Programme Specifications

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• Provide a sound introduction to the interdisciplinary area of criminology and a consideration of the major theories and key political, social and legal issues arising out of the discipline as well as providing a basic introduction to the social science theory base and to social diversity and divisions and their impact on crime and criminology.

• Provide training in criminological principles and theories and their application.

• Equip students with the analytical skills necessary to undertake the intellectual study of criminology.

• Stimulate students intellectually to take an active role in their learning and lead them to a critical appreciation of the discipline and its major debates.

• Develop students’ ability to apply knowledge to the resolution of theoretical and practical problems.

• Equip students with the social science research skills to permit them to locate, read and critically assess the work of others and critically assess the work of others and to conduct simple research projects of their own and to understand what can be achieved through use of different methodologies.

• Equip students with an ability to understand crime, victimology, academic criminological debates and social and other responses to these from local, national and international perspectives and to recognise the impact of political, media and popular opinion on this area.

• Equip students with a basic understanding of principles of human rights and civil liberties as applied to criminology and to their associated professions and professional applications.

• Develop students’ ability to analyse a complex and diverse range of materials and to integrate them to form new perspectives, theories or solutions to the crime problem.

• Raise student awareness of political, policy and social issues and how they interact with crime and its control, and encourage reflection on the whole body of knowledge and its impact on peoples lives.

• Through students’ study of criminology to develop in students a range of generic skills which will be valuable in their future employment and enable them as citizens to contribute to their communities.

• Provide students with the knowledge and skills base to permit them to proceed to further studies in criminology or to employment in agencies and organisations associated with this subject base.

• Generate in students a genuine interest and passion for the areas studied, thus providing them with a broad basis for life-long intellectual, personal and social development.

• A1 The major theories, concepts, values, debates, principles, and approaches in the study of criminology.

• A2 How crime, deviance and victimisation are socially and legally constructed.

• A3 The key issues, policies, processes, institutions, actors and debates in deviance, crime, law and criminology.

• A4 How to apply core criminological theories and reasoning to applied topics, policies and situations.

• A5 How to develop a reflective approach to the discipline and to develop a critical understanding of analytical methods.

• A6 How social science research, both quantitative and qualitative, should be read, designed and conducted in this field and what part ethics and risk play in the design and execution of research.

• A7 The importance and critical appreciation of various methods of investigation and research as applied to these fields.

• A8 The discussions in deviance, crime, victimology, academic criminological debates and responses to these from local, national and international perspectives and the impact of political, media and popular opinion on this area.

• A9 The official and unofficial structures, methods and processes of criminal law, law enforcement and punishment systems in control and prevention of deviance and crime.

• A10 How to relate criminological theory to policy debates and to use these to analyse such policy and practice.

• A11 The key dynamics, processes and problems facing contemporary criminology, law and the legal system.

• A12 How these approaches and the disciplines of both criminology and law help us to explain, understand and influence crime and its effects and are, in turn influenced by other disciplines and theories.

• B1 Generating and evaluating both qualitative and quantitative evidence.

• B2 Abstracting and simplifying a problem in order to identify its essence whilst still appreciating the complexity and diversity of the discipline as a whole.

• B3 Assessing the merits of competing theories, policies and intellectual approaches

• B4 Gathering, retrieving and synthesising data and information

• B5 Making ethical judgements about published research and about his or her research activity

• B6 Analysing and reasoning both deductivity and inductivity and constructing a coherent argument

• B7 Reflecting critically and constructively on their own learning and placing it in both the global and social contexts

• B8 Communicating results (orally and in writing) concisely and effectively to a diverse audience - lay, professional and academic

• B9 Drawing policy inferences, recognising the constraints of policy implementation and evaluating the effectiveness of stated policy objectives

• C1 To identify problems and issues which arise in relation to crime and deviance

• C2 To extract the essential aspects of theory, to achieve a realistic basis for evaluation of policies

• C3 To analyse, evaluate, critique and assess criminological, legal materials whilst keeping in mind wider sociological and psychological, global and local issues

• C4 To design ethical qualitative and quantitative research projects, to address questions relating to criminology

• C5 To communicate complex social problems by way of academic papers, policy analysis, reaction papers, case studies, evaluative reports, and research analysis papers

• C6 Understand the production of normative patterns of behaviour from legal and criminological perspectives so as to be able to use these to recognise how they are capable of producing positive results in both the workplace and wider society

• C7 Be capable of analysis, synthesis, critical judgement and evaluation - to challenge accepted wisdom whilst still accepting proven facts and theories; assess the relative weight of competing arguments and information

• D1 Time management and personal organisation self awareness and self confidence

• D2 Interpersonal skills

• D3 Team working

• D4 Numerical skills

• D5 IT skills - e.g. WWW, legal databases, e-learning, email and word processing

• D6 Effective communication

• D7 Autonomy, self-reflection and self-criticism

• D8 Effective research skills

• D9 Adherence to ethical working practices

• D10 Possessing the ability to apply knowledge: to solve hypothetical or real problem