My name is Sophia Smith and I’m the course leader for the Eduqas Level 3 Award in Criminology. We’re very much looking forward to welcoming you to the department in person at the start of the academic year. In the meantime, we’d like you to do some research into the subject by completing a series of tasks and activities.
Criminology will be a new subject for most of you, so it’s important you know what to expect when you start. We’ve put together some tasks and activities for you to carry out on your own, and then when we meet together in September, we can share what you’ve discovered.
All the tasks should be completed by Choices Day on 25 August. Please throw yourself into them and above all enjoy them!
The tasks will be released here in three phases:
Explore your Subject – 4 May
Crime and Punishment
One of the units we study in Criminology is ‘Crime and Punishment.’ A key theme of this is understanding how the criminal justice system works and how punishment is effective. This activity challenges you to be the judge!
Task 1: Use the following link to pick a case and make your own judgement. Consider the different factors that might influence your decision as to whether this person is guilty or not.
Write a paragraph explaining the judgement you made and how you reached your decision.
Task 2: One real life case study we examine as part of the course is the Jeremy Bamber case. Using the skills you’ve just practised, navigate your way round the following site and come to a judgement. Should Jeremy have been convicted or acquitted of this crime? Explain your reasoning.
Task 3: Criminology requires good research skills. This often involves using statistics to illustrate the changing trends in criminality and the effectiveness of prison as punishment in the UK. Use the following fact file to research last year’s UK statistics.
Now use the fact file to answer the following questions (using specific stats to back up your answers):
Is there anything you find surprising?
Do you think prison is an effective form of punishment based on these statistics?
Are there gender differences in criminality?
Do prisons provide enough support for offenders?
Do you think prisoners should have the right to be provided with support?
Task 4: Criminologists are interested in trying to explain why certain individuals commit crime. One psychological theory is based on Eysenck’s research into personality. Have a go at completing the online questionnaire. At the end this will give you a percentage for each personality type. http://similarminds.com/eysenck.html
Remember there are lots of limitations of carrying out online questionnaires such as this so don’t take the results too literally!
Task 5: Once you have completed this, do some research and find out what combination of personality types are suggested to be linked to criminal behaviour. Make notes on your findings.
These tasks will have introduced you to some of the key areas in the study of Criminology. You’ll need to return to this page on 1 June to complete your next activities.
You should complete this section of tasks by 1 June.
Get Going – 1 June
You should aim to complete this section of
tasks by 1 July.
Real life case studies
the four units of the Criminology course, you’ll become familiar with a number
of real case studies that illustrate both a range of different criminal
behaviours and also how the criminal justice system works.
Before you continue to Task 1, please be aware that it contains some sensitive issues. If you are concerned or affected by any of the content below, please ensure that you talk to either a member of staff at your current school or a member of your family. If you would prefer to skip straight to Task 2 then please do. All the cases below form part of the content of the Criminology course.
Task 1: Below is a gallery of victims and offenders.
create a fact file for each of the above examples. You should include the
The crime – did the person in the photo commit the crime or were they the victim?
Details of the crime committed – what type of crime was committed (e.g. tax
fraud, murder etc).
Details of the outcome – what happened as a result of the crime? Was there a sentence?
Information about the perpetrator’s background
which might explain their criminal behaviour – had they experienced a head injury, mental illness, childhood abuse?
you keep hold of the fact files you create as they’ll come in useful in the
first year of the course.
What Statistics can tell us – understanding crime in the local area
In Unit 1 of
the course, we look at methods of collecting statistics about crime.
TASK 2: Use the link below to look at crimes
in your local area by typing in your postcode.
What is the most reported type of crime in
Click on the ‘crime map’ tab. Where seems to
be the ‘hotspot’ for criminal activity? Can you suggest why this might be the
Click on the ‘statistics’ tab. What’s the
general trend from looking at the graph over the last year? Has crime increased
or decreased over the year?
Can you suggest resources that should be
implemented in the area to combat these crimes?
Do your own research and find out how crime
levels have changed during the current pandemic. Write a paragraph summarising
these changes. Can you suggest why this might be the case? Are there
differences depending on what the crime is? Include references underneath your
paragraph (i.e. where did you get your information and statistics from?)
Looking for the reasons behind the crime
In Unit 2 of
the Criminology course, you’ll be asked to ‘analyse’ scenarios / real life
cases and suggest reasons for criminality. In other words, you need to be able
to examine the facts methodically and in detail in order to try to explain and
interpret individual cases.
TASK 3: Read the following scenario about
Paul, aged 25, has been unemployed since
leaving school at 16. His father and two older brothers have all been to prison,
but so far Paul has not been convicted of any crime. His girlfriend is moaning
about not having a nice house and holidays like her friends. Paul is very prone
to depression as a result of his car accident two years ago, when he received
head injuries. Last week, in an attempt to put some excitement into his dull
life, Paul took part in an armed robbery of a local post office. However, he
was subsequently arrested and is now on remand in prison.
three possible causes that you think could have been behind Paul’s offending.
Aim High – 1 July
From 1 July
Once you’ve taken part in the College’s first ever Virtual Introductory Day on 30 June, you will be asked to complete a more formal Aim High task (posted here) that it is mandatory for all new students to complete before Choices Day on 25 August.