CM3S047 - Understanding Homicide 07 Jul 2022 - 31 Aug 2027 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: CM3S047
Module Title: Understanding Homicide
Faculty: Faculty of Life Sciences and Education
Faculty Group: Policing and Criminology
Faculty Sub Group: Criminology
Module Leader: Hilary Miller, Debbie Zeraschi
Module Team: Daniel Welch, Joanne Bates, Helen Martin
First Intended Intake: SEP 2022 Final Year of Intake:
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 07 Jul 2022
Valid To 31 Aug 2027

Module Aims

To provide students with an appreciation of the socially constructed nature of the phenomenon of unlawful homicide

To provide students with a detailed appreciation of patterns, trends and characteristics of homicide in the UK (i.e. what homicide ‘looks like’), set against some international patterns and trends.

To equip students with a comprehensive knowledge of the competing theoretical perspectives that seek to explain homicide and sub-lethal violence and to be able to critically evaluate theories of homicide/violence

To provide students with a thorough appreciation of the diverse nature of homicide through the use of case
studies of different forms of homicide

To equip students with an ability to consider how knowledge of patterns and theoretical explanations of
homicide can inform reduction and prevention policies

To equip students with a thorough insight into the homicide investigative process in the UK context and the ways in which evidence is ‘produced’ and how investigations can fail.

Content Summary

The module commences by deconstructing the term homicide. Specifically, we unpack the social and legal meaning of the term homicide, evaluate the British criminal law of homicide and consider killings that fall beyond legal definitions of homicide or that are never identified as homicide. Students are subsequently directed towards an exploration of national and international patterns and trends of homicide and offender, victim and offence characteristics in the UK. The focus will then move to explanations of homicide and where we critically review contributions from the disciplines of biology, psychology and sociology to our understanding of homicide and violence. This is followed by closer examination of a number of distinct forms of homicide including 'masculine' (male-on-male) killings such as confrontational homicide, revenge homicide and robbery homicide, femicide, when women kill men, the killing of children and corporate homicide. Using case study material, alongside traditional and contemporary research literature, we will unravel the nature, extent, circumstances and explanations of these very different forms of homicide. Finally, the module turns to how homicide is investigated and how it might be prevented. The former explores the investigative processes and techniques in the UK, before casting a critical eye over the investigative process with a particular focus upon some of the interesting ways in which the police creatively assemble evidence and case narratives. We end by considering why the police sometimes fail to solve homicides and those occasions when they ‘construct’ the wrong suspect. Finally, we consider how homicide might be prevented, starting with an introduction to crime prevention approaches (primary, secondary and tertiary) before considering their applicability to different kinds of homicide and the formidable challenges in identifying (e.g. through risk factor work) those who might become involved in homicide (as offenders or victims).

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 12
Practical classes and workshops 24
External visits 16
Independent Study 80
Directed Study 20
Problem / challenge based learning 48
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Demonstrate a comprehensive and critical knowledge of the phenomena of homicide including legal and social meanings, the various forms that homicide takes, its patterns, trends and characteristics, competing theoretical perspectives, reduction and prevention strategies and the homicide investigative process in England and Wales
LO2 Succinctly evaluate theories of homicide and approaches designed to prevention particular kinds of homicide

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Report Students will take part in a simulated immersive learning exercise requiring them to apply key theories, concepts, and practices related to Homicide. 0 2500 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Report ✔ ✔

Reading List

Key Module Text / Essential Reading

Brookman, F. (2022) Understanding Homicide. London: Sage.

Recommended Reading:

Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the street: Decency, violence and the moral life of the inner city. New York: Norton.

Athens, L. H. (1997). Violent criminal acts and actors revisited. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Beeghley, L. (2003), Homicide: A Sociological Explanation. Maryland, Rowman & Littlefield

Brookman, F., Maguire, E., and Maguire, M. (2019) “What Factors Influence Whether Homicide Cases are Solved? Insights from Qualitative Research with Detectives in Great Britain and the USA” Homicide Studies, Vol. 23(2) 145–174.

Brookman, F., and Wright, M. (2017) “‘Deciding’ to Kill: Cognition, Affect and Homicide”, in W. Bernasco., H. Elffers and J-L van Gelder (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Offender Decision Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press (many other useful chapters in this handbook).

Brookman, F., Maguire, E., and Maguire, M. (Eds.) (2017) Handbook of Homicide. Wiley-Blackwell (various chapters in this large edited collection will be useful for this module).

Brookman, F. (2015) ‘”Killer” Decisions: The Role of Cognition and Affect and ‘Expertise’ in Homicide’. Aggression and Violent Behavior 20: 42-52

Brookman, F., and Innes, M. (2013) ‘The Problem of Success: What is a ‘Good’ Homicide Investigation? Journal of Policing and Society 23/3: 292-310. Special Issue: Homicide Investigation: International Research and Insights.

Dobash, R. E., and Dobash, R. P. (2020) When Men Murder Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Liem, M., and Koenraadt, F (2020), Domestic Homicide: Patterns and Dynamics. London: Routledge.

Liem, M.C.A., & Pridemore, W.A (2012).?Handbook of European Homicide Research. New York: Springer Publishing.

Loucks, N (ed); Holt, S., & Adler, J. (2020), Why We Kill. 2nd Ed. London: Routledge.

Maguire, M., Brookman, F., and Robinson, A. (2017) ‘Violent Crime’, in N. Tilley A. Sidebottom (Eds.) Handbook of Crime Prevention and Community Safety. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.

May, H. (1999), ‘Who Killed Whom?: Victimization and Culpability in the Social Construction of Murder’. British Journal of Sociology, 50/3: 489-506.

Nixon, R. (2011) Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Polk, K. (1994), When Men Kill: Scenarios of Masculine Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ray, L. (2011), Violence and Society. London: Sage.

Spierenburg, P. (2008), A History of Murder. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Sandberg, S and Pedersen, W. (2011) Street Capital. Bristol: Policy Press.

Stelfox, P. (2015). ‘The Evolution of Homicide Investigation in the UK’, The Journal of Homicide and Major Crime Investigation, 10 (2), pp. 92 - 106

Stelfox, P. (2009), Criminal Investigation. Devon: Willan.

Tombs, S. and Whyte, D. (2015) The Corporate Criminal. London: Routledge.