s
Module Description Template
Title
Code
Level
Credit rating
Pre-requisites
Type of module
Aims
Comments/notes
Violence, Culture and Society
SSM97
7
20 credits
Prior study of criminology and criminological theory or related social
science and critical social theory at undergraduate level, or
appropriate and relevant professional qualifications and experience
as determined through the course application and acceptance
process.
A taught extensive module

To introduce students to the variety of ways in which
different social science disciplines frame and understand
forms of violence, both historically and in the present day,
and from the interpersonal to the global.

To critically compare and analyse a range of theoretical
perspectives on violence.

To develop critical awareness of discourses of violence as
constructed at different levels of society and in different
arenas.

To develop critical awareness of violence/s as it is/they are
practised in particular contexts, emphasizing social divisions
of class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and age.

To provide analytical skills to enable students to interrogate
contemporary criminological debates relevant to the study of
violence and culture.
1
Learning
outcomes/objectives
On successful completion of the module the students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the
construction of meanings of violence in a range of
disciplinary fields.
2. Synthesise and discuss debates, concepts and issues on
key topics covered in the module
3. Critically assess the significance of inter-personal,
collective, national and global forms of violence in
contemporary society.
4. Draw on a range of personal and academic skills and
techniques to tackle complex academic tasks and resolve
problems.
Content
Themes and issues addressed in the module.
Introduction: Meanings of violence and different disciplinary
framings of violence (historical, physical anthropology, political
science, sociology, anthropology, peace studies, critical
criminology).
Discourses of Violence
State, Civil Society and Violence.
Gender-based, homophobic, and racist, violence.
Contexts of Violence.
Teaching and learning
strategies
Alternative Responses to Violence.
include indicative allocation of study hours to various activities
including pre-module activities (if any), contact time (weekly or total),
private study time and assessment
2
Learning support
A range of learning support:
Module handbook and lecture notes available on Studentcentral.
Library resources including books, journals and on-line journals.
Staff and invited speakers. Student-led seminars. Tutorials.
Indicative Reading
Arendt, Hannah 1970 On violence, San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt
Brace.
Bowling, B. 1998 Violent racism: Victimisation, policing and social
context, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Boyle, Karen 2005 Media and violence: gendering the debates,
London: Sage.
Burman, Michele 2004 Challenging violence: girls, gender and
violent encounters, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Cohen, Stanley 2001 States of denial: knowing about atrocities and
suffering, Cambridge: Polity.
Das, Veena et al (eds) 2001 Remaking a world: Violence, social
suffering and recovery, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Elias, Norbert 1994 The civilizing process, Oxford: Blackwells.
Emsley, Clive 2005 Hard men: the English and violence since
1750, London, New York: Hambledon.
Ferrell, Jeff and Websdale, Neil (eds) 1999 Making trouble:
Cultural constructions of crime, deviance, and control, New York:
Aldine de Gruyter.
Hearn, Jeff 1998 The violences of men, London: Sage.
Hobbs, Dick et al. 2004 Bouncers: Violence and governance in the
night-time economy, Cullompton: Willan.
Jones, Stephen 2000 Understanding violent crime, Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Katz, Jack 1988 Seductions of crime – moral and sensual
attractions in doing evil, New York: Basic Books.
Mason, Gail 2002 The spectacle of violence: homophobia, gender
and knowledge, London and New York: Routledge.
Moran, Leslie and Skeggs, Beverley 2004 Sexuality and the politics
of violence and safety, London: Routledge.
Ray, Larry, Smith, D. and Wastell, L. 2003 ‘Understanding racist
violence’ In E. Stanko (ed) The meanings of violence, London:
Routledge.
Squires, Peter 2000 Gun Culture or Gun Control? London:
Routledge.
Stanko, Elizabeth A. 2003 The meanings of violence, London:
Routledge
Wilcox, Paula 2006 Surviving domestic violence: Gender, poverty
and agency , Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Wilcox, Paula 2005 ‘Beauty and the beast: Gendered and raced
discourse in the news’, Social and Legal Studies, Vol 14 (4): 515532.
3
Assessment tasks
A student presentation synthesizing and discussing debates,
concepts and issues from a key topic covered in the module (20
minutes); LO 1-2, 30%
A critical essay exploring different theoretical understandings and
discourses of violence in relation to one or more contexts (3,000
words); LO 3-4, 70%
Brief description of module This module examines the complex and multiple ways in which
content and/or aims
violence has been defined historically and in the present day. The
(maximum 80 words)
ambivalence surrounding the meaning/s and practice/s of violence
will be explored. The way violence has been studied will be looked
at, from research focusing on specific forms of violence and its
causes to more recent exploration of linkages between interpersonal and global violence through concepts such as
‘masculinity/ies’. A critical criminological approach will be taken
emphasizing the analysis of power in connection with violence with
reference to both discourses of violence and violent practices in
specific contexts. The module will look at recent, alternative
approaches in responding to violence in non-violent ways.
Area examination board to School of Applied Social Science, Graduate Programme Area
which module relates
Board.
Module team/authors/
Paula Wilcox (Co-ordinator) and Peter Squires
coordinator
Semester offered, where
Semester 2
appropriate
Site where delivered
Falmer
Date of first approval
February 2006
Date of last revision
December 2008
Date of approval of this
Nov 2010
version
Version number
3
Replacement for previous
SSM97
module
Field for which module is
acceptable and status in
that field
Course(s) for which
Optional
module is acceptable and
MA Criminology
status in course
MA Social Research
MSc Psychosocial Studies
Other SASS and Faculty of Health and Social Science Master’s
degrees
School home
SASS
External examiner
Christina Pantazis, University of Bristol.
4