Program Overview

University Program Information

The University of Hong Kong offers various programs through its Department of Sociology.

Programmes

• Undergraduate
  • Criminology Major/Minor
  • Media & Cultural Studies Major/Minor
  • Sociology Major/Minor
• Taught postgraduate
  • MSocSc Criminology
  • MSocSc Media, Culture & Creative Cities
  • MSocSc Sociology
• MPhil / PhD Sociology

Courses

The Department of Sociology offers a range of courses, including:

• SOCI3105: Global Criminology
  • Offer semester: 2nd semester
  • Lecture time: Tuesday, 17:00-18:50
  • Lecture venue: CPD-G.02
  • Credits awarded: 6

Course Description

The Global Criminology course delves into the complexities of global crime, exploring foundational theories, concepts, and terminology. The course is structured into three parts, covering the growing importance of knowledge production beyond traditional Anglo-American bases of power, responses to global crime, and the interwoven nature of global crimes.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the meaning and nature of global crime issues and responses.
2. Display in-depth knowledge of particular criminal phenomena and forms of legal, political, and policing responses.
3. Understand and critically explore relevant criminological theories, concepts, and terminology.
4. Illustrate key social changes that have influenced global crime, such as globalization, development of new technologies, and media.

Assessment

• Coursework: 60%
• Examination: 40%

Required Reading

A sample of key readings, reports, and media includes:

1. Aas, K. F. (2019). Globalization and Crime. London: Sage.
2. Mackenzie, S. (2020). Transnational criminology: trafficking and global criminal markets. Policy Press.
3. Grabosky, P. N. (2017). Virtual criminality: Old wine in new bottles?. In Cyberspace Crime (pp. 75-81). Routledge.
4. Hoyle, C., Hutton, J., & Harry, L. (2023). A Disproportionate Risk of Being Executed: Why Pakistani Migrants Are Vulnerable to Capital Punishment in Saudi Arabia. The British Journal of Criminology.
5. Lee, M. (2013). Introduction: Understanding human trafficking. In Human trafficking (pp. 1-25). Willan.
6. Moyle, L., Childs, A., Coomber, R., & Barratt, M. J. (2019). # Drugsforsale: An exploration of the use of social media and encrypted messaging apps to supply and access drugs. International Journal of Drug Policy, 63, 101-110.
7. Moore, J. M., Aliverti, A., Carvalho, H., Chamberlen, A., & Sozzo, M. (2023). Abolition and (De) colonization. Cutting the Criminal Question’s Gordian Knot.’. Decolonizing the Criminal Question. Colonial Legacies, Contemporary Problems , 37-52.
8. Payne, B. K. (2020). Defining cybercrime. The Palgrave handbook of international cybercrime and cyberd eviance, 3-25.
9. Whitfort, A. (2019). Wildlife Crime and Animal Victims: Improving Access to Environmental Justice in Hong Kong, Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, 22:3, 203-230.
10. Van Uhm, Daan and South, Nigel and Wyatt, Tanya (2021) Connections between trades and trafficking in wildlife and drugs. Trends in Organized Crime. 24 (4). pp. 425-446.
11. Harm Reduction International (2024). The death penalty for drug offences: Global overview 2024.
12. UNODC (2025). The world drug report: Key findings and conclusions.

Research

The Department of Sociology is involved in various research projects, clusters, and centers, including:

• Research Projects
• Research Clusters
• Centre for Criminology
• Global Society and Sustainability Lab

People

The Department of Sociology has a team of lecturers, including Dr. Kate Lowe, who is the course coordinator and teacher for the Global Criminology course.