ATS3866 Crimes of the powerful
Faculty of Arts
ATS3866 Crimes of the powerful is a level 3, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts, offered in 2026 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2026
- Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 4 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2026 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ATS3866
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After ATS3866
No unit lists ATS3866 as a prerequisite in the 2026 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Twelve credit points of second year Arts units.
Overview
In this unit, you will examine crimes and social harms committed by state, corporate, and other elite actors. You will interrogate conceptual models for making sense of criminal and harmful behaviours on the part of these actors, ranging from crimes of aggression and war profiteering to police killings, environmental crime, violations of workplace safety, fraud and embezzlement. In doing so, you will be equipped to locate the nexus of power that makes these crimes and harmful behaviours possible. You will also consider how legal institutions, civil society, people’s movements, and trade unions respond to the behaviours in question.
Key questions will include:
- What is the extent of crimes of the powerful, and what are their impacts?
- How do we determine intent and culpability where the behaviours of powerful agents are criminal or cause social harm?
- How are these behaviours policed or regulated and prosecuted?
- How do people resist, challenge, and try to change criminal and harmful behaviours on the part of powerful actors?
Offerings in 2026
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Second semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Analytical exerciseExercise25%
- ArticleWritten25%
- Multimedia presentationPresentation20%
- EssayWritten30%
Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
evaluate and apply conceptual models for understanding crimes of the powerful;
- 2
compare and contrast perspectives within theoretical debates about the classification of certain actions as crime;
- 3
explain the social harms and experiences of victimisation that flow from crimes of the powerful;
- 4
identify some of the challenges associated with documenting and researching crimes of the powerful;
- 5
evaluate the difficulties involved in regulation and prosecution of crimes by powerful actors and suggest possible solutions;
- 6
communicate effectively in written, academic, oral, and media formats.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops24 hours
- Lectures12 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachCase-based teaching
- Teaching approachEnquiry-based learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
This unit engages you in actively applying your knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.
This unit includes case-based teaching, where you apply your knowledge and engage in analytical and reflective thinking to solve complex contextual scenarios. Activities are often designed so that there is not one clear answer, but students need to work together to examine, analyse and make decisions to resolve the situation.
This unit engages you in enquiry-based learning, where you will be encouraged to use your own knowledge to develop and engage in a process of enquiry, study and research to identify areas to be investigated and an approach to doing so.
Learning resources
Required resources
This unit requires access to a laptop that meets minimum specifications (https://www.monash.edu/esolutions/students/bring-your-own-device-byod). Free specialist software is available via MoVE (https://www.monash.edu/learning-teaching/innovation/learning-technologies/move).
Where it fits
ATS3866 is part of 2 areas of study in the 2026 handbook.
Contacts
- Unit Coordinators
- Dr Megan McElhone
- Chief Examiners
- Dr Megan McElhone
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ATS3866?
ATS3866 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is ATS3866 offered?
In 2026, ATS3866 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.
How much work is ATS3866?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ATS3866 have an exam?
No. ATS3866 has 4 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ATS3866?
ATS3866 is part of Criminology.