Criminology with Policing and Investigations BSc Honours

The first year is designed to give you a grounding in criminology as a social science, providing essential knowledge and skills, and introducing key areas of study that will be explored throughout the degree.  

Explore the foundations of sociological theory and central questions that have shaped the development of sociology. You'll learn how sociologists engage with today’s social world in academia and practice. This module helps you take a sociological perspective on human interaction, analyse a range of social issues, and consider how actors and institutions might respond to these issues.

You will learn core approaches to understanding contemporary society, by studying social structures, interactions, institutions, social movements and activism from a global and intersectional lens. They will also learn core aspects of the relation between theory and practice in contemporary sociology and its applications.

Explore the dynamic nature of crime across law, politics, society, and culture. The module challenges conventional perceptions of crime, and will help you understand the impact of social factors on crime including issues of class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion.

You will learn about the relationship between crime, culture and society, and the seeming paradox between society’s fear and fascination with crime. You will build a strong foundation of major theoretical approaches in criminology, which will provide a cornerstone for further studies.

The module also facilitates the development of key academic skills including the synthesis and interpretation of information and research data, the construction of oral and written assignments and citation and referencing.

This module introduces you to key criminal justice institutions, exploring contemporary issues within the police, courts, prisons, probation, immigration detention, youth justice, and the forensic mental health system. You will learn about the current policies and practice, emphasising international and cross-national influences on criminal justice.

Additionally, the module introduces the UK legal system, and its role in shaping criminal justice responses to crime, deviance, and public insecurity. You will engage with legal frameworks, procedural rules, and explore various punishment measures, while developing skills in synthesising official statistics and evaluating research data.

This module introduces you to social research inquiry as a way of seeing and interpreting the world. You will explore how qualitative and quantitative social research is carried out in an ethical way. You will also learn the basic components of social sciences research. Through looking the lens of 'communities', you will understand the context in which the events, issues and problems we study, occur within.

Through completing a range of skills-based tasks you will build your research portfolio that will be assessed. You will be able to apply knowledge through practical activities. Many of these skills will have relevance beyond your degree and will be attractive to future employers.

The second year will provide you with key knowledge and skills in research methods, develop understanding of policing and law enforcement and enhance understanding of how the degree can equip you with the skills and knowledge that are required for graduate employment in the field of criminology. You will have the opportunity to select one optional module that will enable you to shape your degree in relation to your academic interests and employment aspirations. 

This module provides an understanding of contemporary issues in policing. It is centrally concerned with relations between the police and public, as well as other public sector organisations such as education and health, for example.  

Psychological knowledge is applied to policing issues, understanding how it can assist in reducing crime, increasing voluntary compliance with the law, creating better community relationships and better police officers. We discuss how criminals can be made or prevented to some extent through parenting, health and schooling. The roles of various public sector organisations will be discussed as well as more recent developments such as evidence-based policing and investigative psychology.  

You will propose a methodological research project on a topic of interest, including a review of the literature and research questions. This must be suitable for a mixed method project, and a portfolio. The portfolio involves forming a conversational guide and a survey, collecting and analysing data.

This module equips you with the knowledge and skills to use the software known as SPSS for data analysis and thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data. By studying this module you will be prepared to undertake qualitative and quantitative research for their dissertation.

This module aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of key theoretical ideas and debates in criminology. You will reflect on the impact of putting issues such as power and rights at the centre of criminological theory and practice, and what this means for crime, justice and punishment. The module will cover developments and trends influencing criminological discussion, debates and research. They will be assessed in relation to emerging social, political and cultural patterns. You will develop knowledge and understanding of how criminological theory is constructed and will be required to apply theoretical knowledge to a range of contemporary issues and trends of prominent criminological interest and concern.

The module will explore the concept of victimisation, will help you assess societal responses to victimisation, and look at who we consider to be a victim. You will explore multiple crime types including sexual and domestic violence, homicide, sex work, hate crime, financial crime, state crime and other types of crime. You will compare and contrast different theories and perspectives in relation to the concept of victimisation. In addition, the module will develop your reflective learning skills both by looking at your own learning and sharing feedback with others.

This module introduces you to the intersections between the criminal courts, sentencing, prisons and rehabilitation. It has a particular focus on the aims of punishment, the use of imprisonment and key developments in penal policy and practice. It will help you apply theoretical perspectives to sentencing, punishment and prison issues. It will also help you analyse the impact of policy on the experiences of those who are imprisoned, and the work of the key professionals and practitioners working in the prison system. The module will develop your skills in drawing on a range of documentary evidence to analyse and evaluate sentencing aims, the purpose and place of prisons in society and to foster a critical interest in prison and punishment reform.

The module explores key ideas about race and social justice, both in the UK and globally. You'll learn about the social construction of race, power and privilege, including white power and privilege across different spaces, racism and intersectional oppression. The module will also focus on institutional racism and resistance and the power of the state and legislation, using insights from a range of academic fields.

You will engage with race and social justice topics for your dissertations and/or those wanting to pursue a career in a related field. With guest lectures from practitioners and a range of creative and academic assessments, the module encourages co-leadership, practice-led learning, digital literacy and technology-enhanced learning and employability.

This module will strengthen, extend and apply the knowledge, skills and experiences you have gained from your course in a working environment, and to complement, stimulate, reinforce and encourage the development of discipline-specific technical knowledge, and your transferable skills. You will gain knowledge of professional requirements in an industry context and record and critically reflect on your personal practice

In the final year you will undertake either the Ethical Research and Project management module and the dissertation in the broad area of criminology or a 60-credit work placement module. You will complete a core module to further enhance your knowledge of investigating crime. You will have the opportunity to select one optional module that will shape your degree in relation to your academic interests and employment aspirations. 

This module will develop your understanding of research project design while equipping you with ethical research skills needed for independent social science research projects. These skills include a criminology or sociology topic for research, conducting a literature review to justify proposed research questions, selecting appropriate research methodologies and methods while considering the ethical issues around the research project. You'll develop project design and management skills including taking leadership of your learning and being reflexive of the process.

This module will synthesise learning from the criminology and sociology programmes of study, providing an opportunity for you to study independently and investigate a topic in depth, in accordance with the Sociology and Criminology Benchmark Statement. It fosters academic curiosity and an inquiry-based approach. You will learn and apply research skills which will expand your understanding of theory. 

This module uses the workplace as a site of learning and inquiry. It supports the integration of theory and practice and provides opportunities to apply methods of inquiry to practice related problems in order to recommend solutions and improve work practice. The module also immerses you in a process of reflection, cultivates knowledge of ethical and professional behaviours and builds some of the key understandings associated with the worker-researcher. In sum this module supports the development of a range of skills and knowledge necessary for career and professional development.

This module will provide an understanding of contemporary issues in police investigations. It is centrally concerned with how new developments including in investigative psychology have informed our understanding of the tools we have in investigations.
Psychological knowledge will be applied to investigations, understanding how it can assist in getting cooperation, accurate recall and a reduction in deception in suspects as well as victims and witnesses. We will discuss how the mind works and how memory can be impacted by the trauma of some of the events under investigation, how that affects police work and how we can enhance memory recall. We will talk about deception in suspect interviews and what does and what does not work as a cue to deception.

This module will critically engage you in contemporary debates surrounding drugs, drug use and their control. It will develop your knowledge and understanding of the processes involved in social definitions of drugs, drug use and people who use drugs and your skills in applying theoretical perspectives to drug issues. It will stimulate critical analysis and evaluation of the laws, policies and institutions of drugs control and their social, economic and political contexts. The module will foster and develop your critical interest in the reform of drugs control policy.

The module will advance your critical and creative understanding of how digital technologies are fundamentally reshaping our social life, from personal relationships and vulnerabilities to transformations in crime and violent extremism. The module allows you to examine how digital communications are embedded in everyday life, linking theoretical approaches, empirical material, and your experiments with digital tools, particularly generative AI.

This module facilitates your critical engagement with the crimes such as white-collar, corporate, environmental and state crime (crimes of the powerful) as well as transnational organised crimes, often committed by both formal and informal powerful organisations. The module provides you with a comprehensive understanding of the causes, consequences of such variety of crime as well as equip them with the ability to identify effective legislations, policies and policing strategies. You will engage and assess the main theories that explain these types of power crime and evaluate policies and judicial response at international and transnational level.

This module will discuss the dynamics of violence from a gender-informed perspective, how it is used by perpetrators, controlled, and used to control. The module highlights the interconnections between violence, gender, sexuality and crime, and illustrates the blurred boundaries between interpersonal, self-inflicted, community and structural violence. On completing the module, you will explore and learn about the social and spatial parameters of violent crime, theoretical and layperson perspectives on violence, the links between sex, sexuality and violence, and how violence is gendered.

• Learning will take place in a variety of formats, including teaching, workshops, seminars, group discussions, group exercises and tasks 
• Key practitioners may be invited to talk about their role and experience to provide you with an insight into their particular fields 
• You will study two modules per semester with an average contact time of five hours for year one, and three hours for years two and three 
• 1-2-1 meetings with your teachers can be arranged to talk through any issues 
• Staff and former students are on hand to support you throughout your time with us.

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, and undertaking research. The university's virtual learning environment provides online access to assignments, case studies, notes and a suggested reading list. You will also use your independent learning time to prepare for assessments including coursework, and presentations.

Here is an indication of how you will split your time:

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

This course is based on 100% coursework taking the form of portfolios, essays and reports.

Your knowledge and understanding will be assessed by a variety of industry-relevant methods.  All modules in the programme require you to engage with formative assessment(s). This assessment strategy allows for feed-forward to summative assignments by providing you with the opportunity to use the feedback received to reflect upon and reinforce your knowledge and understanding of the content of each module.  

Written work allows you to demonstrate your developing and increasingly sophisticated knowledge. Written work includes policy critique, case study analysis, reports, position papers, ‘in tray’ exercises, academic essays, and a final dissertation or project report.  

Other ways you can demonstrate learning include posters, individual and group presentations, and computer-based exercises and data analysis. Student work also involves self-reflective writing, whether blogs or essays, offering the opportunity for self-reflection and engagement with the ethical questions at the heart of the discipline of criminology.  

In year three you can complete a placement via the Learning at Work module. You will undertake 600 study hours over 24 weeks and are required to commit to no more than 8 hours per week at the placement during term time. 

Alternatively, at the end of the second year, you may opt to take a year-long placement module before returning to complete the final year of study. This will make the degree a four-year period of study, if studied full-time. 

In recent years, our students have undertaken placements in a wide range of organisations, including Victim Support, British Transport Police, Centrepoint, World Development Movement, Solace Women’s Aid, Jubilee Debt Campaign, Friends of the Earth, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ofcom, Hertfordshire Police, Special Constable Training, Enfield Island Youth & Community Trust, Barnet Mencap, Voluntary Action within Kent, Family Lives, College of North West London, Anne Frank Trust UK, Parkinson's UK Research Support Network, Southwark Youth Offending Service, Schools, Prison Service, and PAARS.  

Transferable skills

While a degree in criminology will ordinarily lead to employment within the general field of criminal justice, the skills of data research, critical analysis, oral, written and visual communication, reasoned debate, understanding theoretical concepts, and policy analysis can be transferred to many other areas of employment.