What makes an act a crime? Who is a criminal? Why do people commit crime? How do they stop offending? What makes someone vulnerable to victimisation?We recognise a Criminology degree is is a diverse area of study and so we offer you the opportunity to choose from these four specialist course routes:

The generic Criminology route will allow you to explore the key issues and debates around crime and victimisation in society today, covering topical and dynamic content, and reflecting current issues, policy and practice within the criminal justice system. You'll understand the causes and consequences of crime and how we manage and respond to it as a society. We provide extensive opportunities for you to volunteer and gain career-relevant experience to ensure you graduate with the transferable skills, broad knowledge-base, and critical awareness that studying for a Criminology degree provides. You will take part in continuous training to become a social researcher – which is a valuable extra skill to have for future employment. If you want to work with some of the most vulnerable and dangerous people in society, we will help to equip you with the skills to do it.

The Criminology and Criminal Justice pathway will provide you with a working knowledge of criminological thought and detailed investment in more specific issues, debates, and research regarding the criminal justice system, and processes of justice more generally. You'll develop detailed knowledge and critical awareness of theoretical approaches to and practice-based implementations of criminal justice systems; issues regarding the rights and access/barriers to justice for victims of crime and harm; and processes of offender management, governance, and rehabilitation.

The Vulnerability and Social Care pathway will provide you with a strong working knowledge of theory and research on vulnerable populations and practice-based approaches to counselling and safeguarding policies. It emphasises the development of critical awareness and practitioner approaches to social policies aimed at addressing social inequalities and social care; vulnerable populations and victimisation processes within public, domestic, and institutional contexts; approaches to safeguarding and accountability; and core counselling skills, practices, and help strategies.

The Inequality and Social Justice pathway specialises in criminological issues which intersect with social inequalities such as gender, sex, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. A strong emphasis is placed on social justice, such as persecution, exploitation, and discrimination – issues that, more often than not, escape conventional notions of criminal justice. It emphasises the development of detailed knowledge and critical awareness of theoretical and empirical relationships between power, inequalities, and social change, especially in relation to the impact of globalisation; global and local issues regarding diversity, discrimination, and human rights; and theories and practices of exploitation, hatred, and persecution in relation to issues such as homophobia and sex work.