Criminology with Psychology BA (Hons) Modules
First year | Second year | Third year
Within our Criminology with Psychology programme, we aim stimulate your individual criminological imagination by presenting you with a framework to creatively construct your own knowledge by not only learning from our academics, but alongside them too. Therefore, in the first year, the focus is upon providing a solid foundation on which you will build your criminological knowledge. We cover various, broad aspects of Criminology to provide you with the skills and knowledge to help you choose your employment path either within, or outside of, the Criminal Justice System. In psychology you will focus on a range of different perspectives to gain a broad understanding of the discipline and how this can relate to crime and the Criminal Justice System.
First year
Studying at university
This module introduces students to the key skills required to undertake an undergraduate degree programme in Criminology. Students will learn practical skills enabling them to find and present academic sources, develop effective approaches to reading and writing in an academic setting. They will acquire presentation, team work, and referencing skills.
Principles of social research
This module introduces students to the principles of social research. Students will recognise and apply critical thinking, explore the concept of ethics in research, and reflect on biases and positionality. They will explore philosophical questions and how different world views shape our understanding of crime, harm and justice.
Applied Psychology
Introduces students to the discipline of psychology, an overview of five core areas: biological, cognitive, developmental, personality and social psychology.
Journeys through justice
Students will explore the concept of justice and what it means in the context of criminology. By mapping the institutions of criminal and social justice such as police, prisons, probation, courts and the community sector, students will explore pathways through justice and how it may or may not be achieved.
Second year
Explaining criminological issues
In this module, students will explore core criminological theories in relation to crime, harm and victimisation. These criminological theories are situated in the context of and applied to a range of issues pertinent to complex problems in crime, harm and justice. The module builds a more critical awareness of from Level 4 Module Contemporary Issues in Criminology with a view to developing a ‘criminological imagination’.
Communities of justice
This module explores the Institutions, practices & interactions of justice. Students will explore the debates on the nature of imprisonment, punishment, rehabilitation and desistance. This module will consider debates on race, power, gender, criminalisation, youth justice as they apply to communities of justice. This module builds on the content of Level 4 module Journeys Through Justice.
TBC
Researching justice journeys
The aim of this module is to equip students with the knowledge, understanding and critical appreciation of research methodologies used in social science research. The module will explore a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, techniques, and forms of analysis with students engaging with the practicalities of a range of research methods.
Third year
Planning social research
In this module, students will identify a relevant criminological topic and design a final year research project. They will develop a series of appropriate research questions, describe and evaluate an appropriate research design and consider the ethical implications of a research project on a criminological topic.
Justice in a globalised world
In this module, students will explore advanced theoretical perspective to help them understand crime in a global context. Students will critically evaluate how these ‘global’ crimes and harms impact crime, harm and victimisation in society. They will also develop knowledge and critical understanding of transnational crime prevention and justice organisations and institutions.
Two optional modules
This will be a choice of two 15 credit psychology modules.
Final year project
This module is designed to enable students to complete an independent project. Students will integrate their knowledge and skills from across the degree programme to complete a final project. This project will be in the form of one of the following; 1) extended essay, 2) an empirical based research project or 3) social activism project based on their project proposal from module Planning Social research.
The range of psychology modules available are subject to change and are dependent on student numbers enrolled and could be withdrawn without prior notice due to limited numbers.