Crimes of the Powerful

Introduction

This course examines crimes of the powerful, examining the complexities and barriers associated with setting new criminological research agendas by considering the difficulties associated with conducting research on crimes of the powerful. It asks you to think critically about how knowledge is constructed and contested, how we define what is ‘researchable’, and how we know what we know about the world. The project of knowledge-making is, in part, reliant on questioning and critiquing the status quo (Said, 1994, cited in Russell, 1997). New knowledge and ways of thinking can be significantly advanced when accepted or conventional understandings of the world or a particular phenomenon are challenged or differently conceived. Focusing on crimes of the powerful highlights the role that power plays in the setting of research agendas, knowledge-making and in establishing the status quo. This course provides a sample of postgraduate study in Criminology.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Outline the importance of the concept of power in understanding criminological research agendas
• Define various categories of ‘crimes of the powerful’
• Describe how researching the powerful can reshape the boundaries and goals of critical criminology
• Provide examples of the barriers that make it difficult to research crimes of the powerful.