and responses to them.
	Make links between the study of youth group violence to broader theoretical themes and political analyses.
	Develop a critical appreciation of the challenges of researching and developing appropriate policy and practice responses this area through the. Review of past and current studies of gangs and violent group offending.
Provide a critical evidence-based account of the nature and extent of group offending, both orally and in writing, as the basis for generating innovative and effective ways of addressing group offending and serious youth violence.	Present and debate a reflective account of an aspect of group offending, based on critical analysis and synthesis of related literature and current research
	Use feedback to develop thinking for the second assignment; Develop innovative ways of addressing group offending and serious youth violence based on a critically informed, evidence-based evaluation of its nature and extent and of current policy and practice.

Assessment

There are two assessment points in the unit. The first assignment is an individual, presentation weighed at 30%.  The second assignment is a 2,500-word essay weighted at 70%.

The lecturers/s will assist you in the selection of topics and texts and an assessment brief and guidance on the two tasks are provided in the Unit Handbook.

Assignment 1

The first assignment will be an individual 10-minute in-class presentation based on an aspect of violent group offending.   In the presentation, you should describe and critically evaluate a particular aspect of violent group offending and should give consideration to policy and practice responses to it.  Your presentation should raise issues for discussion by identifying points of interest or questions that the group can consider in the rest of the seminar. 

You will be presented with written feedback on the presentation which will contribute to the development of your approach to the second assessment.

The dates for presentations are Wednesday 10th and Wednesday 17th May 2017 Presentations should contain no more than 10 PowerPoint slides and should be accompanied by an explanatory narrative.

Assignment 2

The 2,500-word essay should build upon the aspect of violent group offending identified for assignment one.  It is expected that comprehensive reviews of the relevant literature and critical analysis of relevant research will be included in the assignment.

You need to start writing from the first learning outcome which is Demonstrate extensive empirical knowledge and a comparative understanding of the nature of youth gangs in Britain, North America and Mainland Europe and responses to them