Crime and Inequality

The unit introduces the student to the ‘problem of crime’ and examines the relationship of crime, inequality and disadvantage. It introduces students to the effects of disadvantage on criminal behaviour and policing and legal responses to disorder. The unit reviews the roles that gender, race, ethnicity and class play in the criminal justice system and explores the reasons why some groups are over-represented in offending and incarceration rates.Students will work through contemporary issues such as gender-based violence, indigenous incarceration, policing and bias and the unequal application of the criminal law for crimes related to disadvantage.