BSc (Hons) Criminology

This module introduces you to the key debates, issues and relevance of the character, role and impact of all forms of media in contemporary societies. You’ll explore the many ways in which media infiltrates and shapes our social worlds, giving you a working understanding of the social science of the many-sided facets of media.

As most workplaces need to develop a media presence, alongside the academic and theoretical content, this module will introduce you to the evaluation and production of relevant media content through practical tasks on a variety of media platforms. This will help you develop a working knowledge of using media to communicate effectively for a variety of purposes.

Throughout the module, you’ll analyse real-world examples and cases of relevant media products. You’ll investigate the value of theory in understanding the most contemporary of media issues. You’ll also be required to reflect on your own media use, using the new tools of analysis you have gained.

This module covers the core concepts of ‘punishment’, ‘justice’ and ‘victimisation’ and debates around these that form the basis of understanding in criminology and criminal justice. A history of punishment and penology will focus in particular on the question of how and why punishment has changed over time including the ways in which punishment for crime is linked with wider social processes.

The key justifications, models and types of punishment in contemporary societies will be explored and discussed, including in terms of their effects and effectiveness in controlling or preventing crime and providing justice for victims and how these fit into society and the Criminal Justice System as a whole. The social processes of criminalisation and victimisation are key to understanding ‘justice’ and ‘punishment’. These core concepts will be explored and discussed in relation to 21^st Century societies, in particular the UK.

The module will enable you to explore processes of victimisation, the experience of victims of crime, the management of victims of crime within criminal justice processes, the relationship between methods of punishment and victims experience of justice. We’ll introduce you to the key approaches within penology and victimology, exploring recently emerging themes in research and theory into victimisation and punishment.

This module will explore the concept of justice and theorise what makes a just society. We will explore the idea of justice as "fairness" and what is meant by a free and equal citizen. Domains of injustice will be explored, for example, injustice within social institutions, injustice in opportunities and injustice in private, family lives. 

We will also explore contending conceptions of social justice, and the concrete efforts of political parties, charities, social movements and ordinary people to oppose and transform unfair and harmful social arrangements, so as to achieve more just outcomes.

Distinctively, we will adopt a ‘hands-on’ approach to addressing these issues, whereby we examine how best to embed our understanding of justice in active, practical strategies to oppose the injustices we encounter and help transform the social world.

This module will explore leisure and cultural practices such as attending sporting events, shopping and music consumption in contemporary societies, investigating the ways capitalism impacts our daily activities and experiences. You will explore how leisure and cultural practices are shaped and influenced by social characteristics such as age, disability, ’race’, and social class and the spaces that we inhabit (e.g. leisure spaces, transport, housing). Some of the key principles of this module will explore the privatisation of space, gentrification and accessibility/inaccessibility examining the implications of these contemporary social issues. Furthermore, exploring how leisure, culture and engagement with space can be examined through a ‘health and wellbeing’ and a criminological lens.