Criminology

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Did you know that community perception of crime rates continues to increase, despite downward trends in crime statistics in Victoria over the past few decades? And did you know that this pattern is fairly consistent across the world in similar societies such as the UK, and the US? The reason for this overall downturn in crime is one that many lawyers, researchers, and criminologists have attempted to explain, but have not yet been able to find a clear answer to. In this subject, you will join this community of criminologists to learn about the criminal justice system and Victorian courts, then to explore crime statistics and research in order to determine what initiatives and legal reforms could be adopted in Victoria in order to reduce crime and lower the recidivism, or re-offending- rate. This will be based on a study of existing evidence, and will also therefore investigate common sense opinions or TV-inspired attitudes which are not effective, such as the reliability of most forensic science, and the effectiveness of mandatory sentencing or the ability of capital punishment to deter criminal activity.This subject is idea for students who want to better understand legal issues, and it also helps students to develop skills for VCE Legal Studies. It will include excursions to various courts: the Supreme Court, County Court, and Magistrates’ Court.