Criminology and Sociology

BA Criminology and Sociology, at Aberystwyth University, will enable you to critically evaluate ideas, concepts and approaches across the disciplines of both Criminology and Sociology. This degree scheme will provide you with an in-depth understanding of society and criminality and will introduce you to new perspectives on social inequality and social change that are taking place both locally and internationally. Providing insight on criminology from a sociological perspective, our degree will give you the sophisticated knowledge and analytical skillset needed for breaking into the public and social sectors, as well as the criminal justice system, or alternatively is a great starting block for further study.

Why should you study Criminology and Sociology at Aberystwyth University?

The course is taught in both the Department of Law and Criminology and the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. The teaching teams comprise of staff with expertise in the both of the main disciplines giving students a broad understanding of criminology and sociology and opportunities to engage with subjects such as law, human geography and criminal psychology.

Choosing this course will enable you to delve deeper into the key concepts and theoretical approaches that have been and are developing within Criminology and Sociology. It will, moreover, allow you to examine the important connections between the two disciplines. The distinctive field-based approach to Sociology that we provide at Aberystwyth will help to highlight the significance of space and place for the study of crime. At the same time, the discipline of Criminology offers distinctive insights into the nature of social non-conformity, and as such can provide new ways of approaching key sociological concepts including stratification, integration, conflict and inequality.

The Criminology component of this course provides balanced coverage of theory, policy and practice issues in criminology and criminal justice studies. The Sociology component of the course theoretically-driven, macro focus on social structures, institutions and group actors provides an effective way of contextualising more applied criminological topics.

All students in the Department are given the opportunity to take part in a criminal justice work experience placement.

During the duration of this course, you will have the opportunity to explore and discover the following:

• The relationships between individuals, groups and social structures;

• Social diversity, inequalities and deviancy;

• The role of institutions in mediating social life and in defining and controlling crime and deviancy;

• The distinctive character of Criminology and Sociology in relation to other forms of understanding;

• The relationship between the analysis of evidence and criminological/sociological arguments;

• The importance of ethical issues in all forms of criminological and sociological data collection, analysis and argumentation.