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

Research

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

Courses

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

SOCI7001: Criminal Justice: Process and Politics

This course provides a critical overview of what criminal justice is, the politics surrounding criminal justice, and the actors and means by which justice is delivered.

Course Description

Criminal justice is the moral and social philosophy of crime and justice that societies use to create formal mechanisms for enforcing laws, adjudicating criminal offences, and delivering prescribed outcomes for criminal conduct. The course will cover topics and areas in which criminal justice systems struggle to deliver justice in ways that their societies consider just and measured, and it will conclude with discussions on how to go beyond the traditional notion of criminal justice.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Develop Personal Positions on Criminal Justice Topics: Argue their positions pertaining to criminal justice policies and processes with sensitivity to theoretical debates around those positions.
2. Understand and Critically Assess Criminal Justice Policies: Examine recent developments in criminal justice and assess them against other rationales for crime control and criminal justice policies.
3. Be Versed in Major Criminal Justice Debates and Topics: Demonstrate a clear understanding of major issues in criminal justice systems around the world, especially Hong Kong and mainland China.

Assessment

Required Reading

1. Farmer, L. (2018). Civility, obligation and criminal law. In D. Matthews & S. Veitch (Eds.), Law, Obligation, Community. (Ch. 10). Routledge.
2. Wozniak, K. H. (2016). Public opinion and the politics of criminal justice policy making: Reasons for optimism, pessimism, and uncertainty. Criminology & Public Policy, 15, 179.
3. Ericson, R. V., & Haggerty, K. D. (1997). Chapter 1: Introduction. Policing the Risk Society. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
4. Rakoff, J. S. (2017). Why prosecutors rule the criminal justice system—And what can be done about it. Northwestern University Law Review , 111(6), 1429–1436.
5. Aharoni, E., Kleider-Offutt, H. M., Brosnan, S. F., & Hoffman, M. B. (2022). Nudges for Judges: An Experiment on the Effect of Making Sentencing Costs Explicit. Frontiers in Psychology , 13
6. Lu, H., & Zhang, L. (2005). Death penalty in China: The law and the practice. Journal of Criminal Justice , 33(4), 367-376.
7. Alden, E. (2017). Is border enforcement effective? What we know and what it means. Journal of Migration and Human Security , 5(2), 481–490.
8. Peng, Y. & Cheng, J. (2022). Ethnic disparity in Chinese theft sentencing: A modified focal concerns perspective. China Review , 22(3), 47–71.
9. Gelles, R. J. (1977). Power, sex, and violence: The case of marital rape. Family Coordinator , 339-347.
10. Holzer, K. J., AbiNader, M. A. , Vaughn, M. G., Salas-Wright, C. P., & Oh, S. (2022). Crime and violence in older adults: Findings from the 2002 to 2017 national survey on drug use and health. Journal of Interpersonal Violence , 37(1–2), 764–781.
11. Carver, L., Morley, S., & Taylor, P. (2017). Voices of deficit: mental health, criminal victimization, and epistemic injustice. Illness, Crisis, and Loss , 25(1), 43–62.
12. Scott, D. (2014). Beyond criminal justice. In J. M. Moore, B. Rolston, D. Scott & M. Tomlinson. Beyond Criminal Justice: An Anthology of Abolitionist Papers. (1–12). European Press Group.

Recommended Reading

1. Confucius. (2016). The Analects (1st ed.). Open Road Media.
2. Cohen, S. (2011). Folk Devils and Moral Panics: the Creation of the Mods and Rockers (3rd ed.). Routledge.
3. Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage.
4. Merton, R. K. (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure (1968 enl. ed.). Free Press.
5. Braithwaite, J. (2004). Restorative Justice and De-Professionalization. The Good Society, 13(1), 28–31.’
6. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books.
7. Shaw, C. R., & McKay, H. D. (1969). Juvenile delinquency and urban areas : a study of rates of delinquency in relation to differential characteristics of local communities in American cities (Rev. ed.). University of Chicago Press.
8. Du Bois, W. E. B. (2007). The Philadelphia Negro : A Social Study. Oxford University Press.
9. Broidy, L., & Agnew, R. (1997). Gender and crime: a General Strain Theory perspective. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 34(3), 275–306.
10. Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. American Sociological Review , 44(4), 588–608.
11. Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, M. W. (1985). Personality and individual differences: a natural science approach. Plenum Press.
12. Karstedt, S. (2002). Emotions and criminal justice. Theoretical Criminology , 6(3), 299–317.

People

The Department of Sociology has a team of lecturers, including Dr. Yujing Fun, who is a part-time lecturer and course coordinator for SOCI7001: Criminal Justice: Process and Politics.

News and Events

The Department of Sociology regularly updates its news and events, including latest events and visiting professors.

Contact and Location

The Department of Sociology is located in Room 928, 9/F, The Jockey Club Tower, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR.