Crime and Criminal Justice BSc(Hons)

This module explores the nature of crime and deviancy, the main perspectives in explaining criminal behaviour, and the structures of the criminal justice system. You’ll start by examining the definitions of crime, followed by an exploration of the criminal legal system including the key criminal offences and defences. You’ll then be introduced to the key agencies within the criminal justice system, which include the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Courts, and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. The second half of this module introduces the key theoretical explanations for criminality, ranging from psychological explanations to sociological explanations.

This module guides you through the process of exploring social science subjects at university and provides the opportunity for you to develop your ability to be a successful student. You’ll have the opportunity to strengthen your academic study skills, as well as your knowledge of research approaches and methods, using subject-specific topics and case studies. You’ll explore ways to assess your learning needs, set learning goals, develop learning action plans and produce effective academic assignments. You’ll also be introduced to the philosophies, methods and ethics of social research processes.

You’ll examine the history of Human Rights and consider the debates which exist in contemporary global society. You’ll be introduced to several issues including genocide, the death penalty, freedom of expression, immigration, the rights of women and children, assisted suicide and abortion. Key documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act will also be discussed.

You’ll have the opportunity to plan and complete a practical work based experience related to your course. This will give you the chance to apply your theoretical subject knowledge to a professional setting, helping to develop your employability skills in preparation for your future career.

In this module you’ll explore these questions and study qualitative and quantitative research approaches. You’ll explore philosophical underpinnings of social research, key considerations concerning research ethics and researcher reflexivity, a range of data collection methods and techniques for data analysis, and how social research can be evaluated.

This module explores the explanations for crime and disorder, which you will relate to the ways that criminological thought has developed over time. These issues will be set in a social, political, theoretical and historical context.

You’ll explore two aspects of organised crime. Firstly, you'll study white-collar, financial crimes and the damaging impact that they can have on the economy of a country. Secondly you’ll examine how organised crime can drive people trafficking and trading of drugs and illegal arms, which enables ‘rogue’ states to wage war on their own people. Finally you‘ll explore how both kinds of crime relate to your own life.

This module explores the strategies of crime reduction and prevention. You’ll explore a range of different reduction responses and investigate the evidence regarding their effectiveness in different situations. You’ll also consider explanations for the different ways that society responds to crime, setting these in a social, political and theoretical context.

In this module you'll be supported to develop your knowledge of the relationship between mental illness and criminal activity. You'll explore a range of mental illnesses and disorders as a cause of offending and have the opportunity to consider the links between theory and practice.

You'll research a topic of your choice in depth, giving you the opportunity to develop your own research interests. Drawing on the area you have chosen to study, you'll engage with issues of project design and research methods. You'll discuss your project proposal in a presentation and produce a dissertation about your research topic. Throughout you will be supported by one-to-one supervision.

In this module you’ll consider contemporary British society in relation to issues of race, ethnicity and difference. You’ll explore the extent to which race and ethnicity continue to shape contemporary society, in relation to education, health, employment, government policies and popular culture such as films and music.

This module introduces two approaches that underpin much of current social care and social work policy and practice in the UK; Think Family and Strength Based approaches. You’ll be encouraged to develop your awareness, knowledge and understanding of the importance of practitioners taking account of the wider family circumstances, needs and responsibilities when working with an individual adult or child and when developing services within a community. You’ll be supported to develop a systematic understanding of the impact of issues such as mental health, domestic abuse, substance misuse, disability, illness and dementia on individuals, family members and communities. You’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills in formulating judgements and framing questions to achieve solutions.