BA (Hons) Criminology Bachelor's degree at Westminster

Broad introduction to criminology as an inter-disciplinary and critical subject area. Addresses what is criminology, what is crime, and what is knowledge. Contrasts traditional definitions with contemporary and critical approaches. Provides level 4 students with a chance to develop study skills.

Focuses on developing understanding of key theoretical perspectives within criminology, including classicism, positivism and critical perspectives. Investigates how these perspectives have historically developed and continue to shape contemporary criminological thought and policy.

Critical examination of major institutions of justice; roles played by Parliament in producing criminal law, to the roles played by the police, prosecution, probation and prison service in law enforcement and punishment; roles of courts in adjudicating, sentencing and rectifying miscarriages of justice. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of British membership of the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Criminal justice policies and practices are shaped by competing political and social values surrounding notions of justice and human rights. Explores and debates the efficacy of some of the most contentious issues in criminal justice, including police stop and search, victims' rights, child imprisonment, prisoner resettlement, human trafficking and the global 'war on terror'.

Introduction to criminological research methods and criminological imaginations in researching crime and justice. Provides core knowledge and skills to understand different research methods and develops a decolonising perspective on criminological research. Applies different methods to address current issues. Provides foundation for level 5 methods module and level 6 dissertation. Makes connections between research skills and employability.

Considers the complex, diverse and widespread nature of crime as an unremarkable everyday feature of modern urban life. Focuses on London, in particular the East End of London, from the earliest times and explores the changing nature of London's criminal 'underworld' from modernity to late modernity. Explores notorious criminal families such as the Krays and other underworld characters. Considers the emergence of specialised law enforcement agencies to deal with this newly discovered threat.

Explores psychology's contribution to understanding the nature and management of crime and provides a basic introduction to the 'psychology of crime', introducing key concepts and theories that have developed psychological understanding of crime.

International trends in crime and justice, and relationship to globalisation and its implications for the discipline of criminology; case studies of national and transnational crime and justice, including urban crime and policing in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the 'cocaine trail' from Latin to North America, to the perils faced by African migrants being smuggled across borders into 'fortress Europe'.

Explores contemporary debates in radical criminological theory from the 1960s to date. Considers radical perspectives (including labelling, feminist, abolitionist and late modern theories) to critically analyse contemporary criminological theories and apply theoretical argument to current issues concerning crime and its control.

Develops understanding of a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Pays particular attention to practical and ethical issues involved in designing and conducting research, and how to choose the most appropriate methodological approach to answer different types of research questions. Adopts a critical approach to research methodology, focusing on how sociological and criminological research can help understand and challenge power and inequality, and how to develop collabora

Provides work-based learning (WBL), requiring preparation for employment through evaluating skills, producing a CV and LinkedIn profile, undertaking WBL activities and reflecting on the skills gained with reference to the wider structure of the labour market and graduate employment.

Concerned with psychological aspects of the criminal justice process; aligned with investigative and criminological psychology: applying psychological theory to criminal investigation and understanding psychological problems associated with criminal behaviour; exploration and critical engagement with range of topics in forensic criminal psychology and approaches to criminal/offender profiling.

Encourages critical reflection on the contribution of feminist theories to criminology; understanding the significance of gender in understanding crime, victimisation and criminal justice; and analysing the role of the law, criminal justice and discourses about crime in the reproduction of gender relationships. Considers current social policy in this area and issues of gender in an international context.

Critical examination of how race and racism shape criminal justice practices, policies and procedures; possible explanations from perspectives of theories of race and racism; criminological theory; sociological concepts; historical analyses; socio-legal accounts of criminal justice process; social policy work. External guest speakers inform students about current developments in areas of race, racism, criminal justice and anti-racist resistance. Assessments develop key employability skills in wr

Considers the history of youth crime and justice with a key focus on the history of childhood and key debates concerning the age of criminal responsibility. Reflects on perceptions of young people and the 'crime problem' in late modern societies. Examines understandings of 'youth' as a social problem, the relationship between social exclusion and young people's offending and experiences of victimisation. Considers the structures and technologies of the youth justice system and the ways in which

Gives you the opportunity to undertake guided independent research into a criminological topic of your own choice. Requires a high degree of responsibility for your own learning with the support of workshops and individual supervision meetings.

Introduces students to the critical issues confronting policing today. Offers an insight into contemporary policing in England and Wales together with an appreciation of policing in other jurisdictions, including America and Northern Ireland. Underlying discussions is a critical focus on protection through a critical appreciation of the police function and role.

Introduces theory, practice and scope of civil liberties and human rights in a global context. Enables examination of human rights through different disciplinary lenses; as a system of law, as a social and political practice and as a claim made by spokespersons of certain groups. Adopts transdisciplinary approach, problematising the linear narrative of continuous human rights progress and global redemption through human rights. Looks at the relationship between human rights practices, reconfigur

Equips you with the tools to critically analyse migrants' relationship with the immigration and criminal justice systems. Introduces the criminological study of borders and border control (border criminology) focusing on the criminalisation of migration ('crimmigration' studies) as well as the broader system of migration control, including detention and deportation. Discusses the impact of anti-terrorism powers on migrant communities.

Explores state and state-corporate crimes. Informed by critical criminological perspectives, interrogates issues such as the definition, causes, culpability and adequacy of responses to state and state-corporate crime. Explores these issues vis-a-vis a series of contemporary and global case studies.

Provides a critical exploration of the relationship between the media and crime, which is a topic of lively debate and research.