91194 - History Of Globalization And Crime

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course students: will become familiar with the most important categories to understand and explain the intersection between globalization and crime; will acquire knowledge about how globalization processes affect crime in an historical and in a comparative perspective; will be able to analyse and discuss some of the most important “global” types of crime: transnational organized crime and youth gangs

Course contents

This course explores the connection between globalization, the evolution of criminology and crime, and how this connection changes in space and time. Globalization affects crime phenomena in a variety of ways: creating new conditions and opportunities for new types of crime, or reshaping more traditional criminal behaviors and increasing insecurity and fear of crime. Moreover, globalization requires new categories to explain and understand crime and therefore affects and reshapes many traditional criminological theories. Finally, globalization has an impact also on strategies of crime control and surveillance . The course will focus on the following topics:

Introduction: definitions of globalization and crime

Understanding crime in an historical and international perspective; an analysis of the most important sociological theories of crime in the XX Century and of contemporary criminology

Crime as a global phenomenon: the case of youth violence and transnational youth gangs,  gender violence as a global phenomenon, crime and migration

Global insecurity and fear of crime

The globalization of policing, surveillance and of strategies of crime control

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Readings mandatory  for this class are:

Katja Franko Aas (2013) Globalization and Crime, London, Sage, 2nd edition. (selection of chapters)

Jennifer M. Hazen & Dennis Rodgers (2014) (eds) Global Gangs. Street Violence Across the World, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. (selection of chapters)

Sophie Body-Gendrot (2012) Globalization, Fear and Insecurity. The Challenges for Cities North and South, Basingstoke, Palgrave McMillan. (selection of chapters)

Further readings for each class  will be suggested and  posted on the class website on "Insegnamenti online" at iol.unibo.it

Teaching methods

Lectures, small groups activities and class discussions, movies and documentaries, guest speakers. Considering the university policies on teaching during the Covid-19 emergency, this class will be tought in a "blended" modality, as explained below.

The course is organized with a part of lectures taught online on MS TEAMS (20 hours) and another taught in presence (20 hours). The number of students allowed in class is determined on the basis of class capacity and by the health and safety provisions that deal with the pandemic emergency. In case more students want to attend classes in presence than permitted by the rules, a system of shifts will be organized so to allow students to participate. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

Assessment methods

 

For students who do not regularly attend classes there will be one written final exam based on questions (3 hrs.)

For students who do regularly attend classes there will be:

an intermediate written exam (50% of final grade)

a final written exam (50% of final grade).

For attending students both the intermediate and the final test will be a take-home exam

Teaching tools

Power point; Audio-visual materials.

Office hours

See the website of Rossella Selmini