MSc Criminal Justice Studies – LM520 (Under Review)

1.	Introduction

The current social condition of the country is such that law and order is becoming a real social issue.  Therefore, there is a definite need to understand the causes behind the rising rate of crime in Mauritius.  As such, this programme aims at analysing the criminal justice system and to assess its functioning.  Moreover, it evaluates offending behaviour from a social, legal, psychological and criminological point of view.  Victims are an important part of the criminal justice system so the impact of victimisation and the support which exists for these victims will be analysed.  This course is aimed at people working in the social and legal field who will have the opportunity to relate theory to practice with the ultimate goal of improving upon their work.  Individuals taking this course will therefore be better equipped to deal with the issue of criminality. Ultimately, this will lead to a decline in the rate of criminality in Mauritius and to improve the existing framework catering for the needs of the people in contact of the criminal justice system.

2. 	Objectives
	
•	To develop a critical understanding of the field of criminology and criminal justice among students.  
•	To allow students to critically analyse the role and function of the criminal justice system in the local context.
•	To develop an awareness of the penal system among students.
•	To empower students so that they can develop an understanding of the application of criminological and criminal justice principles to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.
•	To enable workers in the field of law enforcement to gain more expertise and knowledge in the field of criminal justice and improve on their current work.

3.	General Entry Requirements

As per University of Mauritius General Entry Requirements.

4. 	Programme Requirements

Candidates should preferably have a degree in either Criminal Justice, Legal field, Social Sciences, Science field, Management or any other relevant undergraduate degrees deemed acceptable by the University. 

Consideration will also be given to candidates who do not satisfy the Programme Entry Requirements but who have experience in the relevant field.

5.	       Programme Duration	

Normal (Years)	Maximum (Years)
Master’s Degree (P/T):			2			4

6.	Credits per Year: Minimum 6 credits, Maximum 36 credits.

7.	Minimum Credits Required for the Awards

Master’s Degree:	 :36 credits

8.	Assessment
	
Each module will carry 100 marks and will be assessed as follows:

Assessment will be based on written examination of 3-hour duration and continuous assessment carrying a range of 30% to 40% of total marks.   	Continuous assessment will consist of at least two (2)  assignments per module per year.

A minimum of at least 30% should be attained in each of Continuous Assessment and Written Examination, with an overall total of 40% for a candidate to pass a module.

	Each module of 45 hours carries 3 credits and each module of 90 hours carries 6 credits.

Submission Deadlines for Dissertation:

First Draft: End of July in the Final Year. 
Final Copy: Last working day of August in the Final Year.

9.	Specific Regulations

If CPA < 40, the student will have to repeat the entire academic year, and retake the modules as and when offered.  However, s/he will not be required, if s/he wishes, to retake module(s) for which Grade C or above has been obtained.

Students are allowed to repeat only once over the entire duration of the Programme of Studies.

10.	Important Note

The rules as stipulated in this Programme Structure and Outline Syllabus will replace all other rules and regulations.

11.	List of Modules 

CORE MODULES
		
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk	Credits
	
	Yearly			
LAWS 6001Y	Research methods in Criminology	3	6	
LAWS 6002Y	Management of Criminal Justice	3	6	
LAWS 6003Y	Understanding Offending Behaviour	3	6	
	Semester 			
LAWS 6004	Human Rights	3	3	
LAWS 6005	Victimology	3	3	
LAWS 6000	Dissertation	-	6	

ELECTIVES
		
LAWS 6006	Criminology	3	3	
LAWS 6007	Offender Profiling	3	3	
LAWS 6008	Framework for sentencing policies	3	3	
LAWS 6009	Conflict resolution and Counselling	3	3	
LAWS 6010	Legal and social framework of child and gender issues	3	3	

12.	Programme Plan – MSc Criminal Justice Studies

YEAR 1
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
	Credits	
LAWS 6001Y	Research methods in Criminology 	3	6	
LAWS 6002Y	Management of Criminal Justice 	3	6	
LAWS 6004	Human Rights 	3	3	
LAWS 6005	Victimology	3	3	
YEAR 2
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
	Credits	
LAWS 6003Y	Understanding Offending Behaviour 	3	6	
LAWS 6000	Dissertation	-	6	
ELECTIVES	CHOOSE ANY TWO FROM			
LAWS 6006	Criminology1	3	3	
LAWS 6007	Offender Profiling1	3	3	
LAWS 6008	Framework for sentencing policies1	3	3	
LAWS 6009	Conflict Resolution and Counselling2	3	3	
LAWS 6010	Legal and social framework of child and gender issues2	3	3	

13.	Outline Syllabus

LAWS 6001Y -  MANAGEMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Critical analysis of the Mauritian criminal justice process, is the system working, the weaknesses in the system critically assessed, the different stages of the criminal justice system are examined, the classic arguments in criminal justice are debated-including is criminal justice a system or a process, an evaluation of the philosophies of punishment, models of criminal justice, politics of justice debated.

LAWS 6003Y - UNDERSTANDING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
Understand offending behaviour from a social, legal and psychological perspective, the role of Psychology to explain certain types of crime will be analysed, develop a critical awareness of the relation between psychological and legal categorisations of offending behaviour, critically analyse the nature/ nurture issue debate to understand offending behaviour, the role of moral reasoning and reducing re-offending will be looked at.

LAWS 6009 - CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND COUNSELLING
Notion of Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Definition and Characteristics of Conflict Resolution, Advantages and Disadvantages of Conflict Resolution; Application and techniques of Conflict Resolution: Negotiation, Conciliation, Mediation, Counselling of victims and offenders, Representation of victims; Challenges of Conflict Resolution Techniques in practice; Legal Aspect of Conflict Resolution: National Law, International Law, Institutional Aspect of Conflict Resolution.

LAWS 6008  -  FRAMEWORK FOR SENTENCING POLICIES
Critically analyse the services offered to adults and juveniles in the criminal justice system from a social, psychological and legal perspective; assess the support offered to offenders to prevent relapse; examine the role of social workers and NGO’s in the prevention of crime; social work and community service; assess the function of probation and community service orders.

LAWS 6010 -  LEGAL AND SOCIAL FRAMEWORK OF CHILD AND GENDER ISSUES
Examination of the laws and conventions in place to protect children and vulnerable groups of society; analyse the causes and effects of discrimination on the base of sex, age, gender, sexual orientation and disability; impact of social stigmatisation on members of vulnerable groups; laws concerning adoption; examination of the key social welfare legislation in Mauritius; impact and consequences of social problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, divorce, single parent families and crimes on families

LAWS 6002Y - RESEARCH METHODS IN CRIMINOLOGY
Introduction to postgraduate research; Research and the development of knowledge; research design; the research process, ethical issues, research proposals, understanding data, samples and populations, common research methods- primary research and secondary research; analysing research data-basic considerations, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics; referencing styles.

LAWS 6005 - VICTIMOLOGY
Introducing Victimology; the rediscovery of crime victims; understanding the impact of victimisation; the needs of victims of crimes; the rights of victims of crimes; the role and responses of the criminal justice system to victims of crimes; the perception of the criminal justice system by victims; services for victims; the facilities offered to victims of crime in Mauritius, the role of NGO’s to help victims of crimes.

LAWS 6006-CRIMINOLOGY
Introduction to Criminology, the definition of criminology, the historical background, the key issues in Criminology, measuring crime, the extent of crime, sources of crime information, research methods in Criminology, Psychological theories of crime, nature v/s nurture debate, feminist perspective and criminology, theories of criminology, the classical school, positivism, anomie and strain theory, labelling theory, control theory.

LAWS 6007 - OFFENDER PROFILING
Introduction to offender profiling; personality and clinical approaches to offender profiling; the Criminal Investigative Analysis method used by the FBI; the Investigative Psychology approach; the advantages and disadvantages of each method of offender profiling; the actual use of offender profiling; the application of offender profiling to the Mauritian context; the future of offender profiling; offender profiling: a science or an art? an overview of Molecular Biology with reference to Gene structure, variation and diversity, explore advanced molecular techniques and their applications in Forensic Science.

LAWS 6004  -  HUMAN RIGHTS
Origins of rights, freedoms, duties, equality, discrimination, cultural relativism and universalism; Different generations of rights; Enforceabilility of rights: The Constitution of Mauritius, International Bill of rights, Human rights declarations, Conventions and Protocols; Models of Criminal Justice; Criminal Investigations; The relationship between punishment and welfare; The philosophical and political underpinnings of sentencing; The role of the death penalty; Ways in which conceptions of justice are related to the means and ends of punishment; Rights of detainees: Human Rights and the role of the police (Investigation of violations of rights, “Bavures et brutalités policières”, Torture; Rights of accused who are minors; Human rights and prisons: gendered violence in prisons or places of detention; Right to a fair trial; The Role of the Trial Judge; Lay Participation in the Criminal Process; Principles of Sentencing; The Role of Victims in the Criminal Process; Miscarriages of Justice.

LAWS 6000 - DISSERTATION 
The dissertation will provide students with the opportunity to write an academic piece of work in their field of interest.  A dissertation can be literature review based or it may be written after the student has conducted ethical empirical research.  Students will be able to use the knowledge gained from the study of the modules studied for the MSc to write this dissertation of 10 000-14000 words. 
30 July 2009