Study Skills for Criminology

John Harrison, Mark Simpson, Olwen Harrison, Emma Martin

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781446281130
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Jura
• Subtopic: Strafrecht

The new edition of this best-selling study skills book provides a practical guide for success for individuals at every level of their criminology and criminal justice degree.

The new edition of this best-selling study skills book is a practical guide to success for individuals at every level of their criminology and criminal justice degree.

Fully revised to reflect changes in the curriculum, the book continues to provide students with practical and relevant information for their degree, including topics on choosing modules, sourcing and researching, applying theory to practice, writing essays, presentation skills, revision, taking exams and careers after your degree.

New to the second edition:

• a chapter on plagiarism
• developments in virtual learning environments and e-resources
• expanded coverage of internet and e-learning skills
• advice on moving from A-level to university.

Maintaining its student-friendly approach and useful pedagogy - tips, activities, glossary, key terms and issues - Study Skills for Criminology is an essential purchase for any student of criminology or criminal justice looking to excel in their degree. John Harrison, formerly of Teesside University
Mark Simpson is Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Law at Teesside University.
Olwen Harrison, formerly of Teesside University.
Emma Martin is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Teesside University.
SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!

 

1

Introduction

1

 

The aim of this book is to provide a guide to the general study skills needed in Higher Education and then apply these to the subject area of Criminology. It is not the intention here to provide an in-depth discussion of criminological debates, theoretical concerns or criminal justice policy, but simply to provide some examples and direct you to other literature that develops the debates more fully. The main skills identified here are to do with:

 

• researching the topic and data collection
• presenting the data for assessment purposes
• using resources effectively
• learning to reference correctly
• examination techniques
• developing transferable skills
• the transition from education to work
• ensuring that you get the most out of your degree and the experience of university.

The book seeks to demystify the world of Higher Education and so provide you with the skills necessary to make the most of your time at university. At this point it is worth noting some key terms that are used to describe the way that degrees are organised; these terms are used interchangeably in different universities but have the same meaning and we need to clarify, at the outset, the terms we use within this book.

In this second edition we have included some new features and have also generally updated the text. The significant additions draw attention to the different levels of qualifications and learning outcomes and the various stages of your degree programme. We have also included a new chapter that focuses on the issue of plagiarism, which is something that appears to be an increasingly prevalent concern in Higher Education. This chapter seeks to explain what plagiarism is while attempting to ensure that you understand why it occurs, how to avoid it and the extent to which it happens.

Programmes or courses

A ‘programme’ is the degree that you are studying, BA/BSc Criminology, for example; however, some universities use the term ‘course’. In this book we use the term ‘programme’ to refer to the degree you are studying. A ‘programme of study’ is made up of a number of ‘modules’ or ‘units’.

Modules or units

Modules are the individual units that make up a programme. They are the subject areas that you will study. As will be discussed in Chapter 2, you need to accumulate passes in a number of these to gain your degree. In this book we use the term ‘module’.

Using this book

This book is predominantly aimed at undergraduates and will perhaps be most useful for those of you who are in the early stages of your studies. It is an especially useful tool for those of you who are part-time, and for mature students who have to balance a number of competing commitments, especially when returning to study after a long time outside the academic environment. However, there are sections of the guide that will be of use throughout your undergraduate career. For example, the advice on examinations, essays and other forms of assessment that you are likely to undertake throughout your programme can be returned to whenever assessments are due. The way to get the most from this book is to refer to specific chapters at appropriate stages of your academic career, for example, when beginning to write an essay, or shortly before you take examinations or are required to make a presentation. The book has been written in an academic but accessible style so that you can develop your skills over the course of your degree programme. The content of the guide is based on the collective expertise of the authors who have a combined total of over 40 years’ experience in teaching study skills in Higher Education. However, it is not the intention that you follow the guidelines rigidly, but that you take from the book the information and advice that suits your own style of learning; you will all develop your own style while at university and to some extent this will be dictated by commitments you have in addition to studying. The evidence suggests that those students who are the least organised are the ones who fail to reach their full potential. This book, then, provides a framework that will enable you to reflect on your own learning style as well as your lifestyle, and provides advice that will help you to achieve a good level of academic success. The book has been designed to provide examples of important facts and information, to present activities to help in skill development and to give useful key tips on studying. Where necessary, key terms are explained to help you to understand some key subject-specific terms, academic language and, in some instances, the jargon used in universities and in the discipline of Criminology.

Content of the guide

The main content of this book is divided into three parts and these can be used independently or in conjunction with each other. The book begins with more general points relating to study at university and progresses to the development of study skills before engaging in some criminological discussions and subject-specific advice.

Throughout the book each chapter focuses on various aspects of your degree programme, but, of course, these all relate to each other and where appropriate we make the necessary connections. Some issues are mentioned several times in different chapters and these will be some of the most important things to remember as they are the areas where marks are often lost or students do not prepare sufficiently. Throughout the text we present key tips, which you should find useful, and in the Appendices there are simple answers as well as a range of useful websites and contacts.

In Part One, the four chapters look at studying in Higher Education. Chapter 2 is a guide to the university experience and covers topics such as what it is like to study at university, how this differs from other learning experiences and what is expected of you as a student. It also explains the academic year and how your formal learning is structured. The exercises in this chapter are designed to help you think about the degree you have chosen to study and to assist in making decisions about what you hope to get from the degree.

Chapter 2 also includes techniques to help you to manage your time more effectively. This is something that is becoming important for many of you as it becomes increasingly necessary to juggle study, work and family commitments during your time at university. This chapter also introduces you to university life, especially from the point of view of the academics you will study with and what their roles are.

Chapter 3 looks at assessment, explaining why you are assessed and how that assessment is carried out. There is a wide range of assessments that are used in Higher Education and examples of these are provided. A key feature of this chapter is the focus on what is expected of you and a general guide as to how your assessment might be graded.

Chapters 4 and 5 discuss some of the specific forms of assessment that will be used to monitor your progress and achievements during your degree programme, and will provide advice and guidance on how to prepare for examinations, presentations and other forms of assessment that are commonly used in Higher Education. The activities that are included have been designed for use in conjunction with the assessments you could be undertaking on your programme and they will provide the basis for developing your own study skills as you progress through your degree. You may also undertake some of these activities before you receive your actual assessment as they can help you to understand which skills you need to develop to be a successful student before completing work that will be graded.

In Part Two, we begin to look more specifically at the study of Criminology, introducing you, albeit briefly, in Chapter 6 to some discussion of what Criminology is. The theoretical and philosophical debates surrounding this area are the subject matter of many texts and, as such, are too substantial and far-ranging to discuss in the context of this book. We direct you to some of these debates and, throughout your degree programme, as you develop your own ideas about these, you will more than likely find yourself supporting some theoretical positions more than others, based on your learning and personal views about crime and disorder.

Chapter 7 directs you to a range of resources and explains some of the ways in which you can gather information to support your studies. While formal lectures provide you with a signpost to specific topics, to fully understand the issues that are raised you will need to do much more independent reading and research, as simply attending a series of lectures will only give you a minimal understanding of the programme and subject area. In addition to suggesting ways to organise your notes and study, this chapter also discusses the concept of reading for a purpose, and this is also a feature of Chapter 8. The activities included here will help you with this. The chapter also draws your attention to the variety of resources that are available to you. Advice is given on using the internet and other electronic databases as well as ensuring you know how and when to reference (see Box 1a) your work correctly. In this chapter we provide you with a range of useful sources of information; these will prove invaluable as your degree progresses.

box 1a Referencing

This is discussed in depth several times throughout this book (see, for example, section 8.6) and will be mentioned constantly throughout your academic career. It refers to the way in which you cite your sources when writing in Higher Education. In other words, it is the process by which you tell the reader where you got your information from and acknowledges that you are using the work of another person.

These chapters also highlight a number of useful websites related to crime and criminal justice, and give advice on how to research for your assignments. This is not an exclusive list as the amount of material available in this way is too extensive for a book of this nature; it does, however, provide a good starting point for your research. We also try to demonstrate the reasons why you need to support your discussions with evidence and explain how to do this. Chapter 8 looks in some depth at essay writing as, increasingly, in Higher Education essays form a significant element of the assessment process and, in some instances, this may be the only assessment for a module. We use this chapter to develop your understanding of what an essay is and how you should prepare and research when writing for academic purposes.

There is also advice about the structure of essays and exercises on time-management strategies that will help you complete your research and produce your essays by the deadlines set for submission. This chapter also includes advice on preparing, making and writing up presentations; these are forms of assessment that are used increasingly and provide you with the transferable skills relevant to employment opportunities.

Perhaps the most important addition to this edition of the book is Chapter 9, where we look at the issue of plagiarism. In the main, this chapter highlights the extent of plagiarism in universities and tries to develop an understanding of why this occurs. Elsewhere in the text we provide advice on how to avoid plagiarising your work.

In Chapter 10 we provide you with an introduction to criminological theory. Following this, we explore the links between these theoretical perspectives and a selection of criminological topics. (While most are fairly straightforward, we do attempt to develop a more complex understanding of this theme to provide a greater challenge.) Related to this, the chapter introduces you to the key skills of comparing and analysing different theoretical perspectives. This is an important issue as your degree will be delivered in modules or units (as described in Chapter 2) and if you see each module as freestanding you miss a real opportunity to develop your expertise and breadth of understanding in this discipline.

Finally, in Part Three, we reflect on the content of this book and develop some understanding of how you might use the skills and knowledge that you have gained on your degree after you have graduated. Chapter 11 reflects on our discussion and highlights those areas that will help you to show your own skills. Employers often see the skills you acquire while studying at university as ‘employability skills’ and there is evidence (Skills for Justice website) that graduate skills are highly sought after by an increasing number of employers. As a consequence, we link the book to the world of work by discussing how you can make the degree work for you. This important aspect of studying in Higher Education is the focus of Chapter 12, which considers the ways in which you can use your degree to document the evidence for the skills you have gained, and how they are relevant for future employment and career aspirations. We also introduce you to a selection of occupations that you may wish to consider once you have completed your degree programme in Criminology. Obviously, this cannot cover every possible vacancy and career opportunity and is only intended to give you a broad idea of the range of options that may be available to you after graduation. One specific feature of this chapter refers to the use of Personal Development Planning (PDP) into Higher Education. While the way in which this will be facilitated varies between institutions, the content in Chapter 12 is intended to demonstrate the value of engaging with the process and also to highlight the reasons why it is increasingly considered useful by potential employers. You are invited to look at the skills you already possess as an individual when you begin your degree and to relate these to the occupations you might envisage working in after graduation. One of the important features of this self-analysis of your skills is the fact that as you progress through your programme of study, your abilities in certain key areas will develop and the maintenance of a PDP is one way in which you can record your own individual development, both academically and personally. Here, too, you will find advice about the compilation of a curriculum vitae (CV), which, in addition to presenting factual information about your education, work experience and relevant personal information, can be a summary of the key skills you have acquired and relevant aspects drawn from your PDP that you can relate to specific job applications. The activities in this chapter can provide the basis for both of the processes mentioned here and will be useful in a variety of ways for different situations, depending on the purpose for which you are using the information and how it is being presented.

Part one

The first part of this book is focused on introducing new students to university study. In the first chapter, advice is given that will be particularly useful for first-year students and those returning to study after a lengthy break. In this section...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Appendix 1: Sample Answers to Activity 7a
• Appendix 2: Rationale for Activity 10g
• Appendix 3: Useful Websites
• Appendix 4: Further Reading
• Index