| CODE | CRI0109 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Communication Skills, Leadership and Teamwork | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 00 - Mod Pre-Tert, Foundation, Proficiency & DegreePlus | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 4 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit covers various aspects of leadership, management, teamwork, communication, decision-making, discretion, bias, and ethical decision-making in a policing context. It begins with an introduction to leadership and management, defining both concepts and exploring different leadership styles such as autocratic, democratic, transformational, and transactional. The study-unit emphasizes that everyone has leadership potential. Reflecting on personal preferences, development, and practice is discussed next, focusing on managing emotions, conflict resolution, problem-solving models, decision-making, and leadership preferences. Teamwork in a policing context is highlighted, discussing its benefits, barriers, effective examples, and the evaluation of team roles. Importance of communication in policing is emphasized, covering essential elements such as verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, questioning techniques, empathy, building rapport, and understanding different viewpoints and priorities. The study-unit also addresses risks to effective communication, the impact of effective and ineffective communication, and techniques for delivering difficult messages. Models for decision-making and their links to the Code of Ethics are explored, along with the purpose and benefits of using these models and barriers to effective decision-making. Factors influencing decision-making, including discretion and bias, are examined, emphasizing ethical and unbiased application through clear communication, record-keeping, reflection, and learning lessons. The influence of bias on ethical decision-making is discussed, covering disproportionality, prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, conscious and unconscious bias, and their effects on policing culture. The effects of personal experiences, biases, values, cultural norms, and emotions on ethical decision-making, including personal resilience, empathy, and cynicism, are also considered. Reviewing example case studies, methods of recording decisions and rationale, demonstrating flexibility within decisions, justifying decisions, and reflecting upon decisions made are part of the study-unit's focus on ethical decision-making. Overall, the study-unit provides a comprehensive exploration of leadership, teamwork, communication, decision-making, discretion, bias, and ethical decision-making relevant to policing, aiming to equip learners with essential skills and knowledge for effective and ethical practice in law enforcement. Study-Unit Aims: - Leadership and management including different styles of leadership and personal development and practice; - Team working in a policing context, including effective team working, and barriers to creating an effective environment for team-working; - Importance and essential elements of communication, including risks to effective communication and impact of effective and ineffective communication and techniques for different audiences and situations; - Models for decision making and the links to the Code of Ethics, including flexibility, justifications reflection and barriers to effective decision-making, discretionary powers and the influences of biases upon ethical decision making. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the importance of leadership and management; - Define the fundamental elements of effective communication in a policing context; - Explain the components of decision-making models; - Examine the role of discretion and bias in the decision-making process. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Reflect on personal leadership styles; - Adopt effective team working skills; - Adopt effective communication in a policing context; - Apply the decision-making models in a policing situation. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Greenberg, S. F. (2017). Communication. In Frontline Policing in the 21st Century (pp. 493鈥�551). Cham: Springer International Publishing. - Police Code of Ethics Malta (Malta Police Force, 2002). Supplementary Readings: - Dunin-Keplicz, B., & Verbrugge, R. (2010). Teamwork in Multi-Agent Systems: A Formal Approach (1. Aufl., Vol. 21). Newark: Wiley. - Greenberg, S. F. (2017). Mastery: Advancing Police Patrol. In Frontline Policing in the 21st Century (pp. 13鈥�86). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. - Kilgallon, M., & Wright, M. (2022). Behavioural Skills for Effective Policing: The Service Speaks (1st ed.). St Albans: Critical Publishing. - Ramshaw, P. Silvestri, M., Simpson, M. (2019). Police Leadership: Changing Landscapes (1st ed.). Cham: Springer International Publishing. - Roycroft, M., & Brine, L. (2021). Modern Police Leadership: Operational Effectiveness at Every Level (1st ed.). Cham: Springer International Publishing AG. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualifications: 4 Ordinary level qualifications (including Maltese and English) OR Extended Diploma in Foundation Studies for Security, Enforcement and Protection Law. | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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