Working in Criminal and/or Social Justice seeks to provide a forum for participants to debate and consider contemporary issues in the delivery of criminal justice and/or social justice based policy and practice reflexively within their historical, social and political context. It aims to support students career entry and/or career progression. Most leadership positions in the field value masters level qualifications, as such this module aims to support students in cultivating their leadership potential in the workplace.

With the help of Staffordshire University Employability Framework and support services, all participants are required to find a paid or voluntary setting where then can work in a field linked to the delivery of criminal or social justice (as broadly understood). This might be the participants current working role or may involve finding and undertaking voluntary work (e.g. drug work, domestic violence, victims, youth justice), where students will be expected to use at a minimum 40 hours of their independent study time.

This module will give participants a unique opportunity to work alongside practitioners and leaders from a range of criminal or social justice agencies and related organisations in the public, private and/or third sectors. Students can apply for one of the existing placements or arrange their own in conjunction with the module leader. Alternatively, those coming from practitioner backgrounds will directly be able to consider their working environment in a more academic and structured manner.

Participants will undertake blended learning activities framed by notions of justice, diversity, inclusion and equality and we will consider organisational culture as we reflect on work opportunities in the field. We will consider current social-economic factors impacting workplaces and trends within the field. We will critically reflect upon discrimination in the workplace with regards to ethnicity, gender, age, religion and disability and the importance of representation in relation to engagement with service users and communities. We will explore what is best practice in the workplace and develop our interpersonal skillset. The module will help you consider progression into leadership or into more senior leadership for your chosen career pathway.

One reflective essay to include (weighted at 100%) of 4,000 words covering learning outcomes 1-4 comprising of:

Reflections on the job you applied for in relation to academic literature and policy (please include discussion about the role and work culture and policy context).
Reflections on your work performance and the context of your workplace (please include feedback from your employer, details of the skills that you have developed and displayed at work including people skills and anti-discriminatory practice)
Reflecting on future career plans including detailed actions for the next 5 years for your career pathway and progression (please summarise how your work placement experience will support your future plans)

Evidence of 40 hour placement completion (weighted at 0% but must be passed to pass the module). Your placement provider will provide confirmation of completed hours and feedback on your performance directly to the University. You will have a copy of this report to reflect on for your Portfolio and Presentation assessment.

Learners will have the opportunity during this module, to submit formative assessment as part of the module and receive formative feedback during the module.

This module is delivered through blended learning. Face to face delivery is reduced to enable students to undertake a 40-hour work placement. Students will undertake the following in order to learn, acquire knowledge and understanding a reflect on work experience:-

3 x 2 hour face-to-face lectures at the beginning of the module for placement preparation.
8 x 2 hour optional tutorial sessions – by appointment
One-to-one Career Coaching sessions by the University careers service to identify relevant placement opportunities and identify career aspirations.
A series of online podcasts providing insight into working in criminal or social justice and details on how to complete relevant parts of the assessment e.g. skills audit, CV.
40 hours spent in the workplace
1 x 2 hour assessment preparation workshop at the end of the module to reflect on your work experience

This module is supported by the virtual learning environment (Blackboard), which allows students to access learning materials remotely, participate in discussion boards and webinars, and access lists of recommended readings. The majority of the latter are available through the Library in electronic form and can be retrieved remotely. Students undertaking the Criminal Justice or Social Justice Placement are supported by an on-site supervisor in the corresponding agency and by an academic supervisor on campus. This module is also supported by the Staffordshire University Careers Service.

1. Identify a career pathway in their chosen field and their progression route.

Communication, Problem Solving

2. Apply practitioner and leadership skills to the workplace in the field of criminal and/or social justice.
Application, communication

3. Critically understand the context and culture of working in criminal justice and/or social justice with reference to anti-oppressive practice.

Knowledge and understanding

4. Demonstrate how you have met the learning objectives 1-3 above in a piece of reflective written work that considers your practice as a worker in the criminal justice system, be it in a voluntary or paid capacity.

Reflection

The library PCs with standard suite of University software providing access to e-mail, the internet, word processing, etc. Lecture rooms with access for disabled students, and suitable for group work
The Blackboard virtual learning environment
Careers Service Support from Staffordshire University
Student DBS checks

Anonymous (2018) The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken, London: Macmillan
Bennett, J and Crewe, B., and Wahidin, A. (2007) Understanding Prison Staff, Devon: Willan
Bennett, J (2015) The Working Lives of Prison Managers: Global Change, Local Culture and Individual Agency in the Late Modern Prison, Hampshire, Palgrave MacMillan.
Cooper, V. and Whyte, D. (2017) The Violence of Austerity, London: Pluto Press
Farrow, K, Kelly, G and Wilkinson, B. (2007) Offenders in Focus; Risk, Responsivity and Diversity, Bristol, Policy Press Fielding, N (2018) Professionalizing the Police: The Unfulfilled Promise of Police Training, Claredon: Oxford.
Haines, K and Case, S (2015) Positive youth justice, Bristol: Policy Press
Loftus, B. (2012) Police Culture in a changing World, Oxford: Claredon
Ragonese, E., Rees, A., Ives, J., Dray, T. (2015). The Routledge Guide to Working in Criminal Justice: Employability skills and careers in the Criminal Justice sector, London: Routledge
Reiner, R. (2007). Law and Order: An Honest Citizen s Guide to Crime and Control, Cambridge: Polity.
Reiner, R (2010) The Politics of the Police, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Souhami, A (2012). Transforming Youth Justice, Devon
Yates, J., and Williams, B. (eds) Applied Criminology, London, Sage
Tomczak, P (2018) The Penal Vol