This is a core course in the Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice program. It has been designed to introduce postgraduate students to criminological theories and their relationship to policy and practice. It provides insights into the rationale that lies behind the development of criminal justice policies and encourages students to develop their capacity to understand and critique crime, criminalisation and criminal justice policies from a theoretically informed perspective. Students will examine key theories in criminological thought, and will look at how they have informed and continue to inform our understanding of crime and responses to crime.