Our Criminology BSc (Hons) degree takes an exciting and relevant approach to understanding and addressing societal problems and combines compulsory and optional modules across foundational and specialist subjects. The modules listed below offers an insight into the range of interesting topics covered across our degree programme.
Compulsory modules
Social Research
The module introduces selected quantitative and qualitative research methods and analytical techniques used in social science research.
Sociological Imagination in the Contemporary World
The aim of this module is to introduce students into taking a sociological perspective or using 'sociological imagination' to analyse a range of social issues from the micro-sociological interest in identities to macro-sociological analyses of post-industrial societies.
Introduction Criminology
This module introduces criminology through a range of issues, case study examples and topical debates. It introduces students to the key theoretical approaches within criminology that act as a framework for understanding areas such as victimisation, crime prevention, mental health, feminist criminology, prisons, policing, representations of crime in the media and hate crime through racism and homophobia.
Introduction to the Criminal Justice System of England and Wales
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the various agencies and personnel of the criminal justice system; while also analysing the operation of the relevant criminal justice agencies.
Crime, Media and Moral Panics
More information to follow.
Optional modules
Sociology, Culture and Public Life
More information to follow.
Social Harm, Crime and Policy
More information to follow.
Families, Relationships and Communities
More information to follow.
Gaming Cultures
The module introduces the interdisciplinary study of digital games and gaming cultures, examining technologies, industries, design, inequalities, moral debates and the wider cultural significance of gaming.
Self and Identity
This module introduces psychological approaches to the study of the self and identity, examining how identities are formed, maintained and challenged.
Politics and Government
More information to follow.
University-wide Language Programme
This is a 10 credit module from the University-wide language programme.
Compulsory modules
Advanced Research Methods
The module introduces advanced qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques and prepares students for dissertation research.
Criminological Theory
The aims of this module are to introduce the historical development of criminology as an academic discipline and the role broader social and political processes have played in shaping this, as well as to explore key concepts and theoretical approaches within criminology.
Crime Prevention
The aim of this module is to analyse what works in crime prevention and how crime prevention strategies can be devised and applied in a range of settings.
Doing Quantitative Research
This module aims to introduce students to advanced quantitative methods of data analysis and to prepare them for their dissertation project.
Intoxication and Society
This module aims to provide a thorough grounding in debates about the role of intoxication in contemporary society by examining the contested role of alcohol and other drugs in society from social and cultural perspectives. The module encourages students to think critically about individual, group and institutional responses to the benefits and harms caused by particular intoxicants whilst understanding the complexity of issues relating to regulation, control and commercialisation.
Understanding Punishment
The aim of the module is to introduce students to penal theory, encouraging them to consider its application to punishment in contemporary society and to critically engage with the application of policies and practices of punishment.
Optional modules
Political Psychology
The module explores the relationship between psychology, politics and society, examining how political attitudes, behaviours and identities are shaped.
Your Future Career: Preparing for the World of Work
What do you know? What are skills? Where are they going to take you? This module will help you to answer those questions by building on transferrable skills and encouraging you to reflect on your learning. In addition, you’ll learn about the UK job market, and how to negotiate a range of recruitment tasks including decoding job specifications, writing an application, interviews, psychometric tests and the use of AI. Combine these with your degree and graduate with confidence.
Critical Security Studies
The aim of this module is to examine the concept of security through a range of conceptual and theoretical approaches, especially its 'critical' variants. This is done by examining critical frameworks of security and insecurity, at times contrasting with orthodox and mainstream notions.
Women and Crime: Victims, Offenders and Survivors
The aims of this module are to examine the role of gender within victimisation, offending, and interactions with the criminal justice system. The module focuses on theory and literature that unpacks the potential differences (and similarities!) between the criminological experiences of men, women, and non-binary/trans people. Much of criminology assumes that the 'male' is the norm, so this module will provide an alternative lens for analysis.
Psychological Disorders in Society
The aims of this module is to introduce students to the social impact of a range of psychological disorders (of mental wellbeing, cognitive functioning, sensory capacity and social adaptation), with coverage of conceptual and policy issues in diagnosis, treatment and support.
Inequalities Across the Life Course
Social scientists have long been concerned with the causes and transmission of inequalities in human societies. These include differences in a range of socioeconomic outcomes such as educational attainment, income, wealth, and health. It is now well known that inequality in lifetime outcomes are the result of dynamic processes that start to develop in utero and then compound over the different stages of the life-course.
In this module we will look at the development of socioeconomic inequalities using a life-cycle perspective with attention at how social policy influences individuals' lives and inequalities at the different points of the life-cycle.
The aims of the module are:
- Introduce the main theories of human development and socioeconomic mobility that have been proposed in the social and natural sciences.
- Study the emergence and development of inequalities over the life-course with attention to role of early childhood experiences.
- Consider the role of social policy and social institutions such as families, schools and communities in shaping individuals' opportunities and trajectories over the life-course.
- Use of statistical software and longitudinal microdata to investigate inequalities over the life-course.
University-wide Language Programme
This is a 10 credit module from the University-wide language programme.
Compulsory modules
Criminology Dissertation
Through this module students undertake a project of research on a criminology and/or social policy topic of their own choosing. With the support of an academic supervisor and a programme of dissertation workshops, they 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 conduct social research with rigour and to communicate their ideas with clarity and precision.
Youth Justice
The aims of this module are to develop a critical understanding of definitions, explanations and responses related to youth crime and youth justice.
Rehabilitation and Recovery
The aims of this module are to:
- Examine the approaches to rehabilitation and recovery.
- Examine the ways in which rehabilitation and recovery can be supported and hindered by both social and structural factors.
Optional modules
Health, the Body and Culture
The module aims to introduce students to critical scholarly and practical debates on physical and mental health and the body, drawing on medical sociology, cultural studies and science and technology studies. We will explore social scientific concepts and empirical research to enable students to analyse and reflect on ways to tackle contemporary problems and developments related to health, mental health and the body.
Forensic Psychology
The aim of this module is for students to understand and evaluate critically the contribution made by psychologists within criminal, legal, and forensic settings.
Violence and Violent Crime
This module will enable students to explore different conceptualisations of violence and critically examine responses to violent crime.
Gender, Sex and Society
This module introduces students to main themes and perspectives within the sociology of gender, with an emphasis on contemporary feminist and intersectional analyses of how societies, groups and individual lived experiences are gendered within different social contexts. Students will engage with theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses.
Poverty, Pay and Living Standards
This module offers an overview of possible ways to understand poverty, pay, and living standards as well as the conceptual and empirical associations between them.
This module aims to:
- Introduce some of the main approaches to conceptualise and measure poverty and living standards.
- Assess the relationship between income, salary, wages, and poverty.
- Consider the role of social policy in addressing poverty and improving living standards.
University-wide Language Programme
This is a 10 credit module from the University-wide language programme.
The information above is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study. Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year. Please also see Terms and Conditions of Study for more information.