Unit Synopsis
This unit extends your basic knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of criminology by considering a broad range of interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime and penology. You will investigate how these theories can inform research, legislation, law enforcement and regulatory responses to crime. You will examine theoretical and practical case studies to consider how different theoretical approaches may lead to different and perhaps contradictory outcomes. This unit will also develop your methodological analysis skills, examining qualitative and quantitative data to test models suggested by theories of crime.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 15% |
| 2. Case Study | 40% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 45% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 90.91% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 11.83% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE
Students felt the unit Moodle site needed to be updated and better organised.
The teaching team will update and organise content on the Moodle site to ensure materials are current and accessible to students.
The Moodle site was updated and organised to improve currency and accessibility for students.
Source: SUTE
Students wanted more guidance and examples of how to complete the written assessments.
The teaching team will revise the assessment instructions to increase clarity and provide examples (where possible) to provide further guidance on what is required.
Assessment instructions were revised and additional information was provided to increase clarity. Examples were also provided as further guidance, including discussions and questions in workshops.
Source: SUTE
Students found the unit materials and activities engaging.
The teaching team will continue to provide an engaging unit through the use of past and current examples, and activities and discussions for students to explore theories further.
Providing engaging materials and activities was continued in 2025, so students could explore theories further.
Source: SUTE
Timing of assessment items could be adjusted to improve studies and focus.
Adjust timing of assessment items to facilitate better use of feedback and improved learning outcomes.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
The unit was engaging and challenging, yet easy to follow.
Continue to provide an engaging and challenging learning experience.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Assessment instructions are clear, making assessment completion manageable.
Continue to provide assessment tasks that have clear instructions and can be completed within realistic timeframes.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Real world examples and links were interesting and helped with understanding criminology theories.
Continue to provide examples and links that are engaging and useful for learning criminology theories.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Critique, analyse and reflect on interdisciplinary contemporary theories of crime, their policy implications and practical outcomes
- Research and develop a systematic approach to evaluating the effectiveness of criminology theories in managing criminal activity
- Conceptualise crime using a variety of disciplines, discuss theories based on these conceptualisations, and how these theories influence law and social policy.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | ||
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |||||||||