Critical Review

The purpose of this assessment task is to:
The purpose of this task is for you to be able to understand and evaluate one key contemporary approach to policy analysis. By conducting a deep reading and review of Bacchi’s WPR framework, you will learn
how various government policies frame social issues or ‘problems’ in different ways. This is an important framework for you to learn in order to critically engage with the relationship between criminological
problems and government responses to them.
The learning outcomes that will be achieved in this task are:
LO 1: Analyse and problem solve contemporary criminological issues
LO 4: Evaluate and question the role of policy as a response to contemporary criminological issues
LO 5: Communicate and present resolutions to criminological issues to a professional standard
Assessment Structure
In this assessment, you are required to write a critical review of the Session 2 reading: Introduction by Carol Bacchi in her book Analysing Policy: What’s the problem represented to be? This chapter outlines the
‘what’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) framework for policy analysis. A critical review is an essay-style writing activity where you conduct a thorough reading of a text and evaluate it. A key feature of
a critical review is that you should evaluate the text, discussing its strengths and limitations. You should end the review with a brief discussion of how the WPR framework could be useful to understand your
contemporary issue.
Length: 1000 words
Due: Sunday, Week 2, 11:59pm
Instructions with sub-instructions
To get started on your assessment task, please follow the below instructions.
1. Conduct a deep reading of the WPR chapter by Carol Bacchi (linked below and in Session 2). You may need to read the text more than once, and make notes as you do so.
2. If you are still unclear about the WPR framework, it may be helpful to watch or re-watch the lecture for Session 2, discussing Bacchi’s WPR approach to policy analysis.
3. If you have any questions, bring them to class or post them to the Discussion Board.
4. Download the template for A2 here.
5. Have a look at this resource on how to write a critical review.
6. Start working on your critical review using the assessment template provided. Keep in mind that while you need to discuss Bacchi’s approach, this should go beyond summarising the text,
particularly in the ‘Critique’ section.
7. Proofread and edit your critical review, ensuring you are using Harvard referencing style.
8. Submit your review to Assessment 2 Dropbox.
Assessment Criteria
The following levels of criteria will be used to grade this assessment task:
Criterion 1: Comprehension: Understanding and summary of the Bacchi text
Criterion 2: Review: Critique and analysis of the Bacchi text
Criterion 3: Discussion – Conclusion and connection to topic
Criterion 4: Style and writing
Access rubric for the full marking criteri