Antisocial and Criminal Behaviour

Code:

MC118

Acronym:

CAC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Criminology

Instance: 2022/2023 - 1S (since 12-09-2022 to 16-12-2022)

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MC	38	Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2017	1	-	3	-	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Within this Curricular Unit students are expected to deepen their knowledge within the domain of etiologic Criminology, by having first hand contact with the main pieces of work produced within the study of antissocial and criminal behavior. 

For each of the theoretical models and perspectives, its foundational texts, as well as recent empirical evidence within the perspective will be studied, by directlu contacting with original texts.

Students will recognie the interdsiciplinarity of Criminology, by contacting with the most recent integrative models.

Learning outcomes and competences

After a brief critical introduction to key concepts in the field of antisocial behavior (Class I), the program aims at exploring the key assumptions of the most influential criminological theories (Class II), highlighting the main contributions of developmental and life-course criminology (Classes III-IV) and the application of experimental methods in testing these underlying theoretical foundations (Class V), while refering to key concepts from Psychology and Biology, that constitute bridging elements between the historic and integrative perspectives (VI). Through the analysis of multiple schools of thought and approaches, highlighting fundamental questions of research hypothesis and subsequent empirical testing, students will be able to grasp the multitude of theoretical approaches that characterize the study of the etiology of antisocial and criminal behavior, and to value the recent efforts to achieve complex, transdisciplinary, developmental and multi-level theories. Finally, with the final modules aim at transmitting the necessary conceptual tools to allow students to understand the most recent research on the origin and maintenance of antisocial behavior.

The main objective of this CU is for students to acquire deep knowledge on the main etiological theories of antisocial behavior, as well as to explore their limitations and ways of testing this knowledge through the appropriate scientific procedures.

Students should also be able to do advanced critical analyses, at the light of the content transmitted during classes and in key readings and according to their specific backgrounds. Hence, students are required to do a critical recension, which will constitute an element for evaluation and that wil be presented in each class.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

NA

Program

I – Norm, deviation, antisocial behavior and crime
      Main techniques for measuring antisocial behavior (advantages and disadvantages)
              Official records of crime 
              Self-reports of antisocial behavior
              Observation techniques

II – Brief reference to the main theories of crime
      Focus on Control Theories

              Social Control Theory (Hirschi, 1969)

              General Theory of Crime (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990)

III – Developmental and Life-course Criminology

              Foundations of DLC research

              Criminal trajectories

              Risk and Protective factors

IV – Developmental and Life-course Criminology

              Moffitt's (1993) developmental taxonomy

              Farrington's (2005) ICAP theory

V – Theory testing

VI – Biosocial Criminology.

 

Mandatory literature

Beaver, K., M., & Walsh, A ; Biosocial Theories of Crime, Ashgate, 2010
Blair James; The^psychopath. ISBN: 978-0-631-23336-7
Glicksohn Joseph 340; The^neurobiology of criminal behavior. ISBN: 0-7923-7674-9
Patrick Christopher J. 340; Handbook of psychopathy. ISBN: 1-59385-591-5
Walsh, A; Hemmens, C. ; Introduction to Criminology: A text/reader, SAGE, 2014

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical-practical classes, based on key-readings. Students will complement the knowledge transmitted in class with the analysis of key readings in each module. The teachers will select the most appropriate review papers, which students should read previously to each class. These will constitute the preparation for the critical exposition of theories.

The practical work will be constituted by a critic recension of papers of the modules.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	25,00
Exame	75,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	7,50
Frequência das aulas	18,00
Total:	25,50

Eligibility for exams

The final classification will reflect the classification in the classwork presentation (25%) and the exam (75%).

Calculation formula of final grade

Final Grade = 25% practical report
                     75% exam