HATE CRIME - 2021/2

Module code: SOC3063

Module Overview


This module aims to provide a broad historical, theoretical and contemporary understanding of the key issues relating to hate crime. Particular focus is placed on examining the different forms that hate crime can take and the impact of this crime on its victims, whilst the motivations behind perpetrators’ decisions to commit hate crime are also explored during the course of the module.

Whilst the problem of hate crime has been, until recently, largely neglected as a distinct area of criminological research in the UK, the changes to political and criminal justice agendas following events such as the publication of the Macpherson Report in 1999 and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the US and 7/7 in the UK have given hate crime much greater significance. The module relates to the degree programme more broadly by discussing policing, victimisation, legislation, the criminal justice system, offending and ideas of identity, within the hate crime context.

 

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

HALL Nathan (Sociology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Overall student workload

Independent Learning Hours: 106

Lecture Hours: 11

Seminar Hours: 11

Guided Learning: 11

Captured Content: 11

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None  

Module content

Indicative content includes:


  • The nature and extent of hate crime victimisation across a range of backgrounds, including minority ethnic, religious, lesbian and gay, transgender, disabled, refugee, migrant, Gypsy and Traveller and ‘alternative’ subcultural communities.

  • The impact of this targeted victimisation upon those groups and the commonalities and differences between them.

  • The utility of the various theories of hate crime victimisation and perpetration and their applicability to the many different forms of these offences.

  • The response of the police service and other statutory and voluntary agencies to incidents of hate crime.

  • The use and effectiveness of the aggravated offences and incitement legislation in the prevention and prosecution of hate crime



 

Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Project (Group/Individual/Dissertation) GROUP PRESENTATION 30
Coursework 2,500 WORD ESSAY 70

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate theoretical and practical in-depth knowledge of the multiple forms of hate crime and their impact.


  • The essay therefore gives them the opportunity to discuss contemporary hate crime issues at length, while the assessed group presentation provides the chance to work in small teams while specialising in a hate crime area of interest



Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:


  • Group presentations (30%), in week 9 of the module

  • 2,500 word essay, handed in after the module’s completion



 

Formative assessment and feedback


  • Guidance on both forms of assessment is provided throughout the module. Detailed advice on group presentation is provided via separate guidelines


Module aims

  • Provide an overview of the nature and forms that hate crime victimisation can take.
  • Assess the impact that hate crime can have on individual victims and their wider communities.
  • Debate the key theoretical explanations of the processes of victimisation and also the motivations of hate crime perpetrators.
  • Examine the response of the police and other key agencies to incidents of hate crime.
  • Analyse the effectiveness of the suite of hate crime legislation

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
1 Compare historical and contemporary accounts of hate crime victimisation KC
2 Recognise the different forms that hate crime can take and its impact upon victims. KCPT
3 Identify the motivations behind perpetrators' decisions to commit hate crime. KCP
4 Critique the effectiveness of agency and legislative responses to hate crime. KCPT
5 Apply an understanding of the nature, extent and impact of hate crime to contemporary debates surrounding the position of typically vilified and marginalized groups such as Gypsies and Travellers, refugees and those from ‘alternative' subcultures. KCPT

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:


  • Provide students with the opportunity to learn about the natures, forms, extent and impact of hate crime and targeted victimisation, as well as the effectiveness of legal and other interventions designed to counter it



The learning and teaching methods include:


  • Lectures, seminars, class discussions, short tests, formative assignment, group work – all incorporated within 11 weeks of one-hour lectures and one-hour seiminars.



 

 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: SOC3063

Programmes this module appears in

Programme Semester Classification Qualifying conditions
Media and Communication BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Criminology BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Sociology BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Criminology and Sociology BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Politics and Sociology BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
International Relations BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Politics BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module
Media, Culture and Society BSc (Hons) 1 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.