The department’s expertise is deep and wide ranging, and covers youth crime and justice, substance abuse, gang related crime, corporate crime and forensic mental health.
You will be taught by leading researchers from the Institute of Applied Social Research, whose studies on sexual exploitation, trafficking, and disability is internationally renowned and at the interface between research, knowledge, policy and practice.
Why choose this course?
- Study the social, political and cultural contexts that inform criminology, and develop a critical in-depth knowledge and understanding of the subject
- Explore and research a particular topic of interest, and as you do this sharpen your independent study skills and become highly specialised in a particular area
- Develop the ability to apply originality in the application of knowledge that addresses problems relating to criminal justice, crime and offending
- Gain a wide range of new skills and qualities that are relevant to the workplace and will give you the opportunity to seek employment at a senior level
- Benefit from the ability to take part in critical discussions, systematic reviews and the analysis of complex, unfamiliar or unpredictable criminological problems, and work to produce an understanding that is informed by current scholarship.
Criminology at the University of Bedfordshire is taught by subject experts who are all members of the Vauxhall Centre for the Study of Crime under the direction of Professor John Pitts - a key member of the Home Office gang strategy’s expert advisory group. This dynamic programme considers developments in the academic study and research evidence of criminology in the context of an increasingly globalised world.
You will have the opportunity to critically reflect on theory while drawing on a depth of practical knowledge, theory and professional expertise from the teaching team. In addition, the team have an interest in the personal development of Masters students through a system of seminars and personal tutorials. This allows both staff and students to get to know each other well and fosters a shared commitment to the subject.
Unit Information - What will I learn?
Units
- Dissertation In Criminology (ASS065-6) Compulsory
- Models And Methods Of Social Investigation (ASS010-6) Compulsory
- Theories And Perspectives In Crime And Criminal Justice (ASS058-6) Compulsory
- Complexities Of Forced Migration, Human Displacement, Trafficking And Refuge (ASS064-6) Optional
- Corporate Crime And Corporate Criminals (ASS062-6) Optional
- Crime, Media And Audiences (ASS108-6) Optional
- Forensic Mental Health - Dealing With The Mentally Disordered Offender (ASS063-6) Optional
- Offenders And Offending: The Experience Of End To End Management (ASS061-6) Optional
- Young People Group Offending And Violent Crime (ASS016-6) Optional
- Youth Justice: Current Issues And Critical Perspectives (ASS015-6) Optional
How will I be assessed?
A range of appropriate and effective assessments will enable you to demonstrate your acquisition of knowledge and skills. The assessment methods used across the course include: - Written essay assignments - these may vary from concise reviews of current research to more in-depth synthesis and evaluation of broader topics and demonstrate your ability to provide written evaluation and synthesis of current scholarship. - Oral presentations, presentations using technology, and Poster presentations that demonstrate verbal and presentational skills in communicating complex and challenging tasks to others. - In-Class Tests allowing you to demonstrate ownership of your knowledge - The Dissertation allowing you to undertake a complex research project and communicate knowledge, findings and recommendations demonstrating your ability to implement and deliver a self-directed, complex and solution focused professional task. The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow students to gain skills and acquire knowledge, receive feedback on their performance, thus allowing students to implement knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments. The ability to evaluate your performance and progress is a central part of feedback and formative assessments. For example, the Research unit will use an incremental scaffolded approach to the research proposal and allow you to incorporate feedback into learning. Similarly, in the other semester one core unit, Perspectives, the first summative assessment will require you to prepare a report on an aspect of theory or policy and explore implications for reducing offending. Feedback will allow you to develop your ideas and understanding. The ability to present to a specialist, as well as a non-specialist, audience is a required skill and the ability to communicate your ideas and knowledge in a variety of formats will form part of the assessment process. Presentations and taking leadership in groups (Forensic Mental Health) provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate in that assessment how you successfully manage group activity while technology will aid the presentation in Crime, Media and Audiences. The assessment strategy has been designed to incrementally develop your skills and knowledge across the course. In short learning will precede the assessment. In semester one, your knowledge base of the broader environment of theory and the Criminal Justice system will be developed and tested through assessments (report and in-class test) and the research skills taught in Models and Methods and tested by the proposal will equip you with the skills needed for the second semester and the dissertation. For example, your first assessment in Youth Justice will be a literature review and the unit Models and Methods will specifically teach how to approach a literature review. As part of your ownership of your learning, in the second semester, you are able to choose option units to suit the direction of your study and the assessments will reflect the learning emphasis within the unit. For example, the final assessment in Offender Journey is a poster presentation allowing you to make a critical assessment of offender management while Corporate Crime uses a research driven case study and presentation to reflect and develop the summative final assessment. In other units, oral presentations, reports and essays will form both formative and summative assessments tailored specifically to the learning on the unit. At the end of the course the assessments will demonstrate students ability to analyse, evaluate and syntheses current knowledge and communicate this knowledge in both written and presentational formats, and to demonstrate a range of high level transferable skills knowledge acquisition, research methods, communication and the ability to evaluate performance.
