Admission requirements
None.
Description
The Safe City is an introduction to crime, safety and policing in urban contexts. The course consists of 12 lectures and one film, and focuses on the following questions:
How are crime and safety defined in long term perspective?
What are the patterns of crime in long term perspective?
How can we explain patterns of urban crime?
How have crime and safety issues been handled by (urban) authorities?
How can we study urban crime and the effects of policing on urban crime?
In the first lecture students are introduced in the field of urban criminology. After the introduction the course is divided in three parts:
1) In six lecturers students will learn about data, trends, and myths regarding urban crime in long term perspective.
2) In five lectures students get a basic overview of the relation between and the urban context and crime, and the theories that have been used explain the concentration of crime in certain places and times.
3) A film that connects to the issues discussed in the lectures.
Course objectives
General learning outcomes
See tab Additional information for the overview of the programme's general learning outcomes. In the assessment methods below is outlined which general learning outcome will be tested through which method.
Course objectives, pertaining to this course
The students are able to:
1) Identify key questions and topics regarding crime and safety as formulated in the lectures and literature. These questions relate to: definitions of crime, trends and developments in urban crime, urban policing in long term perspective, urban criminology, the relation between and the urban context and crime, and theory to explain the concentration of crime across time and space.
2) Summarize and reproduce the most important questions and topics on crime and safety, trends and developments, and policing of urban crime in long term perspective, as formulated in the lectures and literature.
3) Classify and recognize key concepts in urban criminology, as formulated in the course literature.
4) Apply the definitions and theories in urban criminology as mentioned above.
5) Plan and schedule his/her study: organise and use relatively large amounts of information.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the Urban Studies website
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Film
Course Load
Total course load is 5 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), which equals to 140 hours, broken down by:
Lectures: 24
Film assessment: 8
Assessment hours (exams): 3
Reading literature/preparing for exams: 105
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm exam
Take home examination with open questions, based on the literature and the lectures of the first period.
-measured programme's general learning outcomes: 1, 4-5, 9, 11, 13, 15, 22
-measured course specific objectives: 1-5Final exam
A written examination with open questions, based on the literature and the lectures of the last period
-measured programme's general learning outcomes: 1, 4-5, 9, 11, 13, 15, 22
-measured course specific objectives: 1-5
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Midterm Exam | 50 |
| Final Exam | 50 |
End grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the assessment components.
The weighted average of the midterm exam grade and the final exam grade needs to be 5.50 or higher.
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or one of the exam grades is lower than 5.50, there is a possibility of retaking the written examination material, replacing the previous exam grade(s).
Faculty regulations concerning participation in resits are listed in article 4.1 of the Faculty Course and Examination Regulations.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Blackboard
Blackboard(https://blackboard.leidenuniv.nl/) will be used for:
The time schedule of the course
The reading list
Powerpoints of the lectures
Announcements
All other information regarding the course
Reading list
References for key readings from book chapters and articles will be provided by the lecturers through Blackboard.
Two key readings will be:
Selected chapters from: Knepper, Paul; Johansen, Anja (2016): The Oxford handbook of the history of crime and criminal justice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Currie, Elliott (2016): The Roots of danger. Violent crime in global perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available on the website
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact
Remarks
None.