Module manager: Professor Graham Farrell
Email: G.Farrell@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Crime prevention is a pervasive aspect of everyday life – from house keys and single-sex toilets, to measures to prevent student academic misconduct – and these aspects of life are often taken for granted even though they are tremendously important. The module introduces key concepts, theories, evidence and debates relating to situational crime prevention and crime science. This includes offender decision-making (rational choice theory), the routine activities perspective, and the situational crime prevention framework. Students learn to understand how crime trends and variation relate to differences in crime opportunities, and to critically assess debates, including those relating to ethics, crime displacement and the diffusion of preventive benefits relating to situational crime prevention.
Learning objectives
- To introduce students to key theoretical areas relating to situational crime prevention, including routine activities and offender decision-making.
- To provide students with a critical understanding of how trends and variation in crime reflect the crime opportunity structure.
- To provide students with the capacity to critically reflect on the evidence relating to the effectiveness of situational crime prevention measures, including ethical considerations, the role of crime displacement and the diffusion of preventive benefits.
Learning activities:
The module’s learning activities are divided into lectures and seminars. The lectures cover the main conceptual and theoretical frameworks and large-scale thematic topics.
The issue-specific seminars apply the theories and concepts to specific topics. The seminars use set readings and a worksheet that students complete in advance. The seminar format encourages discussion and questions and allows students to gain experience talking and debating with others.
Students are given weekly reading tasks to complete as part of their independent study time. Some of these relate to the seminars and others relate to particular areas of enquiry. In addition, students are provided with a full module reading list, with a range of additional readings, that they may draw on for completion of assessments.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
- Analyse major theories of situational crime prevention and apply such theories to understanding contemporary dynamics in crime, victimisation and criminal justice.
- Synthesise established knowledge on crime trends and crime opportunity and explain crime prevention in its social and political contexts.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1.5 | 7.5 |
| Private study hours | 181.5 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 18.5 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for each summative assessment task, which is specifically pedagogically aligned to that task. As part of this, each student will receive feedback designed to support the development of knowledge and skills that will be later assessed in the summative task.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Coursework | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
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