Secondary Catalogue

All research strategies, practices and methods have their limitations. The most common way of trying to offset these limitations is by using a technique called triangulation. This film uses real life research studies to illustrate the four key types of triangulation: data, researcher, theoretical, and methodological. Triangulation is not only a key part of research methodology, it’s also a transferable skill that can be used in the explanation and evaluation of particular research studies Show Less

Secularisation—the idea that as societies modernise they becomes less religious in outlook and governance—is a key concept in the sociology of religion that has, in recent times, undergone a range of re-evaluations. This film, featuring contributions from three of the UK's foremost sociologists of religion, introduces students to a slightly different take on the concept of secularisation by looking at it in two ways: Firstly, by questioning the over-easy assumption that in pre-modernity, "religion was everywhere” whereas in modernity it is "almost nowhere”. Secondly, by looking at contemporary research evidence that suggests religion, rather than simply "disappearing”, may be undergoing a process of diversification: one that has seen a marked decline in orthodox measures of secularisation, from falling attendance at religious services to the organisational disengagement of the Church from secular governance, allied to a revival in various forms of spirituality—from yoga through witchcraft to a variety of New Age "spiritual therapies”. The film is designed to introduce students to the general concept of secularisation, its relationship to modernisation and a range of evaluative points that can be brought to bear in any discussion of secularisation. Show Less

Unmasking is an extreme form of criticism that is becoming increasingly prevalent in social science and everyday discourse where individuals are accused of being fraudulent and ideas are exposed as illusions, making debate and argument irrelevant. In this film we look at Professor Peter Baehr’s analysis of unmasking, provide some key examples, and consider some of the implications of unmasking for academia and for society. Show Less

Can we learn aggression from aggressive media? This film looks at experimental, longitudinal and case study research evidence and how social learning, script theory and susceptibility approaches such as hostile attribution bias can help understand and explain this evidence. Show Less

Hate Crime is high profile now. But the cases of violent hate crime we see in the media are just the tip of the iceberg: things like verbal abuse, bullying, threats, and damage to property have become just another part of everyday life for many people. This film, featuring one of the UK's leading hate crime researchers, Professor Neil Chakraborti, looks at what hate crime is, how it can be measured and why popular media stereotypes of typical hate offenders are so misleading. Show Less

It seems obvious to most people that crime and social order are opposites. But more than a century ago French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, suggested that it wasn't that simple. This film looks at the introduction of Zero Tolerance Policing in New York, the imprisonment of Dr Jack Kevorkian for assisting terminally-ill patients to die and the tragic murder in the UK of Jamie Bulger, to illustrate Durkheim's three key functions of crime. It concludes by looking at how the legacy of these ideas has been so influential in the development of criminology. Show Less

Does situational crime prevention actually work, or is crime simply displaced to a neighbouring area? This film tells the story of an experiment in situational crime prevention by the Cambridge Institute of Criminology conducted in Stoke-on-Trent, a medium sized British city. The streets of an experimental area were re-lit with more powerful lighting. The researchers then monitored changes in crime and fear of crime in the experimental area, a neighbouring area and a control area in a different part of the city. The film provides students with a powerful example to illustrate the strengths and limitations of situational crime prevention. Show Less

The most consistent finding in the study of crime is the relationship between crime and gender. In almost every country, over 80% of crime is committed by males. But in recent years, the gender gap has been closing: the male crime rate has been steadily falling while the female crime rate, especially for violent crime, has been increasing. In the US, for example, the number of women in prison has almost doubled in the last 25 years. This short film looks at explanations for gender differences in crime and why things may be changing. Show Less

Some research questions can only really be studied by sociologists getting out of their offices and interacting directly with the people they want to study. Starting with the famous Chicago school of sociology, this film looks at some classic studies to illustrate why participation observation is used in sociology, its major strengths and limitations and its contributions to sociological understanding. Show Less

How do school students negotiate the pressures to perform well academically alongside the pressure to be popular and cool? Carolyn Jackson combined questionnaires and interviews to research this question and this film uses her study, Lads and Ladettes, to illustrate why these methods are chosen, their respective strengths and limitations and how the strengths of cone can be used to offset the limitations of the other. Show Less

If you go and see your doctor or a therapist, you'll become a case to them. They'll want to know a lot more about you. Similarly, sociological case studies involve putting a social group, an event, or a place 'under the microscope'. This film looks at a classic sociological study, the Spiritual revolution, to show why case studies are used in sociology, what they provide for the sociologist and the extent to which findings can be generalised. Show Less

The controversies surrounding abortion involve a clash between two fundamental rights: the right of the unborn child, or foetus, and the rights of the mother. This video begins with the storm created by leading case of Roe vs Wade and then provides students with an unbiased analysis of the ethical issues underlying demands for the criminalisation and the legalisation of abortion. Show Less

When Vincent Li murdered and then cannibalised 22-year-old Tim McLean on a Greyhound bus heading for Winnipeg, the shock waves ran through Canadian society. But when Li was found unfit to face trial and later released, shock turned to outrage and triggered a social media moral panic. This film looks at the social reaction to Tim McLean's murder and how it challenged the conventional sociological model of how moral panics are generated. Show Less

This short film introduces environmental criminology—the idea that social spaces are more than just a simple background to our behaviour. It covers Zimbardo's 'Anonymity of Place' experiment, broken windows, zero tolerance policing, Giuliani and Bratton, and the strengths and limitations of environmental criminology. Show Less

This clip explores both the historical and contemporary relevance of strain theory to our understanding of the relationship between crime and consumption. The film covers Merton’s strain theory, Venkatesh's Gang Leader for A Day, the strengths and limitations of strain theory, Agnew and general strain theory, criminal sub-cultures and gangs, and the relationship between consumption and crime. Show Less

The film examines primary and secondary deviance, considers a contemporary example inspired by labelling (restorative justice) and is a primer for understanding Interactionist approaches to crime. The film covers primary and secondary deviance, Lemert and Cicoural, Schur and radical non-intervention, the strength and limitations of labelling theory, and restorative justice. Show Less

WARNING: This film contains some nudity. Teacher discretion is advised. Christiania was born in 1971 when youthful idealism and a severe housing shortage incited hundreds of young people to occupy 85 acres of deserted brick buildings, woods, ramparts and canals as their home. Finding it politically unpopular to evict the young settlers, the Danish government declared Christiania a "short-term social experiment". Over forty years later, Christiania is still standing. Through interviews with longtime Christiania residents and police and government officials, Christiania - 40 Years of Occupation explores consensus democracy, alternative building methods, drug policy and Scandinavian culture in a provocative and often humorous character study of this fascinating community. Show Less

In this video, sociologist Kate Painter explains how some forms of crime can be effectively managed through the control of physical space. The video uses Painter and Farrinfton's seminal Stoke-on-Trent street-lighting study to demonstrate the relationship between continuities and changes in the built environment and some types of criminal behaviour. Show Less

The concept of social control is an important one in the sociology of crime and deviance. This video, featuring contributions from Phil Hadfield and Simon Winlow, co-authors of "Bouncers", looks at how social control in the night-time economy is increasingly created and maintained by professional bouncers rather than the police. Show Less

A short film examining the concepts of moral panic and deviancy amplification through both a classic and contemporary lens. Stan Cohen talks about the origins and implications of his concept in the context of mods and rockers in the early 1960s and Adrian Beck looks at an example of a recent moral panic surrounding young men and hoodies. Show Less

Hate crime is being brought into increasingly-sharp relief with the widespread emergence of new social media. In this introductory video Neil Chakraborti, a leading researcher in this area, takes you through the main ideas you need to grasp in order to understand, apply, and evaluate the general concept: from definitions, through problems of measurement, to our ability to identify perpetrators of hate crimes. Show Less

One of the most consistent features of modern industrialised societies is the gendering of crime and criminality. Not only is most crime committed by men, there are also marked differences in the respective types of crime committed by males and females. In this short film Karen Evans looks at a range of explanations for this situation and suggests how ideas about masculinity and femininity can be used to explain this phenomenon. Show Less

The notion that something with "negative" connotations, such as crime, can have "positive" consequences for both individuals and societies may be counter-intuitive, but it is an important aspect of Durkheim's sociological analysis of crime and deviance. In this short film Steve Taylor explains how crime and deviance can be functional for social order and looks at how it has influenced contemporary ideas about crime and social control. Show Less

This programme illustrates how crimes committed by powerful social actors differ in terms of both their type - the distinction between white-collar, corporate, and state crime for example - and extent; how and why such criminality differs from the criminal behaviour of the relatively powerless. The programme also features David Whyte talking about and illustrating some of the problems sociologists face in defining and researching this particular area of social life. Show Less

Examiners want students to write about aspects of contemporary family life, but their textbooks remain stuck in the past. This excellent video resource consolidates and updates student knowledge by igniting their interest in some current issues in family life. It does this by focusing on key ideas and concepts, using contemporary ideas and examples. Show Less