CORPORATE CRIME AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY - 2025/6

Module Overview

The criminal justice process has often been charged with an over focus upon ‘working class’ crimes such as burglary or street robbery. As a result, it has been argued that many more serious crimes effected by more powerful or collective agents like corporations have been overlooked or policed less effectively. For example, environmental damage, financial misconduct, or illicit trading.


In this module the nature of criminality effected by the corporate and business worlds and the kinds of measures intended to make corporations more responsible’ will be examined in detail. We consider how agents like corporations can be constructed as criminal actors, both conceptually and legally, the typical kinds of offences they are implicated in and what kinds of responses from the criminal justice system would be most appropriate in dealing with this. A series of case studies across a representative selection of corporate sectors will be used the structure and direct the module content.

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

MCGUIRE Michael (Sociology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Week 1 – Introduction

Week 2 – Defining Corporate Crime (I):- corporate crime and `real? Crime

Week 3 – Defining Corporate Crime (II) - boundaries and connections between Corporate, White-collar, State & Organised Crime

Week 4 – Explaining Corporate Crime (I): Causes, Motivations & Opportunities

Week 5 – Explaining Corporate Crime (II): Offenders & Victims

Week 6 - Corporate Liability & Responsibility

Week 7 - Case Studies (I) Employee Health & Safety

Week 8 - Case Studies (II) -Corporate Manslaughter

Week 9 - Case Studies (III) – Corporate Fraud and Financial Misconduct

Week 10 - Case Studies (IV) – Environmental Corporate crime in the Digital and Bio-chemical industries

Week 11 – Roundtable Discussion and Course Review

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate





Learning Outcome


Assessed by




1, 2, 3, 4,5

• 2  x 2,000 word essays

• Formative essay plans and proposal

• Two essays of 2,000 words. Feedback is provided to students both via written and verbal comments.

Module aims

• Outline the key theoretical frameworks for defining corporate crime
• Provide an understanding of the origins of corporate criminality in the joint stock company
• Consider how victims and perpetrators of corporate crime might differ from those within more traditional criminal contexts
• Identify how appropriate existing legal frameworks might be for prosecuting and punishing corporate criminals
• Critically analyze a range of typical corporate crimes
• Evaluate the significance and efficacy of corporate social responsibility policies
• Develop skills in formulating case study evidence for corporate crime and corporate social responsibility

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

  The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Foster systematic understanding of the ways in which different theories have sought to understand different types of corporate criminality, together with critical awareness of the ways corporate criminality and its control intersect with public policy, corporate regulation, and the operations of the criminal justice system. Knowledge is developed through lectures, seminars and workshops that guide students through relevant material and develop their capacity for critical thought. Students are encouraged to pursue deeper study independently through extensive reading and to apply learning to their own specialist substantive areas or interests. Teaching and learning consist of a mixture of lectures, seminars and applied case study exercises, Guest speakers from the corporate world will provide engagement with innovative and leading-edge developments in corporate governance and corporate responsibility.

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: SOCM050

Other information

The Department of Sociology is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in all these areas, as highlighted throughout this module descriptor. A summary of how this is achieve for each of the five key pillars is provided below:

Digital Capabilities

- Understanding how digital networks function as tools for contemporary corporate strategy and communication 

- Appreciating how digital tools may be misused by corporate criminals

Global and Cultural Capabilities 

- Developing understanding of the role of transnational corporations in criminal offending 

- Enhancing understanding of cultural factors in corporate criminality 

Sustainability

 - Evaluating the impact of corporate misconduct upon the environment

- Identifying discriminatory labour practices by transnational corporations

- Critically reflecting upon the capacity of corporate social responsibility to mitigate against these

Employability 

- Gaining practical experience for work in areas related to corporate governance, business ethics and corporate social responsibility policy.

Programmes this module appears in

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 2025/6 academic year.