Criminology (with a Foundation Year) induction information

About your programme

Module information

You’ll complete your course one block or ‘semester’ at a time. In each semester you’ll study modules. Some are core modules you have to take – others you’ll be able to choose between when you arrive, personalising the course to your interests.

In your first semester you will study the following modules:

• Investigating the Criminal Justice  System  Core

Investigating the Criminal Justice  System  (Core)

News regarding 'crime' and 'justice' is commonplace and brings us to question how the criminal process works. You may wish to pursue a career in criminal justice or you may have questions about how the criminal justice system operates. Whatever the reason, knowledge about law enforcement, courts and punishment will help you to understand how the criminal justice system processes crimes and criminals.

• Debates in Crime and Society Core

Debates in Crime and Society (Core)

This is an exciting module which is team taught and in which you will get the opportunity to debate issues of crime, society and justice. Stories about social problems and crime are regular features in the news. You will be introduced to researching criminology and sociology in the news through old and new news media. Frameworks to interpret the news medium will be provided so you can understand both the explicit and implicit references to the social and crime related 'problems' being discussed. You will engage with the concepts of 'public sociology' and 'public criminology' to appreciate how you 'do' criminology/sociology in public; what it means? How should it be done and why should it be done? Studying this module will help you in future careers relating to social policy, administration, social research, and yes, even blogging, vlogging, and being an expert analyst on crime and social problems.

• Social Theory and Social Divisions  Core

Social Theory and Social Divisions  (Core)

The founding fathers of sociology explored issues to do with social change (and social order in the face of social change) and this module will enable you to question the applicability of these social theories to contemporary society. It will explore themes concerning:

• identity construction
• socialisation
• social order
• cohesion
• resistance
• change (structure and agency).

Covering these themes will help you examine the state, status, and relationships that can be drawn between and among classic and contemporary social theories, concepts and empirical data (micro and macro approaches), and past and current issues and debates concerning the academic field of sociology and the study of society.

In addition, you will engage your ‘sociological imagination’ and reflect on your own experiences in order to understand how social theory can shed light on divisions in society: gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age and disability, and the intersections thereof, and can be used to challenge inequalities in policy and practice.

Further information about the structure of your course can be found within the programme specification document.