Media and Crime (P02179)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LAW-P-P02179

This course will be offered as an optional module for the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Students taking the module will study media representations of crime and responses to crime (such as policing and punishment). The module will study both non-fictional and fictional representations, exploring theoretical models of the workings of the media (both sociological and political), as well as specific stufy of the ways in which crime is portrayed, discussed and consumed in different media genres. Genres to be examined include newspapers (local and national), television news, television documentaries, radio, movies, and the Internet. Genres will be studied by focusing on specific instances (for example, a specific television show, newspaper, or newspaper report) of each kind, with materials being available in the Law Library, on the course website, and via the Internet.

? Keywords : Media crime policing reporting news television cinema Internet

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Law, (School of Law, Schedule F)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 1 hour(s) 50 minutes per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to explain and assess some leading theories of the workings and social effects of the media, and be able to identify, examine, describe and discuss various different examples of depiction of crime (and related activities) as found in different media genres. Students will be able to apply media theories to specific examples, and explain and assess the results. Students taking the module will acquire sufficient knowledge and skills in the subject area as to be able subsequently to conduct independent but guided research for the purposes of writing an MSc dissertation on a topic in the area.