Sociology and Criminology BA

at University of Warwick

Core modules

What you will learn
 

• To apply key sociological categories such as class, gender, and ‘race’ to analyse various social problems and imagine creative solutions to these issues
• How societies have changed over time and how key institutions within these have functioned
• How we might explain offending behaviours and explore the effects of crime on individuals and communities
• How the criminal justice system operates and with what impacts
• To search for answers to social justice issues by examining and questioning the role of the police, courts, prisons and civil society
• To critically engage with theoretical and methodological debates in contemporary Criminology and Criminal Justice as well as in Sociology
• To develop theoretical and conceptual knowledge and enhance your understanding of empirical research

This degree covers topics such as:

• Culture and ethnic identities
• Geo-political conflict
• Gender
• Environmentalism
• Social movements
• Sexuality
• Class and capitalism
• Social theory
• State crime
• Terrorism and issues of security in global context
• Punishment and community justice
• Youth crime and youth justice
• Policing
• Prisons
• Inequalities
• Discrimination, racism, xenophobia
• Health and illness in society

Year One
History of Sociological Thought
What holds societies together? How do societies change? And how is politics in the conventional sense affected by factors such as class, status, ethnicity or religion, or the state of the economy? These are some of the questions with which you will engage with when you consider the history of sociological thought. You will gain skills of research, analysis and debate by considering the extent to which sociology may be considered a science and how the evolution of sociological thought has been shaped by events and the cultural, economic and political problems of the day.

 

Criminology: Theories and Concepts
This module will develop your understanding of key criminological perspectives and will encourage you to reflect on different assumptions and ideologies behind these different perspectives. It will equip you to be able to apply criminological theory to a broad range of contemporary problems of crime, social inequality disorder and social harm.

 

Researching Society and Culture
What is society and how do you study it? Is human behaviour governed by rules similar to the natural world that you can study objectively? Or do human beings consciously act upon their environment and change the world through creativity and intelligence, driven by their own understanding and motivations? These are some of the questions that this module will explore.

You will be introduced to the core ideas behind sociological research and the practical tools to undertake research yourself. As well as looking at some of the key qualitative methods (for example, interviews, ethnography and discourse analysis), you will also examine the political, ethical and practical issues that social research inevitably entails.

 

Crime and Society
This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between crime, its social context and current issues in the socio-political global context of crime and punishment. You will explore the sociological approaches to crime, victimisation and punishment through categories such as class, gender, ethnicity, mobility and space. You will develop the necessary analytical, theoretical and critical skills to examine contemporary problems and debates in the fields of criminalisation and justice.

 

Introduction to Social Analytics in Social Inequalities Research
In the age of ever-increasing data availability which is paired with a growing sophistication of statistical techniques, the opportunities for social science research are vast. This module will give you an understanding of the basic elements of core descriptive statistics which will allow you not only to critically engage with quantitative findings in existing social science research, but also conduct quantitative analysis yourself. The module covers the topics of conceptualisation, operationalisation and measurement, as well as the principles of sampling and the basics of research design. You will be introduced to the process of social science research and quantitative methods in one hour lectures, and then explore these in extended seminars (2h) both through readings, and the statistical software SPSS. We will be working on real data sets, such as the European Social Survey.

 

Year Two
Designing and Conducting Social Research
This module will teach you the core concepts and practical skills to undertake qualitative social research in academic and professional settings. These include research design, ethnography, in-depth interviewing, documents and discourse. As well as practical skills, you will investigate how social research has changed in recent decades, considering:

• ethical questions when researching life online
• how (and whether) you should study Twitter
• effects of social media on social interactions
• how to engage diverse audiences

You will also gain analytical skills to critically evaluate previous research and develop your ability to collect and analyse data using a range of qualitative methods.

 

Modern Social Theory
This module will introduce you to the main thinkers and movements in critical social theory. Topics include Marxism, post-structuralism, class and culture. The changing conceptualisation of power and class is a focus throughout the module. This helps you to see how the different theoretical approaches relate to each other, and to historical and political events.

 

Gender, Race and Sexualities in the Criminal Justice System: Policy and Practice
This module will develop the necessary analytical, theoretical, and critical skills to analyse the complex relationship between gender, race, and sexualities in criminal justice institutions. You will be presented with contemporary conceptual issues around the categories of race, gender and sexualities and will be invited to consider how these are essential to unpacking current problems in policing, courts, sentencing, prisons, and community justice settings. The module will unpack criminalisation and victimisation in relation to contemporary problems linked to misogyny, sexism, racism, and homophobia. In this module you’ll have the chance to engage with key readings in feminist criminology, queer criminology, and in post-colonial, southern criminologies and will be invited to consider practical and policy-informed solutions to some of the most enduring problems of contemporary criminal justice systems.

 

Policing and Society
The institution of the police is one of the state’s most important and yet most scrutinised and challenged institutions. Questions around policing and justice are arguably some of the most urgent in contemporary criminological scholarship and need theoretical as well as practical examination. In this module we sociologically and criminologically unpack the purpose of the police and consider different approaches to policing. We also examine the impact of policing on different communities and explore current debates around racism, discrimination, and excessive force in policing practices. Taking an international as well as critical perspective we consider the evolution, efficacy, and viability of the police and of policing in the 21st Century.

 

Year Three
Dissertation

 

Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

Year One

• Sociology of Race
• Sociology of Gender
• Life of Media: Past, Present and Future
• Sociology of Education
• Class and Capitalism in the Neoliberal World
• International Perspectives on Gender

Year Two

• Commercial Cultures in Global Capitalism
• Educational Inequalities
• Relationship and Family Change: Demographic and Sociological Perspectives
• Becoming Yourself: The Construction of the Self in Contemporary Western Societies
• Media, Audiences and Social Change
• Practice and Interpretation of Quantitative Research
• Multivariate Secondary Analysis of Social Data
• Political Sociology
• Gender and Violence
• Surveillance and Society: Race, Gender, Class
• Beyond the Binary: Trans-forming Gender
• War, Memory and Society
• Social Theory of Law

Year Three

• Social Movements and Political Action
• Racism and Xenophobia
• Ethnography and the Anthropological Tradition
• Transnational Media Ecologies
• Race, Resistance and Modernity
• Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Intellectuals
• Punishment, Justice and Control
• Feminist Pedagogy/Feminist Activism
• Postcolonial Theory and Politics
• Queering Sociology
• State Crime, Human Rights and Global Wrongs
• Applying Quantitative Methods to Social Research
• Experiments in the Social Sciences and Humanities Sociology of End Times
• Global South and Indigenous Feminisms
• Social Data Science
• Sociology of Green Transformations

 

All applicants, regardless of their visa requirements, are required to show that their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English is sufficiently high for them to derive full benefit from their degree course. The level of competence required depends on what type of degree you wish to study. Many applicants can demonstrate this through a satisfactory level of achievement in, for example, GCSE English Language or the English courses within the International Baccalaureate.

Applicants whose academic qualifications meet the University’s admissions requirements, but whose English language qualifications are not accepted as equivalent, may be offered a place at Warwick conditional on an acceptable English language qualification being achieved before they join the University. A number of English language tests are accepted; some of the most frequently offered ones are detailed below.

Please note that certain English tests (including IELTS and PTE) must be taken within two years and one month prior to the start of your course at Warwick. Applicants whose tests fall outside this timescale will need to retake a suitable English language test.

Applicants who require a visa to study in the UK may, depending on the circumstances, be asked to provide evidence of a secure English language test (e.g. IELTS for UKVI (Academic)), rather than an examination (such as International Baccalaureate English) due to the visa requirements set by the UK government.

If you are an overseas or EU student enrolling in 2022, your annual tuition fees will be as follows:

• Band 1 – £22,280 per year (classroom-based courses, including Humanities and most Social Science courses)
• Band 2 – £28,410 per year (laboratory-based courses, plus Theatre and Performance Studies, Economics, and courses provided by Warwick Business School, with exceptions)

Fees for 2023 entry have not been set. We will publish updated information here as soon as it becomes available, so please check back for updates about 2023 fee rates before you apply.

Warwick Undergraduate Global Excellence Scholarship 2022

We believe there should be no barrier to talent. That's why we are committed to offering a scholarship that makes it easier for gifted, ambitious international learners to pursue their academic interests at one of the UK's most prestigious universities. This new scheme will offer international fee-paying students 250 tuition fee discounts ranging from full fees to awards of £13,000 to £2,000 for the full duration of your Undergraduate degree course.

Where a Sociology and Criminology degree can take you:

• Professional roles in various national and international NGOs, civil society and charity organisations
• Civil service careers
• Researchers and research analysts for state and independent bodies
• Professions in various criminal justice institutions
• Accounting and Finance careers
• Academic careers and doctoral scholarships for further study
• Teaching Careers
• Social Work
• Careers and Employability Assistant
• Customer Representatives and HR Graduates
• Directorate Administrators
• Event Administrator
• Resident Tutors
• Management Trainees
• Marketing & Development Coordinators
• Senior Sales Consultants

Graduates have gone on to work for employers such as:

• Cambridge Judge Business School
• Centrica PLC, Choice
• Spotify
• Common Vision UK
• Credo Care
• Girlguiding
• Hawkins Estate Agents
• Holmfirth Junior and Infants
• Imperial College London
• National Counties Building Society
• Oslo University Hospital
• Qualia Analytics
• Teachfirst
• Orange Tree