6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1023474CER for all students in the 2nd semester at a (C) Bachelor - specialised level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Studenten die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, moeten zich in de afstudeerfase bevinden en zijn geslaagd op "Theoretische criminologie en victimologie". Of de student is ingeschreven in een verkort traject en bevindt zich in de afstudeerfase.
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Law and Criminology
Department
Criminology
Educational team
Kristof Verfaillie (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture
Course Content

In this course, we study crime as a political construct. In a first part, we discuss the most important evolutions in crime control policy in Belgium from World War II to the present day, including the international context in which these evolutions have emerged. In a second part, we look at how policy choices are made and we focus specifically on the issue of policy innovation. In a final part we look at contemporary government strategies to organize society and create desired outcomes in crime control (“social engineering”). We do this on the basis of specific cases in which we study the possibilities and limits of criminalization, decriminalization, prevention, but also more recent and subtle forms of behaviour modification.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : digital lessons, PowerPoint slides en texts, Canvas
Additional info

This course has a daytime and evening study option (for working professionals). 

All further information about the content of the course, the study material and the exam will be made available through the e-platform CANVAS. 

Learning Outcomes

General competences

At the end of this course students:

1. have knowledge of the most important evolutions in crime control policy in Belgium from the Second World War until today and are able to frame them in a broader international context.

2. understand how policy choices and policy innovation in crime control are the outcome of a complex interplay of intellectual ideas and socio-economic, political or cultural processes.

3. have a thorough understanding of the possibilities and limits of social engineering in crime control. 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Written exam with open questions. 

More information about the exam is provided at the start of the semester via the e-platform CANVAS. 

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Criminology: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Criminology: Instroomplan 2 (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Criminology: Instroomplan 3 (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Criminology: Instroomplan 4 (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Criminology: Instroomplan 5 (only offered in Dutch)