Criminology BSc (Hons)
Why choose this course?
Criminology is the study of crime, its control and its consequences. It combines politics, law, psychology, society and culture and seeks answers to a wide range of questions.
Why do certain people commit crimes? How does our criminal justice system work? Why do some people abuse others? How do victims of abuse cope? Why are people from some backgrounds reportedly more likely to commit crimes and become victims? How can we improve relations between young people and the police?
You'll be able to volunteer at organisations that work with offenders and victims of crime. You'll see the real-world relevance of your degree.
| Attendance | UCAS code/apply | Year of entry |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years full time | L311 | 2021 |
| 4 years full time including foundation year | L312 | 2021 |
| 4 years full time including sandwich year | L313 | 2021 |
| 6 years part time | Apply direct to the University | 2021 |
| Location | Penrhyn Road |
2020 entry
If you are planning to join this course in September 2020, please view the information about changes to courses for 2020/21 due to Covid-19.
Continuing students
Students who are continuing their studies with Kingston University in 2020/21 should refer to their Course Handbook for information about specific changes that have been, or may be, made to their course or modules being delivered in 2020/21. Course Handbooks are located within the Canvas course page.
Reasons to choose Kingston University
- More than 95% of students from this course are in employment or further study six months after graduating (DLHE 2016/17).
- This course received more than 91% overall satisfaction (National Student Survey 2018).
- Kingston is conveniently close to London's many high-profile law institutions and renowned criminal courts.
What you will study
Take a look at some of the content and modules that you may have the opportunity to study on this course:
Year 1
Year 2
Optional year
Sandwich year
Final year
In Year 1, you will be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates that inform criminology, and the institutions, processes and legal foundations of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. You will learn about who is policed and disciplined, how, why and by whom as you cover histories of violence and contemporary forms of transgression. You'll understand how researchers utilise qualitative and quantitative research methods and will gain hands-on experience of research skills.
Core modules
Foundations in Criminological Theory
30 credits
This module will introduce students to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates that inform criminology, and which underpin their learning throughout the criminology programme. Theories will be evaluated in relation to academic scholarship, empirical evidence, popularity and application in crime policy and practice, and in relation to their geographical, social, cultural, historical locations.
Students will learn about a changing and dynamic field of study, which has encompassed both positivistic and social analyses of crime and criminalisation. They will learn to evaluate criminological theory in relation to a range of intellectual movements. They will be encouraged to understand criminological theory in relation to shifts across allied subjects like sociology, gender studies, critical race studies, social policy, politics and psychology.
Crime, Law and Justice
30 credits
This module will provide students with an introduction to the institutions, processes and legal foundations of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. The module is core to the undergraduate degree. The module familiarises students with the language and reasoning of the criminal law and the structure and chronology of the criminal justice process. There is an emphasis on the development and practice of key academic skills especially information retrieval.
Violence, Transgression and Society
30 credits
Violence, Transgression and Society explores who is policed and disciplined in societal, popular and political cultures. It thinks about why some people and their behavior are seen as especially violent and transgressive while others are not. It shows that responses to violent and transgressive people are shaped by historical and social context, geographical location and intersections of social identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sex, class, faith and age.
Students will learn about who is policed and disciplined, how, why and by whom across teaching blocks 1 and 2. In teaching block 1 there is emphasis on histories of violence, and in teaching block 2 there is emphasis on contemporary forms of transgression. Examples include: riots and anti-social behaviour, social ‘groups' like homeless people and ‘problem' families, and communities such as white working class and Muslim communities.
Throughout the module, the question of who is policed and disciplined, how and why, is explored through national and global real-world events and case-studies and in relation to criminal, social and racial justice. Students bring academic knowledge to real-world events and issues in weekly interactive workshops and the module assessment.
Introduction to Research Methods
30 credits
This module will focus your attention on how researchers have utilised a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods to develop attentiveness to everyday life and how lives are lived at the junctures of self, family, culture and social worlds. This module aims to ground your understandings of social life through practical application of methods and data analysis. You will gain hands-on experience of research skills throughout the module that can be applied to future study and employability.
In Year 2, you'll develop critical insight into key issues and controversies in the delivery of justice, social control and punishment. You will explore the different ways of approaching criminology and assess how these different approaches relate to different kinds of criminological methods. Alongside this you will build upon your existing research skills. You will have the opportunity to specialise in your main interests via a choice of modules.
Core modules
Policing and Punishment
30 credits
This module provides you with a critical insight into key issues and controversies in the delivery of justice, social control and punishment. It encourages you to think critically about the role of the state in the regulation of behaviour and provides an overview of key changes that have occurred in the field of crime control and criminal justice. The first part of the module is dedicated to developing understanding of the concepts of 'policing' and the 'police'. Key issues confronting contemporary policing are explored together with an enhanced awareness of the historical context within which contemporary policing has developed.
Debates about policing are situated within broader debates of social control and governance, with a critical appreciation of the police function and role. It also considers the implications of globalisation for policing both at an organisational and conceptual level. The second part of the module provides you with the opportunity to undertake a critical examination of contemporary debates on the purpose of punishment. You will be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives and debates on the use of punishment to address criminality and will consider the purpose of punishment in modern societies. This will be accompanied by an examination of different forms of punishment including an in-depth exploration of the use of imprisonment and comparative penal systems.
Doing Criminological Research
30 credits
What kind of criminologist are you? How does this relate to the kind of research that you want to conduct? This module will focus on exploring different ways of approaching criminology, ranging from ‘interventionist' criminology to critical criminology, left realism and theoretical research. We will assess how these different approaches relate to different kinds of criminological method. We will build on your existing research skills, developed at level 4, by extending your academic engagement with methods and particularly the distinct kinds of data that they produce. You will be asked to reflect critically on a particular criminological theme, then you will be guided through producing a short piece of empirical research that tests one of the methods you have studied in an area of your own interest. Finally, this module will act as a bridge to level 6 by helping you to produce a research proposal for your final year dissertation. This will enable you to start thinking about and reading for your dissertation over the summer. Ultimately, on completion of this module you will have developed core research and employability skills around research methods, their implications and application, and will have demonstrated the ability to plan, design and conduct a piece of independent research.
Optional modules
Diversity and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
30 credits
This module will enable students to contextualise criminology's past and present engagement with diversity and discrimination. The relationship between crime and discriminatory processes will be explored within different contexts such as within the law, prisons and cultural practices (eg. FGM). The responses of the criminal justice process to diversity will also be discussed and evaluated with regard to institutional racism and domestic abuse. In addition, students will critique the gendered social construction of the categories of ‘offender' and ‘victim', this will be further challenged by the exploration of female membership and affiliation with criminal gangs and their perpetration of crimes, and male victims of sexual violation.
Youth, Crime and Deviance
30 credits
This module considers what is understood by the term youth, as a social category and life stage, and explores young people's lived experiences. As such, it examines the history of youth culture and subcultures and styles, and critically considers the notion of 'problem' youth and societal responses to this including intervention and multi-agency working. Bringing together sociological, criminological and cultural studies theory from Level 4, the module considers youth from both an individual and structural view point. We will also look at how we have come to deal with young offenders in the youth justice system and considers the contradictory messages about welfare, diversionary measures, human rights, punitive justice, managerial and crime prevention discourses and strategies.
Securing Human Rights: Contemporary Themes and Issues
30 credits
This module is a core requirement for students taking Human Rights at level 5, and can also be taken as an option by students in related fields. The module introduces the contested and evolving relationships between the theory and practice of securing human rights.
It starts with an overview of key frameworks and mechanisms designed to secure rights at the international, regional and domestic levels. A central feature of the module is to introduce key critical themes, from which issues can be dissected and analysed through a range of contemporary and international case-studies.
Themes may include:
- ‘Human Rights, Security and Forced Migration', which analyses the way in which the issue of forced migration brings together a variety of legal, political and security debates.
- ‘The Politics of Human Rights in Development', which examines the recent convergence of the fields of human rights and development (inclusive of ‘the right to development' and the proliferation of ‘rights-based approaches to development').
- ‘Rights in the aftermath? Truth, Justice and Reconciliation', which examines the globalization of transitional justice discourses and the propagation of different mechanisms (ranging from International Criminal Tribunals, to national truth commissions, to local justice initiatives).
- And, ‘Indigenous Peoples, Rights and Beyond' that engages with central issues surrounding indigenous peoples' claims, whilst also probing the gravity of particular contested issues (such as ‘the right to self-determination' and broader ‘sovereignty' challenges).
The module concludes by asking: what is the future for human rights?
Slavery and Emancipation
30 credits
This module will introduce you to the controversies and debates over slavery and other forms of violence committed against groups of people in the modern world and their responses seeking emancipation. Beginning in the fifteenth century with the first European enslavement of Africans, it looks at the rebellions and other forms of day to day resistance, the relations between slavery and Britain's industrialisation, the subsequent development of US slavery, the struggles for emancipation and the movements of African Americans into the twentieth century. These cases will be revisited from the perspective of gender, and compared to other forms of structural oppression of colonised peoples and workers.
The module will consider the challenges in identifying the standpoint of the oppressed and study examples of how 'subaltern' oppressed groups enter politics. There are case studies of different historical and contemporary movements for emancipation, exploring some of their key debates and the challenges of constructing unity whilst respecting diversity.
The module as a whole will encourage the critical analysis and assessment of the various interpretations that have been put forward and facilitate the development of your research skills, ability to work together and communicate your ideas.
Globalisation and Social Change
30 credits
Through TV, newspapers, and other forms of media we are continually told that we live in a fast-moving globalised world. Yet whilst ‘globalisation' is now a common term, what it entails and how it affects our lives is often more difficult to discern.
Focusing on the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of globalisation, this module exposes the different dimensions and implications of global social change. Opening with a critical examination of the meaning and competing definitions of globalisation, it moves on to examine: processes and theories of uneven global development, international inequality, the evolution and changing face of global capital, the significance of global environmental risk, the creation of global cultures and the transformation of local culture, migration and transculturalism, the rise of global cities and the urban experience, and the significance of global networks.
Although not a pre-requisite, this module is also a good preparation for students wishing to study Migration and Social Transformation (SO6022) in level 6. The module will help to prepare students for a variety of professions in which knowledge and understanding of international and global social processes is relevant.
Study abroad optional year
You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad or to undertake a year-long work placement overseas (or even a mix of both.)
This course has a sandwich year option which takes place between Year 2 and your Final year. During this sandwich year you will take a placement within a relevant setting, ensuring you gain essential experience to add to your CV and help you secure a graduate job.
In your Final year, you will be introduced to relevant issues within the realm of globalisation, terrorism and international crime. You will undertake an advanced research project on a topic of interest and receive training in research skills. You will also choose from a range of specialist modules that suit your area of interest.
Core modules
Global Terrorism and Transnational Crime
30 credits
The aim of the module is to introduce students to relevant issues within the realm of globalisation, terrorism and international crime: eg. terrorism, environmental crime, piracy, human trafficking, criminal networks, cybercrime. It will enable students to develop a detailed comprehension of the complexity of these criminogenic experiences.
In the first part of the course, the module focuses on terrorism. It will be introducing students to a range of complex historical, political and social factors that have contributed to the articulation of terrorist practices. Students will have a chance to engage in the understanding of the reasons why certain practices emerge, the interaction between terrorist discourses and the media and how international law enforcement bodies work and interact.
The second part of the module will present a critical overview of different organised and transnational crimes. Students will be offered a chance to explore the articulation, social control and impact of organised criminal behaviour at an international level. Students will understand the links between terrorist practices and other organised crime (eg. cybercrime or trafficking of humans).
Criminology Extended Dissertation
60 credits
Through this module you will develop your own criminological specialism by conducting an extended and in-depth study on a topic of your choosing. Students will be tutored in the skills necessary to successfully complete a final year dissertation and will work with a staff supervisor to develop a critical understanding of their research topic. You will work with other students to organize a conference at which you will all present your work, thereby learning the skills of event organization and management as well as having an opportunity to disseminate their dissertation to a wide audience. This module will be an opportunity for you to gain hands-on experience of research skills that can be applied to future postgraduate study and careers in human resources, marketing, public sector and charitable and non-government organisations.
Criminology Dissertation
30 credits
Through this module you will develop your own criminological specialism by conducting an extended and in-depth study on a topic of your choosing. Students will be tutored in the skills necessary to successfully complete a final year dissertation and will work with a staff supervisor to develop a critical understanding of their research topic. You will gain hands-on experience of research skills that can be applied to future postgraduate study and careers in human resources, marketing, public sector and charitable and non-government organisations.
Optional modules
Criminology/Sociology Dissertation
30 credits
This module provides you with an opportunity to develop your own criminological/sociological specialism by conducting an extended and in-depth study on a topic of your choosing. You will be tutored in the skills necessary to successfully complete a final year dissertation and will work with a staff supervisor to develop a critical understanding of your research topic. These skills, involving an ability to organise and plan work effectively and autonomously will enhance your employability.
The Politics of Crime in the Black Atlantic
30 credits
The module studies the role played by race in all aspects of the criminal justice systems in the United States and United Kingdom. It takes as its point of departure Professor Paul Gilroy's 1993 concept of the ‘Black Atlantic' as a cultural-political ‘space of hybridity' involving Africa, America, Britain and the Caribbean, and we use that concept to examine the extent to which crime and the criminal justice system have been politicised.
The module concerns itself with the shifting politics of race within the criminal justice system. Among other topics, it explores historical representations of race and crime; press and media depictions of black male offenders; racial profiling and the ‘othering' of female offenders; and the commodification of prison that has led to the United States having the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Other focal areas include racial disparities within the criminal justice system, the politics of punishment and sentencing, and empirical, theoretical, practical and policy issues. The module addresses issues of representation, the production of knowledge, the historical contexualisation of minority experiences in theoretical perspectives, and the ethical duties of criminologists working within minority experiences.
The module includes a field trip to Bristol to explore the history of immigration and emigration as it relates to crime.
Applied Criminology/Sociology: Work and Volunteering
30 credits
This is a level 6 optional module that draws upon both criminological and sociological debates and knowledges. You will learn by observing and undertaking work-based practice. The principle underlying this module is that worksites are important contexts for students to test, validate, expand upon, supplement and enrich their academic learning. The module requires students to undertake a minimum of 40 hours of fieldwork in an organisational setting. The form that the fieldwork will take will depend upon the type of placement secured, but, typically it may involve interning, shadowing or volunteering in subject relevant placements (for example across social justice, criminal justice/crime prevention, welfare and support fields). Whilst in their placements you are encouraged to think about the social aspects of organisations and working life, including their structural forms, interpersonal relationships and their practices. You will be supported in securing your placement at level 5 in preparation for the commencement of the module at level 6.
Crimes of the Powerful: Corporations, the State and Human Rights
30 credits
This module takes a critical look at the concepts of crime, power and class in the contemporary world, and the impact of 'crimes of the powerful' on the struggle for human rights and social justice. The gaze of many political scientists and criminologists tends to be focused firmly 'downwards', towards analysing the misdemeanours of the poor, the dispossessed, the underclass. This module, in contrast, will focus 'upwards', in an attempt to understand and explain deviant actions by states, corporations, and the ruling class more broadly. Through the use of case studies, presented by the teaching team but also generated by students, we will examine issues such as war crimes, torture, corruption, global supply chains, police abuses, and state terrorism.
Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
30 credits
This module will be examining some deeply troubling events in recent history and politics and the various ethical, legal and political responses that they have generated. It has been argued that the Holocaust was a critical turning point, a catastrophe which required a fundamental ethical, legal and political rethinking of how the rights of human beings could be protected when states in the modern world engage in the systematic attempt to murder large numbers of people, including many of their own citizens. The module begins with reflections on the Nazi attempt to eliminate a whole group of people (the Jews) and to murder and enslave millions of others. It then considers a range of responses, including the Nuremberg trials, the Genocide Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It examines a number of cases of genocide and crimes against humanity that have nevertheless occurred subsequently. It evaluates the repeated failure for decades to halt or prevent these crimes and then considers the rethinking caused by the genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the setting up of ad hoc tribunals and an International Criminal Court to prosecute perpetrators and provide justice to victims. It concludes with reflections on how much progress has been made in protecting citizens in a world of sovereign nation states and what forms of justice can work after such crimes have been committed. These are highly contested questions and the module is designed to encourage the critical analysis and evaluation of a wide range of arguments that have been put forward from a variety of perspectives.
Human Rights and Political Violence
30 credits
Conceptions of self and other are deeply embedded in violent conflict, an activity which typically results in the most egregious violations of human rights. Highly polarised identities often sit uneasily with a universal humanity. Based on the broad theme of the universal versus the particular, this module explores the interaction between identity, violent conflict and the abuse of human rights. It provides students with the opportunity to consider how protracted conflicts may be better resolved more effectively and human rights better protected. The module blends theoretical discussion of political violence with an analysis of recent conflicts and the legal and institutional mechanisms which have emerged to reduce their detrimental impact on human rights.
Migration and Social Transformation
30 credits
Global migration has intensified rapidly since 1960, with the UNPD estimating an increase from 80 to 210 million by 2009. It has become a contentious political topic with far-reaching consequences for contemporary societies, and arguably for established sociological paradigms (e.g. methodological nationalism).
The module will equip students to understand and investigate in depth the social dynamics of migration and its consequences, and enable them to offer informed and critical comment on contemporary debates (e.g. media coverage of migration, on the economics of migration, and on migration's consequences for social solidarity).
It offers students the opportunity to build on interests and skills developed at Level 5 (e.g. in International Perspectives and Sociological Approaches), and broadens the department's offering at Level 6 to a new area of contemporary social relevance.
Social Intersections: Gender, Race and Class
30 credits
This module explores the social intersections between gender, race and class. It begins by examining historical conceptualisations of these terms and intersections, and the social and civil movements that challenged how these terms were considered in both women's and men's lives.
From the beginning, the module will introduce you to a wide range of feminist approaches in order to make sense of various intersections of gender, race and class. In this module you will consider how such categories and intersections contribute to identity constructions and contestations. You will reflect on these elements within contemporary examples of everyday life – for example, consumption, families and intimacies, education and sport. Upon completion of this module you will have expanded your skills in critical reflection and analysis of social intersections and inequalities.
The information above reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. Updates may be made on an annual basis and revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year. The regulations governing this course are available on our website. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this may not be offered.
Foundation year – Social Sciences
If you would like to study this degree at Kingston University but are not yet ready to join the first year of a BSc (Hons) course, you may want to consider studying this course with a foundation year.
Life on the course
Themed Week: an inter-play of subjects
Students experience the interdisciplinary nature of their subject
After you graduate
Graduates work in criminal justice and advocacy, the Police, HM Prison and Probation Service, youth offending teams, the Prison Reform Trust, crime research, health, housing and welfare, human resources, teaching, local and central government.
Entry requirements
Teaching and assessment
Timetabled teaching and learning on this course includes lectures, small group tutorials and seminars.
Who teaches this course?
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on this course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience. Postgraduate research students may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader.
The following group of staff members are currently involved in the delivery of different elements of this course. This pool is subject to change at any time within the academic year.
Course fees and funding
What our students say
Key information set
The scrolling banner(s) below display some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).
