Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SOC3127: Crimes of the Powerful

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of the module is to:

demonstrate the different types of crimes and harms associated with corporations and state actors
assess the nature and impact of such harms on society
examine the institutional, policy and legal context within which such harms and crimes can occur
evaluate existing practices of law enforcement for holding state actors and corporations to account (at national and international levels)
critically evaluate the concept of ‘crime,’ from a ‘harm-based’ perspective, which incorporates an understanding of social injury to society as well as individualised victims of crime.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. demonstrate a critical understanding of the different types of crimes committed by corporations and state actors; 2. engage with and critically evaluate a range of sources both quantitative and qualitative that provide evidence of crimes and harms committed by state actors and corporations; 3. critically evaluate policy solutions to crimes and harms committed by state actors and corporations at a national and international level.
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. demonstrate a critical understanding of the socio-legal context in which crimes of the powerful are committed; 5. critically evaluate theoretical approaches that consider harm to be a more appropriate starting point for understanding harm in society.
Personal and Key Skills	6. demonstrate collaborative skills, in presentations and group discussions of course materials; 7. critically evaluate own work and the work of others; 8. demonstrate a clear and effective argument, in oral and written form; 9. work independently, within a set time frame, to complete an analytical task.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:

environmental harms and crimes;
state crime and state terrorism;
financial crimes;
corruption;
deregulation and crime;
poverty;
policy solutions.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activity	22	11 x 2 hour seminars
Guided independent study	22	Preparation and reading for seminars
Guided independent study	42	Preparation and reading for presentation
Guided independent study	10	Additional reading/research
Guided independent study	54	Preparation for essays

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

• Barak, G. (2015) (ed.) The Routledge international handbook of the crimes of the powerful, Oxford: Routledge
• Barak, G. (2017). Unchecked Corporate Power: Why the Crimes of Multinational Corporations are routinized away and what we can do about it. Routledge.
• Carroll, W. K. (2013). The making of a transnational capitalist class: Corporate power in the 21st century. Zed Books Ltd..
• Chambliss, W., Michalowski, R., Kramer, R. (2010) State crime in the global age, Cullompton : Willan Publishing
• Clinard, M., & Yeager, P. (2011). Corporate crime (Vol. 1). Transaction Publishers.
• Gobert, J., & Punch, M. (2003). Rethinking corporate crime. Cambridge University Press.
• Stanley, E. and McCulloch, J. (2013) (eds.) State Crime and Resistance, London: Routledge
• Hartley, R. D. (2008). Corporate crime: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO.
• Michalowski, R. J., & Kramer, R. C. (2006). State-corporate crime: Wrongdoing at the intersection of business and government. Rutgers University Press.
• Miller, D., & Dinan, W. (2007). A century of spin: How public relations became the cutting edge of corporate power. Pluto Press.
• Sklair, L. (1997). Social movements for global capitalism: the transnational capitalist class in action. Review of international political economy, 4(3), 514-538.
• Sklair, L. (2001). The transnational capitalist class (Vol. 306). Oxford: Blackwell
• Slapper, G., & Tombs, S. (1999). Corporate crime. Longman.
• Simpson, S. S. (2002). Corporate crime, law, and social control. Cambridge University Press.
• Tilly, C. (1985). War making and state making as organized crime. Violence: A reader, 35-60. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/51028/256.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
• Tombs, S. and Whyte, D. (2015) The Corporate Criminal. Why corporations must be abolished, London: Routledge
• Whyte, D. (Ed.). (2009). Crimes of the powerful: A reader. Open University Press.
• Whyte, D. (2015) (ed.) How Corrupt is Britain? London: Pluto Press