Year 1
Social Science Skills (Mandatory)
This module seeks to introduce students to academic study at university level. Its purpose is to enable students to reflect on and develop their skills as they progress through their first year of study. This is achieved by introducing students to the key study and academic skills required to succeed at university level study and supporting students as they develop their competencies in these skills. Students are also introduced to the principles and core concepts underpinning their field of study, and social science research more generally. A developmental approach is emphasised throughout the module, and, as part of the module’s approach to learning and teaching, students regularly meet in small groups with their personal tutors.
Introduction to Criminology (Mandatory)
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the subject specialism that is criminology using a topic-based approach. Students examine how we can make sense of crime and criminality by exploring some key areas of debate and controversy within the discipline of criminology. Crime has come to dominate both the political and social stage and there are many social, cultural and criminological explanations made as to the extent, cause and nature of crime and criminality. The task of the students is to explore and make some sense of this debate.
Year 2
Understanding Research (Mandatory)
This module grounds students in the principles of social science research and methods employed to develop our understanding of the social world. The module covers core aspects of the research process and offers students opportunities to focus on particular methods of interest to them and relevant to their field of study. The module aims to provide students with the knowledge and confidence to undertake independent, ethical and robust research in the social sciences. This module also acts as a precursor to the dissertation module.
Criminological Theory (Mandatory)
This module builds upon the foundations laid in the module Introduction to Criminology and explores theoretical perspectives that influence criminology and social control. ‘Scientific’ theories of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were crucial to the construction of a new ‘common sense’, in which the solutions of social problems would be found - it was believed - in an applied science and technology of social order and control. Thus, just as the natural sciences had promised to bring the productive power of nature under the control of ‘man’, so an applied technology of social order - premised upon a new ‘science of society’ - was apparently waiting to be found.
This module highlights the importance of political and cultural concerns of the period when considering the search for the ‘causes’ of crime. The module introduces the student to the main theoretical debates occurring within the discipline of criminology. It examines the three broad levels of criminological explanation: the individual, the situational, and the structural. Thus, the different theories within criminology that locate their main explanation for criminal behaviour at one (or more) of these levels are explored.
Year 3
Independent Project (Mandatory)
In this module you will produce a final year project that allows you to exercise your independent judgement and skills in the development and execution of a project or dissertation relevant to your field of study. Under the supervision of an assigned tutor, the module provides you with the opportunity to independently apply the core subject knowledge and skills developed over the course of your degree. Over the course of the year you will undertake independent analysis and research, and communicate and present it to high professional standards. This project can take the form of a traditional research dissertation, but you also have the flexibility to undertake an alternative, such as a reflective report based on an independent project pursued in a practice / work setting.
