What are ‘crime’ and ‘criminal justice’? What’s the difference between ‘crime’ and ‘social harm’, and who has the power to decide? How is the concept of ‘violence’ important to understanding criminal justice as well as crime?
This course is for anyone interested in studying some of society’s most pressing social problems at a local and global level. It is relevant to the work of criminal justice agencies, and organisations concerned with the care and resettlement of offenders, civil liberties, human rights, social justice, victim support, crime prevention, community safety and conflict resolution. DD301 is a compulsory course for D56 Diploma in Social Policy and Criminology, B48 BA (Hons) Criminology and Psychological Studies and a specified course for B01 BA (Hons) History, B06 BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) Social Sciences with Social Policy, B06 BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) Social Sciences. It can also count towards most other degrees at bachelor’s level.
See the DD301 Course description for an overview of the course content and other information regarding entry level, course materials, assessment details and qualifications which it can count towards.
For information on topics such as choosing a course, studying with the OU, and general advice on preparing to study your first OU course, visit our Study Explained website.
The following extract is from the DD301 DVD
The Study Calendar below will give you an idea of what is studied when.
As you will see from the sample of course materials below, we are aiming to interrogate questions such as ‘what is crime’ and ‘what is criminal justice’ using relations between the local and global.
It might be a good idea to watch out for items about crime and justice on the news and in the newspapers. Try to think about how they might have ‘local’ and ‘global’ aspects.
topOnce you have registered on a course you will have access to Learning with the OU at www.open.ac.uk/learning. This link provides information on topics such as getting started, study strategies, personal and career development, planning studies and moving on.
