The purpose of this module is to provide students with an understanding of punishment, criminal justice and social regulation. In particular the aims of the module are as follows: to provide analyses of the primary penal disposals (both contemporary and historical) utilised in society; to highlight the various political, social, cultural and economic determinants that underpin the provision of penal dispositions; to encourage theorisation about punishment and penal responses; to highlight the needs and concerns of victims of crime; to determine how change is possible in the penal complex - in particular, how sanctions are modified or supplanted and how stakeholders, such as victims, emerge; to examine new 'logics' and 'discourses' on punishment and justice as they emerge; and, to provide a framework of understanding modern penal systems and the forms of social organisation in which they operate.

This module covers the emergence of penal welfarism and individualisation of treatment, the culture of control in late modern society, the emergence of prison and the disciplinary society, issues such as exclusion, governance, and expressive punishments, the politicisation of law and order, the return of the victim, Norbert Elias and the civilising society; Emile Durkheim and social solidarity; Cohen's dispersal of discipline thesis, and crime and punishment in Ireland.

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: - Differentiate between criminal law as paper rules and criminal law in action; - Outline and trace changes in punishment and the justice system over time; - Identify the determinants which shape punishment and justice in late modern society; - Employ different theoretical approaches to criminal law phenomena; - Examine the extent to which such theories can explain occurrences in late modern Irish society; - Interpret Irish criminal law cases, statutes and policy recommendations in socio-legal terms

On completion of this module, students should be able to: - Connect changing values and sentiments in punishment and justice with a changing emphasis on criminal law and procedure; - Understand current criminal justice policies in terms of overarching trends and patterns (as it relates to accused, victims, agencies and politicians); - Question the extent to which criminal law really is objective and value free in orientation.

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This module will be delivered via online 2-hour seminars which involve instruction on the various theories to be studied, as well as active student discussion on each of these theories. Students will become more knowledgeable by engaging with a new perspective on and understanding of the process of punishment and its role within the criminal justice system, as well as its employment as a form of social regulation. Their knowledge will also be advanced through a critical engagement with the needs and concerns of victim within the criminal system. Students will also become more articulate as they will be taught how to think about punishment in a new more nuanced manner. This will allow them to experience the value of alternative perspectives on a complex issues such as punishment and the appropriate treatment of victims of crime. They will also become more adept at articulating and communicating their views on punishment and victims both within the classroom context and beyond. Students will be expected to become proactive in engaging with the perspectives on punishment and victimhood they are learning about and relate them to real-world examples within the criminal justice sytem in Ireland. This proactivity will be encouraged and fostered within the discussion and instruction offered in the seminars and within the recommended reading for the module. Recent developments in penology and victimology are incorporated into the module through the recommended reading.