Bachelor of Science (Honours) - Criminology and Criminal Justice

As a criminology student at the University of Roehampton, students will be able to explore these fascinating questions, drawing from a range of other disciplines including sociology, psychology and law.

Criminologists study crime, the criminal justice system and society’s response to the impact of criminal behaviour. On this exciting degree, students will study contemporary problems relating to crime prevention, criminalisation and social control.

Students will develop a critical understanding of how the criminal justice system operates and the debates surrounding the relationship between punishment, rehabilitation and crime prevention.

Tackling both problems and solutions relating to harmful behaviours in society, the University of Roehampton offers a wide range of stimulating modules that will build students' knowledge over the three years they are at the University of Roehampton. Students will be introduced to the multitude of ways to think about and analyse crime, and be able to specialise in areas such as the regulation, control and punishment of young people in society, or mass incarceration, war crimes, terrorism and anti-terrorism.

The BSc Criminology is all-encompassing, and further areas of study include punishment and prisons, gang culture, the criminal justice system and legislation, serial killers, and human trafficking. As a University of Roehampton graduate, students will become an independent, critical thinker, with the skills to analyse official and popular conceptions of crime.

Students will build their knowledge by exploring the ways crime theory can be applied to the study of criminal justice and contemporary issues relating to crime control.

A range of diverse, optional modules will be available to students so that they can specialise in interests identified in their first year, including but not limited to the crimes of the powerful, media representations of crime, and criminal justice and domestic violence.

Students will carry out an independent research project or dissertation based on their own interests and fieldwork, supervised by one of the expert teaching staff. Students will also focus on the construction of social research and subsequent analysis of results, providing students with an excellent grasp of indispensable skills in criminology and the social sciences and the skills required to challenge current key ethical, political and moral questions about crime and justice.

Students will be taught by world-class tutors in a department driven by innovative research. The University of Roehampton's staff are experts in their field, with substantial experience of working with offenders and prisoners, including cases involving domestic violence, child abuse and youth crime. They are dedicated to providing students with the support and springboard students need to thrive as a graduate of criminology. 

This course offers all students the option of a one-year paid work placement, to boost their employability even further. If students choose this route, they will take the placement following year two of their course, and then return to complete their degree.