Criminology and Criminal Justice (Taught)

Choose MA Criminology and Criminal Justice to develop a critical understanding of crime, criminalisation, victimisation, and criminal justice practice. The course is ideal for students who want to enhance their careers in law, prisons, probation, criminal justice organisations, or academia.

Using theory and research from a criminological and legal perspective, you’ll analyse and understand crime and the criminal justice process. In doing so, you will look beyond traditional definitions of crime to address concepts of fairness and harm, including those perpetrated by people in power such as the state, corporations and the criminal justice system.

During the course, you will develop a deep understanding of how contemporary criminological and criminal justice issues occur and how they might be addressed. A key part of this is including marginalised voices in a way that diversifies your study. Through this, you will consider the role that the criminal justice system could and should play in modern society.

Our modules have been designed to be inclusive to enable our diverse community of students to engage and succeed. At Nottingham, you will study problem-based enquiries, applying knowledge to situations that replicate real-world scenarios, so you are ready for the workplace. You will graduate with a portfolio of skills that employers want, from understanding and critiquing the use of AI to policy paper writing.

Crime, Victimisation and Criminal Justice
Equality, Discrimination and Criminal Justice
Fair Trials, Human Rights, Criminal Justice and Technology
Researching Crime and Justice
Independent Research Project

Optional modules
Students should take a minimum of 20 credits and a maximum of 20 credits from this group:

Cyber Crime
Life After Prison
Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights and Criminal Justice
War and State Violence

Students should take a minimum of 20 credits and a maximum of 20 credits from this group:

Crimes and Harms of the Powerful
Critical Approaches to Global Criminal Justice
Principles of Criminalisation
Theoretical Frontiers in Criminology

Essay, Dissertation, Research project, Critical analysis and reflection, Presentations, Policy review