Critically discuss the structure, aims and practices of penal institutions in England and Wales
| Learning outcome | How to meet the learning outcome | Tips for completion |
| LOC1: Critically discuss the structure, aims and practices of penal institutions in England and Wales | You will need to include in your essay commentary on the structure and work of that part of the penal system that you are discussing for the question. The topics provided in the list relate to a change (or proposed change) in the structure, aims or practice /work of the penal system. This means you should automatically be writing about the right thing, but then you need to do so critically – see the right-hand box. | When setting out what your essay is about in the introduction you will need to define and explain the area of the penal system you are discussing. In doing this you should briefly explain the structure of the system as appropriate to your topic, for example, if you chose prison privatisation you need to explain to what extent our prison estate is privatised, and what this means in practice (private prisons are contracted out and still overseen by the state). You should also refer in the essay to the aims of the penal system where appropriate. For example, if you choose to write about prisoner votes, you may want to explore how this may be argued to relate to various aims, particularly as related to rehabilitation, perhaps.
It may be that you want to juxtapose working practices with aims and structures or policies (i.e. practices are at cross-purposes to aims and that relates to an aspect of the penal crisis), or perhaps to explain how working practices serve to implement (or not) the aims of the organisation, again problems may relate to the penal crisis (most likely the crisis in legitimacy). This is how you will explore what the crisis means in relation to your topic and how it will address this/these elements of the crisis. |
| LOC4: Critically consider likely futures for key penal institutions and measures | You will need to demonstrate in the essay that you appreciate how the relevant area of the penal system (or the whole penal system) may develop in the future. | In answering the question you will need to show your critical awareness of how trends or current policies or practices may develop in the future and the impact this may have for the system in addressing aspects of the penal crisis (and so not being in crisis anymore, or less in crisis, at least!).
You should base your views on how the topic you have chosen will impact on the system in the future based on research and/or theory. |
