Sociology and Criminology
Carceral Technologies
Module code: L4111A
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework
You’ll develop your understanding of control societies, as articulated by Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Mark Fisher and Ruha Benjamin. You’ll examine their present-day, empirical applications in criminal justice practice.
You will develop a critical understanding of the contexts, critical arguments and theories behind subjecting people to a variety of carceral technologies.
Topics covered will be drawn from contemporary research, and could include:
- probation
- sex offender treatments
- boot camps
- the fabled ‘good’ prison
- neurointerventions
- electronic monitoring
- smart cities.
Such technologies can incorporate logics of class and racial subjugation, deepen such hierarchies and engender new systems of social control. Criminologists ask “is a more humane future possible?” Throughout this module we will attempt to answer this ever-more-pressing question.
Module learning outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the relevance of a variety of theories of ‘Control Societies’, as defined in the module, and their place in contemporary criminological debates
- Critically evaluate evidence from empirical studies on a variety of ‘Carceral Technologies’
- Apply theories covered in this module to empirical examples gathered from your own independent research
- Further develop skills of academic writing and research by producing a 6000 word essay.