Year 1
Social Science Skills (Requisite)
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.
Sociological Imagination (Requisite)
Sociology is a subject that provides an analysis of the modern social world. It is also a subject that came into being with that modern world. This module aims to introduce you to key features of the sociological perspective and what many call the sociological imagination. It is concerned with making the everyday strange and the far away near to gain a better grasp on key aspects of social life. This leads into a key concern of sociology with questions of power and inequality. Students will be able to engage with key debates about the nature of inequality and power using contemporary examples and analysis.
Social Change (Requisite)
This module will introduce the major aspects of social change that have led to and developed within modern societies. There is a focus upon identifying and explaining some of the major social changes over the past 30-40 years using official statistics and social theory. The emphasis will be upon patterns of change alongside an exploration of the impact on personal biography, life-satisfaction and wellbeing. The module will initially focus upon Europe but also give room for students to explore social change in more rapidly changing parts of the world as well. The module allows students to engage with a range of data that describe social changes in key areas of social life from family to work to wellbeing to migration.
Year 2
Understanding Research (Requisite)
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.
Social Theory (Requisite)
The development of social theory is one of the key contributions of sociology to the social sciences. Most areas of sociology require a firm grasp of social theory and the range of traditions that provide some of the key sociological research questions. This module provides an overview of the origins of social theory, the development into a classical tradition and the more established, often American influenced social theory of the mid 20th Century. Much of the module will focus upon key thinkers rather than schools of thought. Students will also engage with the ideas of a range of important theorists from the late 20th and early 21st Centuries allowing for an engagement with the insightful, often challenging and sometimes counter-intuitive perspectives that come from a range of contemporary social theorists. Students taking this module will be strongly encouraged to apply social theory to contemporary social life and especially a range of social and political issues.
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.
