BA (Hons) Criminal Justice/ Criminal Justice (Policing)

In Year 1 you will be introduced to the historical, legal and philosophical context of criminal justice. You will also begin to develop an understanding of the criminal justice and wider social science approaches to research and inquiry that underpin good quality research linked with the discipline.

In Year 2 you will deepen your understanding of the theoretical debates within criminal justice through in-depth analysis of criminology, and begin to learn about criminal investigation through an introduction to policing. You will learn in more detail about the research process and begin thinking about how research should be conducted in an ethical and valid way.

In Year 3 you will develop an applied and critical approach to criminal justice issues through modules that examine prisons, youth justice, and the ability for students to choose topics from a range of contemporary issues to focus on. Students will have the opportunity to apply through a competitive process to focus their studies in the area of Policing through the policing specialism that will result in a Criminal Justice (Policing) bracketed award upon graduation.

In Year 4 (Honours) you will carry out a research dissertation on a criminal justice topic (or policing topic for students on the bracketed award), as well as deepening your knowledge of contemporary issues and debates through specialist optional modules including Victimology, Security in a Global Age and Crime as Social Harm. Students also have the choice to learn more about justice processes around the world through comparative justice, or have the option to gain credit for voluntary work or paid employment they are engaged in through the Working in Criminal Justice module.