Sociology and Criminology with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)

Birmingham City University

This core module introduces you to key classical sociological theories and perspectives, whilst situating them within their historical, social, and political contexts. The module approaches the sociological canon critically, examining how foundational theories emerged within, and were shaped by, processes of modernity, including colonialism, empire, slavery, and gendered exclusions. In doing so, the module challenges narratives that present sociology as an internally European development, instead emphasising the global and relational conditions through which modern social thought was constituted . You will engage with canonical thinkers such as Marx, Durkheim and Weber alongside often marginalised or excluded figures including W. E. B. Du Bois, Harriet Martineau and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These perspectives are explored not as discrete traditions but as interconnected responses to the transformations associated with modernity. The module encourages you to critically interrogate the formation of sociological knowledge, including whose voices are centred, whose are marginalised, and how power operates in the production of theory. Through interactive workshops, you will develop the ability to interpret, evaluate and apply sociological concepts to contemporary social issues. The module also supports the development of core academic and transferable skills, including critical reading, structured argumentation, and engagement with different forms of evidence.

This foundational module introduces the historical development of criminology and its core theoretical perspectives. It examines how different schools of thought have sought to explain crime and deviance, encouraging students to engage with key criminological debates. The module is structured around a weekly exploration of major criminological theories, considering their origins, key concepts, and ongoing relevance to contemporary social issues. Through a combination of lectures, seminars, and guided reading, students will develop a strong theoretical grounding, enabling them to analyse and interpret crime within real-world contexts. The module explores the origins and evolution of criminology as a discipline and provides sustained engagement with central theoretical traditions. It emphasises the application of theory to contemporary crime and justice issues, while supporting students in developing core academic skills, including critical reading, academic writing, referencing, and presentation.

Major challenges and issues face UK society, such as climate collapse, the cost of living crisis and violent far right movements. There is also enormous social change in the wake of resistance movements like, #MeToo, and Black Lives Matters. Sociology and Criminology students must be able to relate shifts to changing patterns of offending and criminal justice. This module will use a combination of lectures and student-led seminars to help develop your criminological imagination. An assessment of an annotated bibliography will train you to connect major developments in criminology to the social and political context of major historical moments. This is replicated for studying crime and punishment in the 21 st century. This supports your development of essential employability skills such as an awareness of current affairs, identifying sources of reliable data and research report writing in clear concise English.

This module aims to advance your awareness of the interplay between individual experience and wider society. In so doing, you will be supported to develop and to apply that which the American sociologist C Wright Mills (1959) called, a ‘sociological imagination’: an act which invites us to ‘think our selves away’ from the immediacy of the routines, events and personal circumstances of everyday life and to consider these in wider social context from a sociological point of view. In support of this endeavour, the module introduces and makes use of contemporary sociological thinking and practice with an alertness to social setting, agency and social structure. Analysis, discussion and debate are framed and grounded with reference to selected social topics and themes with a relevancy to the lived experience of the ‘everyday’. Throughout this module you will be encouraged to apply a ‘sociological imagination’ to ask and to answer sociological questions. Overall, the module aims to engage you in developing a capacity to identify and to interpret past and present patterns of social life; and to advance an understanding of the connections between social structure, individual experience and acts of individual and collective agency. Specifically, the module aims to support you in taking forward the task of thinking imaginatively about your own life experiences along sociological lines: a task to be framed and directed with reference to Mill’s focus on ‘Public Issues, Private Troubles’ through the completion of a reflective diary which you prepared for assessment.

This module provides you with an overview of the Criminal Justice System from point of entry to community reintegration , and the roles and responsibilities of different actors within the system. Through studying this module, you will develop an understanding of the evolution and structure of different components of the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales . Emphasis will be placed on understanding the political, social , and economic factors which influence the delivery of justice and the consequences of these for suspects, victims and wider communities. For example, you will explore how constructions of gender, race , class , and other socio-economic circumstances influence the encounters and experiences of those within the Criminal Justice System. Building upon this, the module will critically engage with contemporary debates and issues surrounding the ‘ purpose ’ of the criminal justice system. As such, you will learn to access and interpret statistics on those who encounter the C riminal J ustice S ystem , as well as key trends and patterns relating to criminal justice-based responses . In terms of employability, you will learn about potential career opportunities within and around the Criminal Justice System and will be encouraged to become actively involved with volunteering opportunities. Practitioners from various agencies within the Criminal Justice System will deliver guest lectures on their experien ce of working within the field . You will also be given the opportunity to participate in field trips including to Birmingham Crown Court. You will develop transferable employability skills , including communication , statistical analysis and problem-solving. This module is assessed by a multiple-choice examination .

This module introduces you to the core principles, practices, and debates that shape qualitative research inquiry in the social sciences. The module equips you with the foundational skills needed to design, conduct, and interpret qualitative research, while encouraging you to think critically about how knowledge is produced, whose voices are heard, and how power operates within the research process. You will explore a range of qualitative approaches , including interviews, focus groups, ethnography, participant observation, visual and digital methods, and textual analysis and learn how these methods help researchers understand lived experience, meaning ‑ making, identity, and social worlds. The module emphasises reflexivity, ethics, and positionality, helping you to recognise how your own background, assumptions, and relationships shape the research encounter. T hrough practical activities, case studies, and guided practice, you will develop confidence in collecting and analysing qualitative data, using tools such as thematic analysis, coding, and interpretive reading. By the end of the module, you will be able to evaluate qualitative research, design small ‑ scale projects, and apply methodological concepts to real ‑ world social issues.

This core Level 5 module builds on Sociological Perspectives by engaging you with contemporary social theor ies whilst also exploring the ways in which they are produced through globally entangled histories of power, knowledge, and resistance. Rather than treating theory as originating within Europe and subsequently applied elsewhere, the module approaches contemporary social theory as emerging through colonial, imperial, and postcolonial formations, as well as through struggles over race, gender, and epistemic authority. In doing so, it foregrounds how what is often presented as the ‘ canon ’ is historically produced, contested, and incomplete. A central aim is to interrogate how social theory is constituted : not only what counts as theory, but who is recognised as a theorist, and under what conditions. You engage with thinkers from different locations within global knowledge production, including those writing from and about colonial and postcolonial contexts, alongside feminist and Black intellectual traditions. Rather than positioning decolonial, feminist, and critical race perspectives as external critiques, the module places them at the centre of analysis, showing how they reshape key concepts such as power, culture, and identity. For example, not only do we examine Gramsci’s theory of hegemony , but we also explore it in relation to colonial domination and subaltern politics; Foucault’s analyses of power are understood alongside feminist and postcolonial interventions; and Bourdieu’s cultural capital is also examined in relation to racialised and gendered inequalities. By the end of the module, you will not only have acquired an in-depth understanding of these theories, but also the ability to apply them to the world around them , as well as to the topics and issues raised in other modules.

Sociology is an exciting and illuminating field of study that attempts to analyse and explain the most important social, cultural and political questions of our time. This module provides you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge and understanding of a range of “ problems ” or “issues” that currently dominate both the social and political climate. All of these are areas of social and political policy. Throughout this module you will be encouraged to develop your skills as an independent learner . You will be given the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge within an assessment that gets you producing a video campaign . You will use sociological insights to analyse social problems and pr ovide policy suggestions for a range of relevant stakeholders . This module introduces you to the sociological understanding of contemporary social and political events and areas in which policy is developed . It aims to provide insight into how these events can be read socially, politically and culturally; and how they can be theorised and analysed using a sociological lens. Because of the topicality of the module its content will be routinely updated contingent on specific current events and issues occurring, globally. Therefore, you will be introduced to cutting-edge understanding of the events and issues that are contemporarily present and around you in your everyday lives. You will firstly be introduced to the particular events and issues, before locating them in the existing literature and debates. Relevant sociological theory will be introduced as to provide you a conceptual base that can be applied to establish new understandings to the events and issues being examined.

Traditionally criminology has focused on those who perpetrate harm and given far less attention to those who experience harm, and this module seeks to address this discrepancy. This module will give some consideration as to why some events which cause harm are formally labelled and treated as crimes when others are not, and in doing so we will consider the impact of this upon those who experience these harms. This module will support you to develop a critical understanding of victimology and equip you to question the label 'victim'. Furthermore, we will consider how many of those who experience harm will frequently be the least powerful and the most vulnerable in society, increasing the need for effective responses (both inside and outside of the Criminal Justice System) to repair the harm done. This module is taught by lectures and seminars and is assessed by an essay. The module is ideal for those of you who wish to work with victims of crime/experiencers of harm in your future carer, or if you want to gain a more holistic understanding of harm prior to working with those who perpetrate said harms. Furthermore, this module will also enable you to enhance your communication and critical thinking skills which are transferable to employment.

This module develops your ability to critically engage with quantitative data and data-driven knowledge as an informed sociological thinker. Rather than training you as a producer of statistical tests, the module equips you to read, interpret, question, and critique the numbers that shape contemporary social life. Alongside this critical engagement, you build practical data literacy: understanding key statistical concepts (e.g. averages, distribution, correlation, significance), reading and interpreting tables and graphs, and gaining introductory experience with relevant software.

This module provides you with an opportunity to experience /reflect upon real world work and /or work - related activity in relation to one of five pathways . The f ive pathways are: an external work-exper ience placement with a third sector/public/commercial organisation directed use made of current and relevant work-experience as a n active volunteer or a s a n active p aid employee a n agreed BCU internal placement or a n agreed student-init iated (desk-based) p roject supportive of entrepreneurial endeavour a directed set of employment-relevant activities to be informed through a recounting of and reflection upon past employment/volunteering experience along with the complementary use of BCU employment-support resources a v ariation to or a hybrid combination of t he prece ding forms (1 to 4) to be agreed between tutor and student with reasonable regard to situation and circumstance and with an option to include a critical account of your personal ‘placement search’ activity with a focus on skill application and experiential learning . It is expected that each one of the five pathways will engage you for a target of 128 hours over a semester . You will be assigned a ‘pathway’ tutor. Where ex ternal or internal placements operate , a workplace-based supervisor will be sought in addition. To advance/support learning, a short series of workshop sessions will be provided on module-relevant topics. As relevant and i n a timely manner , you are expected to provide the module tutor with a copy of a n agreed ‘work plan’ providing an indicative timetable of pathwa y tasks to be undertaken. You will be supported via Moodle throughout the module. All pathways are to be agreed by the University.

This module is designed to develop your understanding of the emergence and development of key theories of punishment through an exploration of the history of penal theory and its contemporary challenges and controversies. Furthermore, this module seeks to refine and expand upon traditional theoretical perspectives of punishment and the current reliance upon imprisonment as a dominant form of punishment in England and Wales. In doing so, it will require you to critically engage with some of the strengths and limitations of such an approach and consider possible alternatives . This module will help you to acquire numerous employability skills, such as critical thinking and reflective practice. Vocationally it is linked to a range of potential criminal justice professions in the statutory, voluntary and non-governmental sectors, building your knowledge and understanding of core functions and debates in the prison and punishment realms.

The aim of this module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial disciplinary relevant project. It is founded upon Birmingham City University’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice. The format of the Integrated Research Project will vary, dependent on the degree pathway you are on, and the choice of project. Depending on student interest and available support, potential project formats may include: a library-based or empirical dissertation; a group-based social entrepreneurship project; or other projects based on the suggestion of students.

This module provides a critical introduction to global sociology focusing on key concepts, theoretical debates, and the relationship between knowledge, power, and sociological theory. It adopts a connected sociologies framework to examine global society as a historically interconnected system shaped by colonialism and its enduring legacies. The module explores how colonialism structured global systems, shaping empire, capitalism, racial hierarchies, and global political and economic ordering. It further analyses how these colonial formations continue to influence contemporary societies through persistent inequalities, global capitalism, dependency relations, and international governance structures despite processes of formal decolonisation. A central concern of the module is the analysis of social inequality in a connected global context, with attention to the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity, alongside processes of stratification, migration, and transnational social relations. These dynamics are understood through relational and historically grounded perspectives that emphasise interdependence rather than separation between societies. The module also foregrounds the role of the Global South not merely as an object of sociological analysis, but as an active producer of knowledge and theory. It engages with decolonising approaches, Southern theory, and alternative modernities to critically challenge Eurocentric assumptions within sociology and to highlight inequalities in knowledge production. Finally, the module considers processes of resistance and transformation through anti-colonial and decolonial movements, transnational activism, cultural resistance, and contemporary debates in global sociology. By integrating theory, history, and contemporary case studies, the module enables students to critically analyse global social processes and evaluate ongoing struggles within unequal global structures

This module will develop students’ understanding of advanced criminological theory through engagement with a range of contemporary perspectives on crime, deviance, harm, and social control. It is designed to extend prior knowledge by introducing students to more complex theoretical traditions within the criminological canon . The module draws on a diverse body of thought, including Foucauldian approaches to power , control and governmentality, existential ism and phenomenolog y , critical race criminology, s outhern theory , green criminology, ultra-realism, hauntology , queer theory, and abolitionist perspectives. These traditions are considered in relation to one another, with attention to their underlying epistemological assumptions, points of conceptual tension, and areas of philosophical overlap. The emphasis throughout the module is on introducing students to these different theoretical frameworks as part of the wider ‘toolbox’ of criminology and how each of these traditions approach the definition and explanation of crime , deviance, harm , and social control, and how they inform wider debates around social justice and inequalit ies . Students will engage closely with key theorists, concepts and texts, working to evaluate the strengths and limitations of different perspectives and their relevance to contemporary issues. The module supports the development of a more confident and reflexive approach to theory, enabling students to move beyond description towards analysis, comparison, and application. Students will be assessed through a critical comparative portfolio that requires them to critically discuss different criminological traditions, assessing the ir conceptual tensions, epistemological assumptions, and practical approaches to crime, deviance, harm, and social control. The portfolio is designed to evaluate students’ ability to synthesise complex theoretical material, construct logically developed and concise arguments, and apply advanced criminological perspectives to contemporary issues in a critical and coherent manner. Emphasis is placed on clarity of argument, depth of theoretical engagement, and the ability to draw meaningful connections and critique between traditions . Overall, the module provides a n introduction to advanced criminological theory, equipping students with the conceptual and analytical tools required for independent, critically informed study at Level 6