Module manager: Dr Toby Davies
Email: T.Davies@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
| LLLC2062 | Young People, Crime and Policy Responses |
LAW2420
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module provides an introduction to how evidence can help distinguish fact from myth in an area often dominated by intuition, anecdotes and sensationalism. Crime and justice are central concerns for society, yet key issues are frequently misunderstood, with adverse consequences for perception and policy. This module will show how data can be used to establish the reality behind these critical issues and build a fact-based understanding of crime and criminal justice. The module focusses on a series of prominent issues within the field. Focussing on specific research questions, sessions will introduce the real datasets that researchers and policymakers rely on, and demonstrate how insights can be drawn from them. The strengths and limitations of different data sources will be discussed, including their transparency, accessibility and representativeness, as well as any associated ethical issues. While students will gain experience working with data, this is not an advanced technical module. It aims to supports support students in becoming discerning users and consumers of evidence. By the end of the module, students will be aware of the range of data that can be drawn on within the field, and be able to evaluate competing claims about crime in an evidence-informed and intellectually-robust way.
The key aims of the module are to:
Introduce students to how data and evidence are used to understand crime and criminal justice, and to develop an informed, fact-based perspective on key issues.
Familiarise students with major criminological data sources and enable them to critically evaluate their strengths, limitations and ethical considerations.
Develop students’ ability to interpret and assess competing claims about crime, distinguishing evidence from myth, misconception and sensationalism.
Provide students with basic skills in obtaining, processing and exploring data.
The module will achieve these aims through a combination of lectures and workshops. Each lecture will introduce a particular fundamental or topical research question, identify a relevant dataset, and demonstrate how it can be used to draw conclusions. Through this process, students will be exposed to a variety of data sources and be shown the workflow from data to findings in a variety of contexts. Each session will also be designed to illustrate a key conceptual challenge. Workshops will involve work with real data, showing how it can be obtained and walking through preliminary analytical steps.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
LO1: Synthesise established knowledge on responses to crime and victimisation and explain crime and its prevention in its social and political context
LO2: Critically assess the values and veracity of major traditions of criminological theory and the ethical underpinnings of criminological enquiry
LO3: Distinguish the scope and limitations of major qualitative and quantitative research methods in criminology and criminal justice studies.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SO1: Critically consider alternative explanations of, and approaches to, significant contemporary issues in crime and responses to crime.
SO2: Identify, access, analyse, and interpret relevant secondary data.
SO3: Apply scholarly skills to establish independent perspectives on questions in criminology and criminal justice studies.
SO4: Design research projects in a holistic manner, demonstrating competence in the requisite skills and navigating key sources of data in a supportive framework
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| Seminar | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 179 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 21 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
179
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for the 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: 14/05/2026
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