Entry requirements

A bachelor’s degree with a major in police work, criminology, social work, sociology, political science or law.

Main field

HSPOL Police Work

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course is given as an independent course and can be included within a one year master's degree in the main field of police work.

Course contents

The course addresses three themes within the field of international policing from a comparative perspective. One theme is comparative and examines policing in different countries in relation to one another. Within the main field of Police Work, issues such as similarities and differences in leadership, governance, and education across various police organizations are explored.

Another component of the course focuses on the internationalization of knowledge within police work. Participants will practice critically examining what occurs in the transfer of policing models between different countries and contexts. Many countries implement similar strategies and operational models, yet there is often a lack of critical discussion regarding the extent to which models developed in specific national contexts (often in countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom) are transferable to other settings.

The third area addresses how policing is influenced by international trends such as globalization, migration, and transnational crime (e.g., drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking). This component focuses on the challenges these developments pose for police organizations, as well as how international trends affect the organization, priorities, and practices of policing.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

1. Account for police organization and governance in relation to international, gender equality, and sustainability perspectives, and compare leadership and governance at strategic, indirect, and direct levels.
2. analyse and problematize knowledge formation within the main area of police work from an international perspective,
3. critically analyse how international trends influence the main field of Police Work.
4. problematize how knowledge transfer between different countries works and what the consequences are when implementing different crime prevention models, and
5. critically discuss and analyse international cooperation within the main field of Police Work in relation to crime, crime prevention, and trust-building work.

Learning activities

The course's learning activities consist of lectures, pre-recorded material and seminars. To enable students to achieve all learning outcomes (1–5), the themes and content of the course literature are presented and discussed in lectures, which may include pre-recorded material. In addition, to achieve all learning outcomes (1–5), the topics covered in the lectures are further discussed and analysed in seminar form. Prior to the seminars, students work independently on study assignments, which are then discussed in groups during the seminar sessions.

Assessment

Learning outcomes 1-5 are examined through an individual assignment that is presented at an examining seminar. The focus of the assessment of the degree project and the oral presentation is the student's ability to, from an international, gender equality and sustainability perspective, account for and compare the organization and governance of the police, and to analyse and problematize the formation of knowledge within police work and knowledge transfer between different countries. Furthermore, the focus of the assessment is the student's ability to critically analyze and discuss how international trends affect international cooperation within the main area of police work regarding crime, crime prevention and trust-building work.

Assessment criteria for all examination components are found in the study guide.

To receive a passing grade for the course (C, D, or E), a passing grade is required on all examinations. To receive a higher grade (A or B), in addition to passing all examinations, a high pass grade is required on the written assignment.

Right to re-take
Students who fail the exam are given the opportunity to do two re-takes with the same course content and with the same requirements. The student also has the right to take the examination in the same course in the subsequent course according to the same rule. Examination and re-takes are carried out at the times specified in the course schedule.

Course literature

Deflem M, (2002) Policing world society: historical foundations of international police cooperation. Oxford University Press. 318 sidor.

Lord V B, (1998) Swedish police selection and training: issues from a comparative perspective. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 21(2), 280-292.

Maillard J D, (2022) Comparative Policing. Milton: Taylor & Francis Group. 191 sidor.

Mawby R I, (Ed.) (2013) Policing across the World: Issues for the Twenty-first Century. Routledge. 260 sidor.

McDaniel J L, Stonard K E. Cox D J, (Eds.) (2019) The development of transnational policing: past, present and future. Routledge. 364 sidor.

Peterson A, (2010) From Great Britain to Sweden—The import of reassurance policing. Local police offices in Metropolitan Stockholm. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 11(1), 25-45.

Tatnell A A T, (2022) A Degree is Not Necessarily the Answer: A Comparative Analysis of Initial Police Learning in Scotland, Sweden, and Finland (Doctoral dissertation, University of the West of Scotland). 290 sidor.

Scientific articles, reports, and other working materials will be added (approximately 300 p.)

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.