Sociology and Criminology

Why do people commit crime? Can crime be prevented? How should we respond to crime? Studying Sociology and Criminology will enable you to make sense of a world undergoing unprecedented social change and uncertainty.

This degree emphasises the way in which social cleavages such as race, gender and class intersect with the study of crime and criminal justice in an international context. Combining these subjects will give you a thorough, yet broad understanding of the surrounding issues and concepts that relate to questions of justice and criminalisation today.

Drawing on established strengths within our Sociology Department, you will explore a variety of areas: culture and ethnic identities, geo-political conflict, gender, environmentalism, social movements, sexuality, social theory, state crime, terrorism and modern society, punishment and community justice, youth crime, youth justice, policing, and issues of security in a global context.

You will be assessed by a combination of essays, reports, podcasts, reflective writing and unseen exams. To support your assessment, you will submit class essays during the year and receive extensive feedback. In the final year, you write a 10,000-word dissertation on a sociological topic of your choice, with one-to-one supervision from staff. This prepares you for the needs of working life by consolidating core and transferable skills, and supports further academic study at MA and PhD level.

Your final degree classification is based on your performance across the modules taken in your second and third years. The final degree classification is determined by your second and final year marks and each contributes 50%.