Criminology and Sociology BSc (Hons) • City, University of London

This course is for 2021/22 entry. 2022/23 entry is also available.

Key information

This joint course explores how criminality and crime relate to social issues such as gender, ethnicity and the economy. You’ll learn about how crime is defined and why it is such a defining issue for contemporary society. Our London location provides a stimulating backdrop for exploring crime, people and policy.

Start date

September 2021

UCAS code

L390

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years with placement or study abroad year

Institution

City, University of London

Location

Northampton Square

Entry requirements

Below is a list of countries with information on each about which qualifications we accept.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, we will require evidence of English language proficiency. Minimum requirements are:

IELTS:

6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in each component.

PTE Academic: 59 overall with a minimum of 59 in each component.

English language programmes

Don't meet the English language requirements? INTO City, University of London offers English language programmes to help prepare you for study at university. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to degree courses.

Apply now

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Course overview

This three-year degree has been designed by world-leading researchers in the field. You’ll learn about the latest thinking in crime and society, and develop the skills to conduct your own original research.

You’ll study topics such as criminal justice, penology, policing, news, violence, and social change. This develops your analytical capability to engage with crime and social policy debates. Modules in qualitative and quantitative research methods develop your data analysis skills.

Become a critical thinker with an in-depth understanding of the complex interplay of local and global forces in relation to crime and criminality
Boost your employability with an optional work placement year
Develop highly sought-after data literacy and quantitative skills, thanks to our strong links with City’s Q-Step Centre
Opt onto a Q-Step quantitative methods pathway: benefit from a heightened focus on data skills, a workplace Data Placement in Year 2, and an optional international work placement

Take advantage of excellent internship opportunities thanks to our central London location, including access to organisations in crime and justice, human rights, migration and refugee support, and mental health.

Accreditation

A particular strength of the BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology at City is that the degree is part of the City Q-Step Centre, a centre of excellence devoted to developing the data literacy and quantitative methods skills of undergraduate social scientists.

Structure

Course content

Throughout your three years of study, you’ll combine sociology and criminology through complementary subjects that enhance your understanding of both topics.

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Placement

Year 1

Study core modules that build a firm foundation for future study and research, including statistical methods and social theory.

Year 2

Deepen your understanding of both subjects with core topics and elective modules from a diverse and exciting selection, including violence, and gender and crime.

Quantitative Analysis of Social Research Data (15 Credits)

This module develops your understanding of the fundamentals of statistical data analysis. It enables you to apply appropriate statistical methods to data analysis on a criminology topic of your choice and present your results in a meaningful way.
Qualitative Analysis of Social Research Data (15 Credits)

This module will equip you with the skills to employ qualitative methods in your dissertation. It allows you to deepen your understanding of various qualitative methods, how to apply these and their limitations to a substantive area of your choice
New Media Challenges (15 Credits)

This module a) provides an introduction to the social consequences of the Internet and the convergence of the previously separate technologies of broadcasting, computing and communications b) introduces you to major sociological contributions to these issues.
News and Society (15 Credits)

This module provides a firm theoretical and empirical foundation for understanding the production of news as well as the social and political effects of news in contemporary society.
Key Issues in Criminology (15 credits)

This module covers a) key issues and debates in criminology and criminal justice b) criminological perspectives on crime, social order and the criminal justice system c) current thinking on criminal behaviour and crime control and d) alternative forms of crime and social control.
Penology (15 credits)

This module introduces key sociological perspectives on punishment in modern society. It will enable you to develop your understanding of the sociology of punishment, and some of the moral, economic, cultural, political and social factors that shape punishment in modern society.
Social Action Project (15 credits)

This module a) provides an introduction to principles of social action research, active citizenship and applied learning b) an understanding of the transferability of sociological learning c) enhances employability through supporting you to undertake practical activities and group work in the community.
Understanding Social Change (15 credits)

This module examines some of the most consequential changes that have taken place in recent decades such as the emergence of modernity and how this has brought about new forms of social inequality, identities and patterns of social conflict.
Contemporary Social Theory (15 credits)

This module focuses on the development of social theory in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. As well as social order, social reproduction, and social transformation, we explore some of the key ideas and theories which have made and remade sociology.
Sociology of Race and Racism (15 credits)

This module introduces you to sociological research and scholarship on race and racism. We will outline and critically evaluate the emergence of modern ideas about race and racism, and explore processes that have shaped racism in Britain.
Gender and Society (15 credits)

This module provides an overview of some of the main social processes that shape gender relations in contemporary societies. We describe and assess major accounts of the processes of becoming 'men' and 'women.'
Violence (15 credits)

This module provides an overview of the key issues and current debates in criminology and criminal justice such as criminological perspectives on violence and criminal justice policy, violence control, politicisation crime and the future of violence, criminal justice and social control.
Gender and Crime (15 credits)

This module enables you to understand feminist and gendered perspectives on criminology and criminal justice. For example, women’s and men’s differential contact with the criminal justice system and the processes leading to, and the consequences of, discriminatory practices.
Visualising Society (15 credits)

This module helps you develop a visual approach to using data in social science. It will help you interpret graphical representations of data and develop meaningful and useful graphics as you communicate.
Transnational Social Movements (15 credits)

This module provides you with a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of transnational social movements, and enables you to assess their nature and impact in respect of a wide range of contemporary global political issues.
Security Studies: Conceptual Approaches (15 credits)

This module provides you with a comprehensive overview of the main conceptual approaches to international security, and the contribution of these approaches to the analysis of a number of contemporary international security threats, challenges and conflicts.
Security Studies: Contemporary and Emerging Issues (15 credits)

This course provides you with the opportunity to critically engage with some of the more pressing international security issues in today’s world and explore existing solutions to contemporary international security issues.
Work Placement (15 credits)

This module offers you a tailored opportunity to work towards future employment in a sector of your choice. It enables you to build on skills and knowledge gained on your degree course as well as transferable skills from past work or activities

Year 3

Explore a sociological topic in depth through your dissertation. Choose core and elective modules to tailor your final year to your interests and career aspirations.

Applied Multivariate Analysis (15 credits)

This module introduces you to some commonly used techniques of multivariate data analysis from simple arithmetical procedures to more complex model-based approaches. We will discuss the choices that have to be taken at every step of data processing, and their implications.
Sociology Project (45 credits)

This module is designed to expand and compound your knowledge of research methods and sociological theories and support you in the delivery of your third year project.
Crime, Culture and the City (15 credits)

This module introduces you to advances in research on urban crime and culture. We will consider 150 years of relevant scholarship as well as cutting-edge developments in research and theory that illuminate contemporary debates and controversies.
Property and Crime (15 credits)

The majority of crime results from the illegal acquisition of property. This module examines the various offence types that fall within this significant category, including: burglary, shoplifting, fraud, robbery, and vandalism as well as the varied motivations for these crimes.
Policing (15 credits)

This module explores the shifts that are taking place in policing and security. From role and function, to the socio- criminological context within which contemporary policing happens, to operational methodologies and the issues that will define the future of policing.
Criminal Behaviour (15 credits)

This module develops an understanding of a) why and how human behaviour is criminalised b) types of criminal behaviour and the processes through which people become defined as criminals c) different methods of controlling criminal behaviour and the future forms of such behaviour.
Youth Crime (15 credits)

This module introduces the origins and development of youth justice, enables you to discuss and analyse youth and childhood within a sociological and criminological context, develops your understanding of youth crime and introduces you to emergent and contemporary issues in youth crime.
Criminal Justice in Crisis (15 credits)

This module focuses on emerging developments and key areas of ‘crises’ in the criminal justice policy field. It will enable you to evaluate research on, and critically discuss, key issues in the politics of crime control in both their historical and contemporary contexts.
Leisure, the Body and Deviance (15 credits)

The aims of the module are to address knowledge and seek an understanding of the body in the contexts of leisure and deviance with particular reference to violence, drugs, risk, pain and injury.
Global Migration Process (15 credits)

This module introduces you to a key sociological and global phenomenon. Its aim is to allow you to develop a global and in depth understanding of migration processes.
Global Media Industries (15 credits)

This module introduces you to the discipline of international communication and aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of the global media industries.
Poverty: What counts? (15 credits)

This module introduces the conceptualisation of poverty in the UK, how to critically evaluate different approaches to the quantitative measurement of poverty and the practical measurement of such approaches using SPSS, the social surveys most commonly used to measure poverty in the UK
Culture, Race, Difference (15 credits)

This module will explore contemporary debates on race and racisms with a particular focus on how their dynamics are played out through the realm of culture. You will be encouraged to critically evaluate theoretical and policy debates around race, racisms, difference and culture.
Political Communication (15 credits)

The course introduces you to the role of political communication in the political process, examining various aspects of government information policy and the relation between government, the media and the public.
Interrogating Consumer Culture (15 credits)

This module explores how consumer culture shapes the character of contemporary life. It examines a variety of ways of comprehending the significance of consumer culture: for example, as ritualised exchange, commodity fetish, identity performance and/or environmental problem.
International Marketing of Culture (15 credits)

In this module you will examine established and developing global and digital markets for culture as a means of learning about how cultural products, cultural workers, cultural artefacts and cultural brands are marketed in physical and digital forms.
Work and Workers (15 credits)

This module considers the ways in which work and our understandings of it are changing. It will allow you to reflect on your own experiences of work, while introducing you to key sociological arguments and theoretical developments.
Digital cultures (15 credits)

This module explores the roles new communication technologies— in particular digital media, social media, and the Internet—play in the transformation of cultural, economic, political, and social structures and practices.
Global Politics of Forced Migration (15 credits)

In relation to displacement and forced migration this module enables you to a) think critically about policy and operational practice b) analyse different conceptual approaches c) understand responses such as humanitarian assistance, repatriation and resettlement d) appreciate the role of the international community.
The Theory and Practice of Conflict and Peace (requires either IP2024 or IP2025) (15 credits)

This module provides an introduction to how national decision-makers and diplomats have pursued war and peace since the early twentieth century with the aim of applying theory to illuminate key historical cases.
Education, Skills and the Job Market (15 credits)

This module introduces the sociology of work and education and explores the relationship between higher education and work. It examines the role of education in society and how educational experiences, skills, knowledge and credentials relate to the labour market and the work process.

Placement

You have the opportunity to undertake a work placement between the second and third years.

If you opt onto a Q-Step pathway you will do a workplace Data Placement in Year 2 and have the opportunity to do an international placement between Year 2 and 3.

Download course specification:

BSc Criminology and Sociology

Teaching and assessment

Teaching is through lectures, interactive sessions, practical workshops and small-group seminars, supported by a personal tutorial system.

Lectures provide commentary and explanation of key content areas. Small-group seminars develop your understanding by inviting you to raise questions and participate in the debate and by providing guidance for further study. Computer labs develop your skills in the production and analysis of data.

You are encouraged to undertake extensive reading and independent study in order to understand the topics covered in lectures and classes and to broaden, as well as to deepen your knowledge of the subject.

For the third year project, you will receive supervision and the Dissertation module provides you with the opportunity to develop research methods and writing skills.

Assessment methods

Assessment is primarily in the form of coursework (assessed essays, policy and research reports, group presentations and other assignments), unseen examinations and a final-year project.

Percentage of the course assessed by coursework

The balance of assessment by coursework (assessed essays and assignments) unseen examinations and a final year project will to some extent depend on the optional modules you choose. The approximate percentage of the course assessment, based on 2018/19 entry is as follows:

Assessment

Year 1

Written examination: 22%

Coursework: 78%

Year 2

Coursework: 100%

Written examination: 0%

Year 3

Written examination: 34%

Coursework: 66%

Overall workload

Most contact hours take the form of lectures, interactive sessions, practical workshops and small group classes, supported by a personal tutorial system. The number will decrease as you progress and you become more able to direct your own learning. Approximate study time based on 2018/19 entry is as follows:

Workload

Year 1

Scheduled learning: 14%

Independent learning: 86%

Year 2

Scheduled learning: 12%

Independent learning: 88%

Year 3

Scheduled learning: 10%

Independent learning: 90%

Fees and funding

Fees for year 2021/22

£9,250

Overseas/EU

£15,700

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2021/ 22 academic year only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase, which is normally 2%.

Funding options

Explore up-to-date information about funding options, available financial support and typical living costs.

Fee waivers are available for this course.
Means tested support is available for 2021/22 entry.

Future finance loans

Future Finance offers students loans of between £2,500 and £40,000 to help cover tuition fees and living expenses. All students and courses are considered. All loans are subject to credit checks and approval for further details please visit our finance pages.

Career

This course will equip you with the methodological expertise to analyse social data. You also develop the analytical capability to identify and engage with crime and social policy debates. This can be useful for careers in crime reduction and criminal justice, including:

the police
the prison service
offender management
youth justice
community safety.

The strong data literacy and quantitative methods skills you develop will also be relevant to sectors unrelated to crime and justice, including:

government
education
market research
the not-for-profit sector
the financial sector
media.

Previous students on our Q-Step pathway have secured placements with a range of organisations working in the following areas:

media and communications
crime and justice
human rights
migration and refugee support
mental health.

How to apply

Applications for degree courses must be made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Apply now

You can apply through your school or college using the Apply system, which enables you to submit your application directly to the UCAS website.

www.ucas.com

You can apply to up to five universities or institutions on the form. The UCAS code for City, University of London is C60.

Please take care to enter the correct course code when applying, particularly for subjects with a Foundation year or with BEng (Hons) and MEng (Hons) or BSc (Hons) and MSci (Hons) options.

UCAS has implemented an 'invisibility of choices' policy so that, on the initial application and while you are receiving decisions, each institution can see only their entry and not those of other institutions you have chosen. This ensures that your application for a course at City is considered solely on your academic and personal qualities.

You should submit your completed application form to UCAS with a £23 application fee. If you want to apply to City, University of London only, you can make a single choice application at a reduced rate of £12.

For general enquiries about the admissions process at City, please contact our Admissions Office:

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7040 8716.

Telephone lines are currently open between 10am - 3pm.

If your enquiry is about admission to a particular course, please use the contact details provided on the course page.

When to apply

Your application for entry in September 2021 should arrive at UCAS between September 2020 and 29^th January 2021. Applications that arrive after 29^th January 2021 will be considered only at City's discretion.

Contacting UCAS

Website: www.ucas.com

Address: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), Rosehill, New Barn Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL52 3LZ

Telephone:

from inside the UK 0871 468 0468
from outside the UK +44 (0)871 468 0468

For callers with hearing difficulties:

from inside the UK use the Text Relay service on 18001 0871 468 0468
from outside the UK dial +44 151 494 1260 (text phone) and then ask the operator to dial 0871 468 0468.

Our students

Meet 3rd year BSc (Hons) Sociology student Frida who shares her experience on the course 8 minutes

Academics

Dr Gemma Birkett

Senior Lecturer in Criminology

Department of Sociology

Dr Carrie Myers

Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology

Department of Sociology

Key information

Entry requirements

UK

Other suitable qualifications

Access to Higher Education

INTO City, University of London

Kaplan International College (KIC) London

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