Understanding the Origins of Crime (OrigCrim)
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Course Details
Cost
FREE
Upcoming Schedule
- In Session
Course Provider
Open2Study online courses
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through interactive videos, quizzes...
Open2Study offers a way to learn about a wide variety of subjects from some of
the best institutions. Explore the origins of crime with Griffith University,
learn how to paint and draw from instructors at Abu Dhabi University or
discover the world of music at James Cook University. Whether you love to
travel the world or are the CEO of your own company, Open2Study offers free,
high-quality education. Every course has its own classroom where you can learn
through interactive videos, quizzes and collaboration with fellow classmates.
Learning a new subject takes only four weeks, so you can try one or try them
all. The online classes are taught by leading industry professionals so that
you're getting the most up-to-date information possible. If a subject piques
your interest, look into an accredited degree from one of many universities
that Open2Study partners with and take free courses related to that topic. New
content is constantly being added to Open2Study to provide a unique learning
experience for everyone.
Provider Subject Specialization
Humanities
Sciences & Technology
Course Description
Learn to understand criminal behaviour by looking at our evolutionary history
and animal behaviour in general.
Criminologists, like scientists generally, agree that life resulted from a
process of natural selection. But most do not use that information when
studying what crime is and why it exists. In this course, you will learn the
process of natural selection and how it can be used to make sense of criminal
behaviour.
We will use the theory of evolution to make sense of a broad range of crimes
including several types of homicide, child abuse and neglect, spousal assault
and group level aggression such as warfare, hooliganism, rioting, and gang
fights.
#### What will I learn?
* What natural selection is and how to predict what it will do
* The definition of “biological functionality” and some of the common misconceptions about it
* Some of the basic lessons we can learn about our species and crime from an...
Learn to understand criminal behaviour by looking at our evolutionary history
and animal behaviour in general.
Criminologists, like scientists generally, agree that life resulted from a
process of natural selection. But most do not use that information when
studying what crime is and why it exists. In this course, you will learn the
process of natural selection and how it can be used to make sense of criminal
behaviour.
We will use the theory of evolution to make sense of a broad range of crimes
including several types of homicide, child abuse and neglect, spousal assault
and group level aggression such as warfare, hooliganism, rioting, and gang
fights.
#### What will I learn?
* What natural selection is and how to predict what it will do
* The definition of “biological functionality” and some of the common misconceptions about it
* Some of the basic lessons we can learn about our species and crime from an understanding of Darwinian theory
* Why kin murder is so rare, but the reasons it does occur
* Some of the reasons infanticide and child neglect occur
* The origins of jealousy and its relationship to spousal homicides
* The characteristics of a “typical” homicide
* Why status is so important and how it relates to aggression
* War and warriorship, and examples from across the animal kingdom
* How natural selection rewards warfare
* How pathogens relate to war in the modern world
Sort By
- 9 reviews
- 2 completed
3 years, 9 months ago
Very challenging and interesting, thank you! A glorious mixture of biology,
anthropology and ... may be ... criminology.
- 30 reviews
- 30 completed
4 years, 2 months ago
I was expecting the material to be more related to Psychology. It turned out
to be more focused on Evolutionary Psychology. I didn't consider this to be a
bad thing as it placed behaviour into the right context. That being said, some
of the material may touch a nerve.
I completed this course September 3rd 2013. As such, the course may have
undergone some of the changes seen to assessment for course offerings in early
2014.
- 2 reviews
- 2 completed
4 years, 2 months ago
I really liked this course due to the unusual view on crime, comparing human
to animal behaviour while tackling misunderstandings like the nobel savage and
the peacefulness of animals. The video lectures were concise but interesting,
some enlightened with drawings, with some not too difficult questions in
between to check wether you were paying attention. I enjoyed the dry humor and
the somewhat gruesome aspects of this course. I will never ever forget the
details about the pregnancy of the sandshark! The course material other than
the video's was adequate. What I missed in this course was the direct
interaction with the course team. Each week had a precomposed question by the
staff, which did not stir up much talk. Furthermore, the staff did not step in
the forum during the course itself to react on remarks, questions or
discussions by students. I think some staff interference would perhaps have
made the forum livelier.
- 1 review
- 1 completed
4 years, 2 months ago
- 28 reviews
- 26 completed
5 years ago
Nice course on an kind of unique subject.I am not familiar with the subject
but i like anthropology courses. Small course,4 weeks with about 8 4-5 min
lectures each week. It is a course that is a blend of criminology and
anthropology.It tries to explain why people do crimes and where each crime
derives.It is kind of selfpaced,you have to complete the course until the
final date,but there are no due dates each week. Pros : Small video
lectures,selfpaced,blackscreen that help you focus better,very nice
professor,provided every month,unique subject Cons : The forums of open2study
aren't thriving,quizzes format could be a lot better,more additional material
would be nice