Criminology with Law BSc (Hons)

Develop academic skills, knowledge and understanding to support successful study within a criminology and sociology higher education learning environment. You learn personal and transferable skills, such as searching for and retrieving information, evaluating evidence, critical thinking, note-taking and summarising, presenting, group work and digital learning.

This is a 40-credit module.

Study the foundational elements and key questions in sociology and criminology. Explore essential questions related to crime, harm and deviance, gaining wider understanding of society, individuals and institutions.

This is a 40-credit module.

Criminal law, perhaps the best-known aspect of the legal system, presents an interesting and challenging area of study. You are introduced to the English legal system, gaining an understanding of the nature and purpose of criminal law, the principles of criminalisation and the basic elements of a crime. Examine some controversial aspects of criminal law, including problematic criminal offences and defences, and the way in which criminal law responds to particular social problems.

This is a 20-credit module.

You study the criminal justice system and a range of agencies and institutions that operate within it. Explore the origins and purposes of the system to understand criminal justice within a broader historical, political, social, and economic context. You examine specific issues related to contemporary criminal justice including probation, prisons, restorative justice, race and gender.

This is a 20-credit module.

You develop your understanding of the major developments in criminological theory from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Appraise contemporary crime theories and apply them to real-life problems of crime, deviance and harm.

This is a 20-credit module.

Employment law consists of a series of statutory provisions and common law principles which are concerned with the regulation of the employment relationship. You study the contract of employment, as well as several statutory employment rights, for example unfair dismissal. Examine discrimination from an individual’s perspective (sex, race, disability, age and equal pay) and from a collective level such as collective bargaining, trade union law and industrial conflict.

This is a 20-credit module.

Develop an understanding of employment pathways, opportunities, reflective practice, experiential learning, and social research methods in criminology and sociology, ready for employment. Explore employability issues and skills with our Student Futures team, external professionals and alumni. Gain an understanding of the philosophy of social science, relevant research designs, strategies and methods, equipping you with the knowledge to make reasoned, informed and evaluative decisions in both research design and practice. Develop an understanding of ethical and practical issues in research and engage in practical activities to develop your skills in designing, conducting and analysing research.

This is a 40-credit module.

The role of the victim within the criminal justice system has become a key area of policy discussion and reform in recent decades, and you examine that development in critical depth. In considering the place of the victim within society and the criminal justice system, you examine debates related to the rights of victims balanced against the rights of offenders. You also explore the support available to victims of crime and consider this through a victim-oriented lens covering a range of different crimes, social harms and contexts.

This is a 40-credit module.

Your dissertation provides the platform to produce a piece of independent research, with academic supervision. Define your own research questions and design, and plan your research to work on over the course of the semester. You choose a desk-based dissertation, an empirical study or a piece of active research which may involve student negotiated collaboration with an organisation (public or third sector). If conducting fieldwork, you are required to gain university ethical approval prior to any data collection.

This is a 40-credit module.

Explore important contemporary developments in criminology. You develop a detailed analysis of various issues at the forefront of the discipline, including not just crime, but harm, as a broader category for critical social analysis. Your learning is informed by experts with a wide range of real-world experience covering themes such as ultra-realism, deviant leisure, green criminology and narratives in the legal system.

This is a 40-credit module.

You study the relationship between philosophies of punishment, methods and strategies of penal intervention, including sentencing, imprisonment, community sentences and community supervision. You also explore the ethical conflicts and dilemmas that emerge because of society’s response to criminal behaviour. Focusing on the key principles of security, control and justice, you investigate issues of differential treatment, the response and adaptation of prison populations to penal practices and regimes, the internal culture of the prison and the role of probation services. Examine the impact of social and economic change on penal policy and practice, questioning the influence of human rights law on the treatment of offenders.

This is a 20-credit module.

You begin by focusing on children, an area where historically the rights of parents have been of prime concern. However, modern developments and the Children Act 1989, have stressed the rights of the child and the responsibilities of parents and others taking the place of parents. Private law, regulating the relationship of the child to others, and public law, focusing on child protection, are brought together.

You move onto the formation and dissolution of formal relationships between adults, together with a consideration of the financial consequences. The law regulates the interaction of the parties, defining their rights and responsibilities, minimally during the course of the relationship but in detail should it end. Currently, the law prescribes different outcomes in respect of the breakdown of formal and informal relationships, for example, cohabitation. The nature of this distinction and whether its continued maintenance is tenable or desirable is also examined. You also consider the suitability of the remedies available in the context of domestic abuse occurring in both formal and informal relationships

This is a 20-credit module.

Get practical experience offering free advice in different areas of law to members of the public through the University's Law Clinic. You work on real client cases practising law skills and get involved with other legal projects supervised by the Director of Clinical Legal Education.

This is a 20-credit module.

You explore and understand aspects of criminal and civil litigation, including the processes and rules involved to communicate effectively when presenting a case in civil and criminal proceedings.

This is a 20-credit module.