Course syllabus autumn 2019
Course syllabus autumn 2019
Title
Criminology: Criminal Careers
Swedish title
Kriminologi: Kriminella karriärer
Course code
KA812E
Credits
7.5 credits
Grading scale
UA / Excellent (A), Very Good (B), Good (C), Satisfactory (D), Pass (E) or Fail (U)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Health and Society
Syllabus approval date
2019-01-14
Syllabus valid from
2019-09-02
Entry requirements
A bachelor’s degree with a major in social- or behaviour sciences or medicine and English 6.
Level
Advanced level
Main field
Criminology
Progression level
A1N
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
The course is given in the first term of the Master’s Program in Criminology and is a course within the main field of study that may be counted toward the Master’s Degree in Criminology. The course is also offered as an independent course.
Course objectives
The aim of the course is for the student to acquire criminological knowledge of special interest to be able to understand the development of deviant life courses. Integrated perspectives that address risks and causes of crime and deviant behaviour in order to sustain positive health and behaviour over the life course are specifically addressed.
Course contents
The course addresses criminological research on developmental paths of criminal careers. In the course, explanatory models of differential paths of general antisocial behaviour and of specific types of crimes in national and international contexts are presented.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:
1. analyse factors that influence the development of criminal career patterns and how different deviant behaviours co-vary,
2. describe how causes on different levels (individual, situational and society levels), interact and vary across the life course,
3. describe the difference between the concepts of risk factors and causal mechanisms, and
4. analyse co-variation and patterns of criminal careers on specific cases and types of crime.
Learning activities
The teaching takes the form of lectures (learning outcomes 1-4), seminars and independent studies (1-4). Seminars that include a presentation (learning outcome 4) are compulsory.
Assessment
Learning outcomes 1-3 are assessed through an individual obligatory written paper. Focus of assessment of the written paper is the student’s ability to discuss and describe causes and risk factors and the interactions of these in the development of criminal and antisocial pathways. Learning outcome 4 is assessed on the basis of a presentation, individually or in groups. The focus of assessment of the latter assignment is the student’s ability to discuss and present knowledge of criminal career research about crime types. Individual performance is assessed by students completing a log book that describes each student’s individual contributions. Any absence in compulsory parts shall, at the discretion of the examiner, be compensated by an individual written assignment.
To receive a Passing Grade (C, D or E) it is required that the student have passed on all the examining and compulsory assignments. Achievement of the Grade of Distinction (A or B) requires that the student have passed on the presentation (E), and originality and deeper understanding of theories and methods used in research on criminal careers characterize the individual paper and has been assessed with the grade A or B.
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 and other study material
Andersson F, Levander S, Svensson R, Torstensson Levander M, (2012) Sex differences in offending trajectories in a Swedish cohort. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health (22): 108-121. 13 p.
Blumstein A, (2016) From Incapacitation to Criminal Careers. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3), 291-305. 14 p.
Carlsson C, (2012) Using ‘Turning Points* to Understand Processes of Change in Offending, British Journal of Criminology, 52: 1-16. 16
Carlsson C, (2012) Processes of Intermittency in Criminal Careers: Notes from a Swedish Study on Life Courses and Crime. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 57(8): 913-938. 25 p.
DeLisi M, Piquero A, (2011) New frontiers in criminal careers research, 2000-2011: A state-of-the-art review. Journal of Criminal Justice, (39), 289-301, 12 p.
Farrington D P, (2005) Introduction to Integrated Developmental and Life-Course. Theories of Offending. I Farrington, D. P. (Ed), Introduction to Integrated Developmental and Life Course Theories of Offending. Advances in Criminological Theories. (p. 1-11). USA: Transaction Publishers. 11 p.
Farrington D P, MacLeod J F, Piquero A R, (2016) Mathematical Models of Criminal Careers: Deriving and Testing Quantitative Predictions. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 336-355. 19 p.
Gottfredson M R, Hirschi T, (2016) The Career Criminal Perspective as an Explanation of Crime and a Guide to Crime Control Policy: The View from General Theories of Crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 406-419. 13 p.
Hare R D, (1999) Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. Publisher: Guilford Publications, Inc. 236 p.
Harris P M, (2011) The First-Time Adult-Onset Offender: Findings From a Community Corrections Cohort. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(6): 949-981. 33 p.
Laub J H, Sampson R J, (2006) Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives. Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 352 p.
Lussier P, Davies G, (2011) A Person-Oriented Perspective on Sexual Offenders, Offending Trajectories, and Risk of Recidivism: A New Challenge for Policymakers, Risk Assessors, and Actuarial Prediction? Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 4(17): 530-561: 31 p.
McGloin J M, Sullivan C J, Piquero A R, Blokland A, Nieuwbeerta P, (2011) Marriage and offending specialization: Expanding the impact of turning points and the process of desistance. European Journal of Criminology, 5(8): 361-376. 15 p.
Nagin DS, (2016) Group-based Trajectory Modelling and Criminal Career Research, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 356-371. 15 p.
Piquero N L, Benson M L, (2004) White-collar crime and criminal careers: specifying a trajectory of punctuated situational offending. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 20: 148-165. 18 p.
Piquero A R, Daigle L E, Gibson C, Piquero N L, Tibbetts S G, (2007) Research Note. Are Life-Course-Persistent Offenders At Risk for Adverse Health Outcomes? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44(2): 185-207. 22 p.
Piquero A, Farrington D, Blumstein A, (2007) Key Issues in Criminal Career Research. New Analyses of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 217 p.
Piquero A, Jennings W G, Barnes J C, (2012) Violence in criminal careers: A review of the literature from a developmental life-course perspective. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, (17): 171-179. 9 p.
Sampson R J, Laub J H, (2016) Turning Points and the Future of Life-Course Criminology: Reflections on the 1986 Criminal Careers Report. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 321-335. 14 p.
Skardhamar T, (2010) Distinguishing Facts and Artefacts in Group-based Modelling. Criminology, 48(1): 295-320. 26 p.
Sullivan C J, Piquero A R, (2016) The Criminal Career Concept: Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 420-442. 22 p.
Sullivan M, (2016) Ethnographic Research on Criminal Careers: Needs, Contributions, and Prospects. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 392-405. 23 p.
Visher C, (2016) A Unintended Consequences: Policy Implications of the NAS Report on Criminal Careers and Career Criminals. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3): 306-320. 14 p.
Additional articles from scientific journals will also be included, approx. 200 p.
Course evaluation
The course coordinator is responsible for conducting a summative evaluation is conducted in connection with the course's completion. The course coordinator provides the feedback to the students at the beginning of the next course. Notes from the feedback are made available to the course's students, and feedback is given to the students who will start the course in the next course session.
Interim rules
If a course is no longer offered or has undergone major changes, students are offered two re-take sessions based on the syllabus in force at registration during a period of one year from the date of the implementation of the changes