Criminology BA(Hons): Course features

• This course applies sociology, psychology, politics and economics to the understanding of law making, law breaking and law enforcement. It looks at questions of crime and justice in a practical way.
• Optional modules at Levels 2 and 3 mean you can tailor your degree towards your interests.
• You also have the chance to study Criminology in conjunction with another subject.
• You undertake community-based fieldwork, gaining experience of working with practitioners, advocates or campaigners (see further down the page for more information).
• Lectures are supported by tutorials, seminars, workshops, fieldwork and group projects.
• Classes involve a variety of interactive teaching methods.
• Supportive staff help you to reach your full potential.
• Criminology provides the academic and practical experience you need to go on to professional training and a criminal justice-related career. You also develop generic research and analytical skills.
• Career opportunities include:
  • professional training leading to career paths in the police, the Probation Service, the Prison Service, youth justice and harm minimisation programmes; and
  • working in independent and governmental policy/research units or academic institutions thanks the strong research emphasis.
• Language tuition and the opportunity to go on an international exchange are available.

Part-Time Students

The part-time course is half the workload of the full-time course, taking six years to complete rather than three. 

Before the course begins, you meet with a tutor to discuss your time commitments. The course leaders then try to let you know the timetable of lectures and seminar groups as soon as possible. On an average week, you need to allow six hours for lectures and seminars and a further six to nine hours for independent study, but this does vary.  As well as the regular timetabled classes, we also schedule fieldtrips at particular times.

The course is flexible, so you can switch to full-time at Level 2 or 3 if you wish.

Fieldtrips

Fieldwork is a crucial component of this course.  It allows you to apply what's being taught to real-life situations and look at issues in context.  You will:

• become familiar with Crown Courts and Magistrates' Courts;
• learn to take notes and follow cases through from beginning to end;
• possibly have the chance to join organised visits to various London prisons in your final year; and
• experience frontline working in the public or voluntary sector (depending on your chosen area of research and work placement).

The course also includes group observation and location studies in urban environments. This enables you to understand the relationship between crime and the environment.  

Ethnography (study of people)

You will be doing field-based research right from the start of your degree.  The Ethnography module introduces you to this important research tradition in criminology, which involves:

• studying groups and behaviour in their natural settings;
• learning to listen and observe in an unobtrusive way; and
• keeping field notes, analysing your data and writing up your material. 

You will probably start your research in the local Kingston community and then move to more diverse areas.  This will culminate at the end of Semester 1 with a group project and exhibition featuring your observations.  Begging, busking, the night-time economy and street markets are typical examples of the themes covered.

Crime audit

Thanks to the University's involvement in the Kingston Crime Reduction Partnership, Criminology students collect data for a survey of personal safety and levels of victimisation in Kingston.  The survey provides an annual benchmark to inform Kingston's community safety strategy and is part of the Crime Audit managed by the Crime Reduction Team at the Government Office for London. You will contribute to a significant element of it.

You will be taught how to conduct street interviews, and record and analyse the data you collect. The information you gather is used to compile papers on trends in personal safety in Kingston and will be accessed by subsequent years' students for their studies.