Compulsory
Research Design for the Social Sciences (15 credits)
The aim of the module is to equip students with knowledge and critical understanding of social science methodologies including issues of research design and ethics. The module introduces students to principles of research design and of data collection and analysis in selected research methods and develops students ability and skills to apply these methods rigorously and reflexively in research practice.
Responding to Sexual Violence (15 credits)
This module will enable students to examine key issues in responding to victims and perpetrators of sexual violence, including meanings of justice and strategies for prevention.
Sports Criminology (15 credits)
This module aims to examine crime, deviance and social change through a sporting lens. It will engage with the key theoretical approaches within the social sciences that can act as a framework for understanding more practical examples of crime, deviance and social change in sport.
Psychology and the Law: Implications for Criminal Justice (15 credits)
This module will enable students to explore ways in which Forensic Psychologists contribute to different legal systems. The module will include an analysis of the complexities related to eyewitness testimony and identification and introduce psychological procedures and techniques used to interview witnesses and suspects. Next, it will explore the merits and limits of psychologists as expert witnesses. The module will also cover how psychology can aid police investigations, the detection of deception, and make sense of jury decisions.
Dissertation in Criminology (60 credits)
Through this module students undertake a project of criminological research on a topic of their own choosing. Students can choose one of the following formats: empirical study collecting primary data (qualitative and/or quantitative), empirical study using secondary data publicly available in official data repositories (E.g. UK Data Service), library-based studies, policy-review or theory-led (incl. PhD proposals).
With the support of an academic supervisor and a programme of dissertation workshops, produced work will show a detailed understanding of their chosen topic through the application of relevant knowledge, theories and concepts acquired throughout the course and through their own independent study. Students will demonstrate their ability to plan and conduct criminological with rigour and to communicate their ideas with clarity and precision.