Human Trafficking, Migration and Organised Crime
MA, PGCert, PGDip

Modules

• Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: Policing, Policy and Practice Core

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: Policing, Policy and Practice (Core)

Module convenor: Dr Carole Murphy

Beginning with a broad overview of forms of slavery from historical perspectives up to more recent accounts of modern slavery and human trafficking, this module will familiarise students with multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of trafficking and slavery, from sociology, criminology, law, economics, media and politics. Students will examine a range of sources including academic research, policy documents, media representations and statistical information to engage critically with received ideas, popular and policy discourses about modern slavery and human trafficking. Current research from the Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery (CSMS) will contribute to developing a critical and up-to-date knowledge base on this topic. Students will be encouraged to attend seminars and conferences organised by the Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery throughout the year.

Assessment: Portfolio 3500 words: 75%; Policy, policing and practice review and presentation 15 minutes: 25%

Credits: 20

• Organised Crime in Insecure Environments Core

Organised Crime in Insecure Environments (Core)

Organised crime networks are notorious for their adaptability and flexibility in their ability to exploit opportunities that become available. Rather than eradicate criminal activity, effective responses tend to displace it elsewhere. Described as the “balloon effect” this problem is explored in terms of transnational organised crime and its relationship to social, economic and political instability or upheaval in a number of different contexts: local, national and international.

This module explores ways in which insecure environments, on a continuum from UK spaces of enormous deprivation through to regions of conflict and displacement, are conducive for organised crime in general and modern slavery in particular. Students will examine and debate concepts and definitions of organised crime. The role of organised crime groups (OCGs), organised crime networks (OCNs), and looser or ‘disorganised’ networks that facilitate the exploitation of people will be critically examined and explored. Responses from policing and policy to organised crime across the international community will be evaluated for effectiveness and feasibility.

Assessment: Essay 4000 words: 60%; Case study report and presentation 1500 words/ 15 minutes

Credits: 20

• Mediating Trafficking, Migration and Diaspora Core

Mediating Trafficking, Migration and Diaspora (Core)

Module convenor: Dr Jon Hackett

This module considers the mediation of issues of migration, diaspora and human trafficking in the media, with particular attention to film and television examples. It will familiarise students with some of the formal elements of moving image as well as theoretical frameworks with which to analyse on-screen representations. One module theme will be the nature of both the social and cultural issues represented, and cinema and television as institutions and industries, as transnational phenomena par excellence. Ideas from postcolonialism and cultural studies on diaspora, hybridity and Orientalism, as well as ideas from cinema studies on national, postcolonial and transnational cinemas, and gendered representation will inform the delineation of this field of cultural production.

Assessment: Critical presentation - screening extract up to 5 minutes, presentation 15 minutes: 25%; Essay 4000 words: 75%

Credits: 20

• Human Rights and Migration Core

Human Rights and Migration (Core)

Module convenor: Neena Samota

Justice systems at a national, international and transnational level exist to mediate rights for individuals and groups. In an age of migration, border control, trafficking and governance of migration are emerging themes in criminology. What are the limitations of the sovereign state? What are the limitations of international legal instruments to protect human rights? How can security be achieved for all? Building on these questions, students will critically examine the governance of migration and how European states deal with problems of law, order and inclusion. The study of human rights institutions, processes and practices will enable students to address current dilemmas associated with migration such as state sovereignty, security, inclusion, inequality and citizenship.

Assessment: Essay 3000 words: 60%; Case review 2000 words: 40%

Credits: 20

• Advanced Research Methods Core

Advanced Research Methods (Core)

Module convenor: Dr Carole Murphy

This module will develop students’ skills in the planning, execution and writing of a substantial piece of independent research on a topic chosen by them in consultation with members of the programme team. Teaching staff will present case studies based on their specific areas of expertise such as human trafficking, migration, organised crime and media representations. The module aims to provide students with a detailed knowledge of research methods, how they relate to the PG research process and the design and execution of an empirical research project. The module will also consider the impact of the big data phenomenon in relation to the future of research. The students will experiment with and evaluate a number of online research tools and data visualization software.

Assessment: Critical analysis 2500 words: 50%; Research proposal 2500 words: 50%

Credits: 20

• Personal and Professional Development (Industry Placement) Option

Personal and Professional Development (Industry Placement) (Option)

This module provides students with the opportunity to identify and address key personal, professional and career development issues relevant to their area of interest.

Students will have the opportunity to reflect upon their own core competencies, personal qualities and areas for development, having undertaken in-depth psychometric testing. These tests generate a detailed report which the students will use to help identify and explore key areas for development within the context of their future career aspirations.

The module incorporates a period of work experience which will enable the student to focus on both the practical application and development of their key skills within a real-world setting. The combination of psychometric testing, reflection and analysis of the workplace will culminate in the production of a focussed personal development action plan (PDAP).

Credits: 20

• Identification, support and care of victims of modern day slavery Option

Identification, support and care of victims of modern day slavery (Option)

This module provides the knowledge, understanding and practical skills for individuals to identify, support and care for victims of modern slavery that you may meet in your work.

Credits: 20

• Dissertation Core Option

Dissertation (Core Option)

This is an independent study module, supported by regular supervision by one of the course team, in which the student writes up a substantial piece of independent research on a topic chosen by them in consultation with members of the programme team. The module has the aim of developing students’ independent research skills and critical analysis through the planning, execution and writing of a substantial piece of independent research on a topic chosen by them in consultation with members of the programme team. The Advanced Research Methods module would have given students many of the skills they will need to apply in this module.

Assessment: dissertation 13,000 words: 70%; Viva Voce 30 minutes.

Credits: 60

• Work Based Research Core Option

Work Based Research (Core Option)

This core module, which can be taken as an alternative to the Dissertation, provides an opportunity for students to develop critical awareness skills, knowledge and understanding about the relationship between theory and research to practice in the workplace setting. This is an independent study module, supported by regular supervision from one of the course team, in which the student writes up a substantial piece of independent research on a topic relevant to the professional setting, in consultation with members of the programme team. The Advanced Research Methods module would have given students many of the skills they will need to apply in this module. Students will use their experience in the workplace, in a paid or unpaid capacity, to conduct work-based research towards completing their MA (instead of researching and writing a more conventional dissertation). It gives students an opportunity to undertake a research task in which they can relate the theoretical knowledge of their subject area to the evaluation of these practices in a work setting.

Assessment: Written report or other material output and reflective e-portfolio 13,000 words: 70%; Viva Voce 30 minutes: 30%

Credits: 60

• Global Governance Option

Global Governance (Option)

This course investigates cooperation and discord in international organisation. While evaluating theoretical debates and examining a selection of inter-governmental organisation, the focus is on broader questions of how the global system is organised. Students interrogate the role that power and coercion play, the inequalities and marginalisations in the international system, the nature and role of non-state actors, and the content of the global political agenda. The course critically evaluates different forms of governance from grassroots to regional governance, from global multilateral negotiations to economic crisis management. Questions about the continuity and change of global governance are addressed both holistically and in the case of specific institutions.

Credits: 20

• Security Studies Option

Security Studies (Option)

This course examines enduring and contemporary questions of security and insecurity in the international system. Security has traditionally been defined in terms of strategic state politics and the use of military force to counter external military threats. The end of the Cold War and the ensuing conflicts of the late-20th century raised questions about the continued relevance of traditional theories of security. New security threats have been defined both in the academic literature and by state security strategies. This course critically evaluates these developments using IR and security studies theories, supplemented by practical case-studies. Students investigate the definition of the term security and threats to security, questions about the referent object of security, the root causes of insecurity and the methods of eliminating or lessening such threats. The course evaluates traditional and contemporary security concepts such as national security, conventional weapons systems, nuclear non-proliferation, human security, responsibility to protect, the poverty-security nexus in a post-Westphalian context.

Credits: 20

• International NonGovernmental Organisation Option

International NonGovernmental Organisation (Option)

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as Save the Children, Amnesty International and Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders are a key instrument in international development. They support many domestic and international humanitarian and emergency interventions. Many charities work in collaboration with NGOs and it is essential to understand the unique culture of these types of organisations and the pressures they face overseas.

This module is designed to prepare students to understand the unique complexities and characteristics of international NGOs and to be able to contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of these organisations.

Credits: 20

• Social Entrepreneurship Option

Social Entrepreneurship (Option)

Social enterprise is an ethical and sustainable way of doing business as it reinvests profits or surpluses back into socio-environmental concerns. This approach has reinvigorated the third sector as it uses innovative business and management methodologies to overcome societal problems. Currently, there are approximately 70,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £24bn to the economy.

Within this module, policy-minded students will be challenged to think creatively about potential solutions to public challenges; entrepreneurially inclined students will be challenged to analyse rigorously the economic, social, and political context that defines entrepreneurial opportunity.

Credits: 20