Critical Criminology
JUST 2264, Semester One, 2023
Assessment one: Practising Skills in Critical Thinking
Due: Thursday April 6th, 5pm
Weighting: 30%
Task workload: 20 hours of undivided attention
Total word count equivalent: 12-1500 written words, 8-10 minutes of video, +/-10%
The first assessment has been designed to: build skills in critical thinking; explore how
theories can be applied to a current criminal justice issue, and; to receive preliminary
feedback on the quality of presented work. I want you do to this assessment gradually
throughout March to submit by April 6th. It’s written to focus these Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify and critique various critical theories as they apply to the justice system;
2. Appraise the efficacy of critical theories used to address key issues in the justice field
As this is the first assessment, you will be assessed for effort and engagement with the
process, more than the result. Assessment one is about building critical skills, thinking
reflexively about skills and tools, and getting feedback. This assessment has four steps:
1) Complete module one: do the essential materials in module one, as follows (8 hours).
Spend an hour with each weekly subsection of module one, focusing throughout on the
deeper meaning of the relationship between violence, law and justice the materials observe
when thinking critically about Australian law and the violence of indigenous dispossession.
2) Watch the audio-visual (AV) materials: watch the following, framed by step one (3 hours)
Charlie’s Country (100 minutes) (on Netflix, or link below)
https://rmit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/61RMIT_INST/4t5l5f/cdi_rmit_edutv_search_informit_org_doi_10_3316_edutv_1036148
In My Blood It Runs (90 min) (on Netflix, or link below)
https://rmit.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/61RMIT_INST/4t5l5f/cdi_rmit_edutv_search_informit_org_doi_10_3316_edutv_5438014
3) Give an intro. video presentation (3.5 min): Say who you are and what you hope to learn.
Name the critical skill in from module one you’re choosing to work on, and say if you’re
going to do a video presentation or written analysis for step four. Then, say what you think
‘the problem’ revealed by the AV materials is, and why you think that’s a problem.
4) Put together steps 1-4, ‘what does it really mean?’: get Chat GPT to write a response on
‘the problem’ as you stated it in your thinking. Critically reflect on Chat GPT’s response by
giving: a one-page (5-650 word) written critical analysis of its response, or; a second, 5
minute ‘response’ video. Take a position as you critically consider what Chat GPT offers
indigenous peoples – and our studies of their struggles for recognition and justice with
policing and law – by considering: what does this really mean for crime, law and justice?
Then…. submit steps 3 and 4 together by the due date, with appropriately named and dated
files, using Canvas.
Critical Criminology – Practising Critical Skills, overview rubric (detailed rubric on Canvas)