BA (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice Top-Up

Mandatory modules  

Dissertation (40 credits)  The Criminology dissertation is an extensive piece of written work that students produce in their third year on a topic approved and supervised by a member of the Criminology staff.  

Diversity, crime, and justice (20 credits)

Explore how collective identities determine how an individual encounters crime and the criminal justice system and its impact on determining criminal justice policy in relation to diverse identities and justice.   

Crimes of the powerful (20 credits)  During this module, you will explore theoretical ideas and issues associated with crimes of the powerful such as corporate crime, state crime and genocide. The module encourages students to engage in critical evaluation of historical events and actions, applying theoretical perspectives from key thinkers ranging from Stanley Cohen and Michel Foucault, through to Susan Brownmiller and many others. 

Optional modules* 

Crime at the movies (20 credits) 
This module gives an in-depth investigation of how crime, criminal behaviour, and law enforcement are portrayed within mainstream Hollywood cinema. By focusing closely on a small number of selected films, students will learn to appreciate the cultural significance of crime and criminality in contemporary society and how representations of these infuse criminological discourses. 

Human trafficking (20 credits) 
Students will develop and extend critical understanding of the problem of global human trade, exploitation, abuse and control in contemporary society and evaluate the effectiveness of policy and other responses to migratory patterns and control. 

Gender crime and justice (20 credits) 
This module aims to help students understand the links between feminist thought and other critical approaches that examine power and knowledge production, in the context of explain crime and criminal justice. 

Prison and society (20 credits) 
Students will critically explore a range of core ideas and debates around the use of contemporary imprisonment, both domestically and globally to support reflective thinking and analysis of the use of prison as a method of punishment. 

*Depending on the number of students it is not always possible to deliver all the optional modules. 

The course is delivered using a range of contemporary methods including traditional lectures, interactive lectures, workshops, seminars, debates, virtual learning and self-directed study. 

The course is assessed using a range of methods; Essays, examinations, presentations, reflections and an 8,000-word dissertation. 

Graduates can pursue careers in areas such as the police, the probation service, prisons and branches of the Home Office such as the Border Agency and the Criminal Justice Social Work. Students might also consider community development work, youth offending teams, educational institutions and adult guidance work with ex-offenders. Paid employment in the voluntary sector is an increasingly important area with positions in victim support and women’s refuges etc.

Past students have gone on to postgraduate study as well careers in probation, border agency, the police, transport police and within the criminal justice system.