Keele University Prospectus Undergraduate | 2016 | Page 78

SOCIOLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGY

Criminology
Overview

Keele pioneered the teaching of criminology at
undergraduate level over 20 years ago and our
programme is one of the longest running, strongest
and most successful in the country. Criminology at
Keele is taught by a group of active criminological
researchers with international reputations,
specialising in areas such as policing, prisons,
punishment and community safety, as well as
criminological theory, research methods, comparative
criminology and the history of crime and punishment.
As a result, Keele can offer a distinctive curriculum
in Criminology where you are supported within a
thriving academic and educational community. It is
an integrated yet flexible degree programme taught
by specialists in the field which offers:
• a comprehensive overview of key conceptual and
substantive issues involved in the study of crime
and justice;
• the opportunity to study criminology from a range
of perspectives: social, historical, legal, political,
economic and psychological;
• in depth exploration of particular topics of
theoretical and practical interest at the forefront
of criminological research;
• sound training in methods of criminological
research;
• links with local criminal justice services providing
professional and research contacts and dedicated
modules designed to enable you to explore and
prepare for working in the criminal justice and
related sectors.

Course content

The Criminology programme is designed to equip
you with the basic knowledge and skills needed in
the first year, to develop knowledge and skills in the
second year, and to apply what has been learned in
the third year by exploring problems at the cutting
edge of current criminological research. The exciting
combination of core and elective modules offered
by Criminology enables you to pursue individual
interests in particular areas of criminology as well
as providing you with an integrated employability
skills programme with a focus on working in the
criminal justice sector. In addition, our Criminology
programme, with its social scientific tradition and
philosophy, provides you with opportunities to
develop skills to enhance employability in a wide
range of occupations and contexts.

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First year
Core modules:
Understanding Crime introduces the discipline
of criminology, ways of measuring crime and
victimisation and some important theoretical
traditions in criminology.
Criminal Justice: Process, Policy and Practice
introduces the institutions, actors and organisation
of the criminal justice process as well as the main
theoretical perspectives used in studying it.
Electives:
• Investigating Crime: Criminological Perspectives
• Murder
• Psychology and Crime
• Punishment: Beyond the Popular Imagination
Modules may also be chosen from a range of
electives from related disciplines such as law
and sociology.
Second year
Core modules:
Research Methods in Criminology develops
understanding of the logic and skills of social science
research as applied to the study of crime and criminal
justice, and equips you with a critical appreciation
of a range of strategies for research design, data
collection and analysis.
Crime and Justice in a Global Context examines
the challenges posed for criminology and criminal
justice actors/institutions in the global era. It explores
issues such as the global trade in drugs, war and
terrorism, international justice and policing beyond
national borders.
Electives:
• Policing and the Police
• Mental Health and Offending
• Working for Justice
• Crime, Culture and Conflict 1700-1914
• Crime, Morality and the Media
• The Third Sector: Making a Difference?
Study abroad
You can also spend one or two semesters of the
second year studying Criminology at one of Keele’s
partner universities in Europe, Australia, Canada, the
USA or South Africa.
Third year
Instead of taking four taught modules in the third
year, you may choose to study two (one module in
each semester), and write a research dissertation.
Dissertations may be library-based or involve
hands-on empirical research, such as interviewing
criminal justice professionals or analysing media
representations of crime. If you choose to do this
you will work under the guidance of a supervisor