This module introduces you to the sociological and criminological imagination, the ability to connect individual experiences and local situations to wider social, historical, and global processes. You will explore how social norms, deviance, and systems of justice are socially constructed and contested, shaping everyday life. By engaging with key theories and debates in both sociology and criminology, you will develop an understanding of how questions of power, inequality, and social order underpin both disciplines and inform the study of social behaviour, crime and identity in contemporary societies.

This module gives you a solid foundation in criminology using a topic-based approach. You will examine how we can make sense of crime and criminality and explore key areas of debate and controversy within the discipline of criminology. Crime dominates much discussion on the political and social stage and this module enables you to take part and contribute to these public discussions in an informed and knowledgeable way. You will be able to discuss the cause and nature of crime and criminality. Important practical data skills of mapping crime data are a key part in this module.  

This module explores the process and institution of British policing, alongside the attendant challenges that have animated policing over the last half century. You will examine relevant theories and models and the latest developments in policing. Having developed a broad understanding of policing the module goes on to place specific focus on the rapidly growing challenges of policing crime itself. Given that more than 90 per cent of recorded crime now contains a digital component, you will be introduced to the ways in which technologies and digital crime shape contemporary offending, victimisation, and police responses. To understand how policing must evolve to meet the demands of an increasingly complex crime landscape.

Understanding and applying research methods is a foundational skill in social sciences. This module is designed to introduce you to the core principles, practices, and ethical considerations of social science research, laying the foundation for academic success and informed engagement with real-world issues. You will explore both qualitative and quantitative approaches, gain the confidence to evaluate research and begin to design your own studies, preparing you for more advanced work in your degree and for evidence-based practice in a range of professional settings. You will develop critical thinking skills, data literacy, and ethical awareness, while fostering transferable skills such as problem-solving and independent learning.

This module critically examines the complex relationship between crime, criminal justice, and the media in contemporary society. It explores how media representations influence public perceptions of crime, shape criminal justice policy, and contribute to broader societal understandings of deviance, law, and order. The module interrogates how various forms of media construct narratives around crime, victims, offenders, and justice processes. This module fosters interdisciplinary analysis and media literacy, encouraging you to move beyond surface-level interpretations and develop a critical understanding of the relationship between media and crime. You will develop analytical and research skills, preparing you to question dominant narratives and evaluate the real-world consequences of media influence on crime policy, public fear, and social control.

This module develops your understanding of key sociological and psychological criminological theories and their relevance to explaining criminal behaviour and informing responses to crime. This module is a core component of the criminology curriculum and builds upon Level 4 Introduction to Criminology by deepening theoretical engagement by critically exploring a range of individual, situational, and structural explanations of offending. Using case studies and current policy debates, you develop analytical skills that are essential for work-based learning, practice-focused modules, and independent research. It directly supports the development of theoretical and conceptual understanding required for the final-year Independent Project.

This module critically explores the theory, policy, and practice of punishment and rehabilitation within the criminal justice system. It examines the historical and contemporary justifications for punishment, considering both custodial and non-custodial strategies, and the political ideologies that have shaped penal policy over time. The emergence and evolution of the modern prison are analysed in depth, with attention to key issues facing prisons, staff-prisoner relationships, power and internal cultures that define carceral life. The module investigates the development and transformation of rehabilitative approaches, exploring how rehabilitation functions as an aim of sentencing and how it is operationalised by key agencies, including the Probation Service. Emphasis is placed on the competing models of rehabilitation, including how this is enacted in both prison and community contexts. It has a particular focus on interventions, with young people, women, ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, life-sentenced prisoners, and individuals with mental health disorders

This module equips you with the knowledge and skills to design, conduct, and communicate research in the social sciences. This will involve engaging in applied, practical research tasks reflecting real-world data practices. You will develop an integrated understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods, ethical considerations, data analysis and visualisation strategies. You will gain confidence in both designing ethically sound research projects and applying data analysis and visualisation techniques using contemporary software tools. The module contributes to Sociology and Criminology programmes by building foundational research competencies essential for independent research, empirical dissertation work, and professional roles requiring data literacy.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

This module offers you the opportunity to explore the complex and contested place of drug use within contemporary society. It enables you to critically examine how drug-related issues are constructed, debated, and governed through political, legal, and public health frameworks. The module supports you in developing a critical understanding of how social problems are defined and how policy is shaped by broader philosophical, ideological, and institutional influences. In doing so, it contributes directly to your ability to analyse contemporary social control practices and policy interventions — a key feature of criminological study.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

Getting meaningful work is probably one of your main aims when you graduate. Work and employment are also one of the central areas of interest across the social sciences. You will explore your current and future career aspirations, develop a CV and be able to undertake a work placement or work shadowing. You will also complete the Future me programme at the university of Suffolk as part of the module.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

This module explores the processes, practices and institutions constituting the UK criminal justice system (CJS). A chronological approach is taken to the whole CJS lifecycle, from initial attendance and intervention by CJS agencies, through to prosecution, the courts process, traditional and alternative justice arrangements including out of court disposals. The process of ‘aftercare’ and risk management arrangements, used by the CJS in the pursuit of justice, is also examined as well as the pathways to rehabilitation and desistance. The module adopts a holistic approach, recognising that no individual CJS actor is ‘primus inter pares’, and that multistakeholder partnership working is essential for the CJS’ effectiveness and efficiency. By holistically foregrounding processes, practices and institutions, the module critically analyses the social, economic and political factors underpinning the British democratic and partnership-oriented approach to criminal justice.

In this module you will addresses a critical gap in traditional criminological study by centring the experiences, rights, and needs of victims. It equips you with the theoretical and analytical tools to explore how victimhood is socially, legally, and politically constructed, and how these constructions influence policy, justice processes, and public perception. As victimisation extends beyond individual acts to include structural, institutional, and global harms, this module encourages you to think critically about power, inequality, and justice in contemporary society. It focuses in particularly on violence against women and girls, crimes of the powerful and against particular groups (hate crimes).

In this module you will produce a final year project that allows you to exercise your independent judgement and skills in the development and execution of a project or dissertation relevant to your field of study. Under the supervision of an assigned tutor, the module provides you with the opportunity to independently apply the core subject knowledge and skills developed over the course of your degree. Over the course of the year, you will undertake independent analysis and research, and communicate and present it to high professional standards.

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the branch of psychology known as forensic psychology and to explore its application in legal and criminal justice settings. It will involve discussions of the theory and practice of contemporary forensic psychology and an exploration of the role it plays in prisons, probation, policing and the courtroom. In studying this module you will form an understanding of the interaction between psychology and the investigation and detection of crime, legal and trial processes and in dealing with offenders. The module will also examine relevant historical and current psychological literature, and utilise it to appreciate key issues involved in the practice of forensic psychology such as the efficacy of methods concerning the prediction and classification of offenders, approaches to prevention and rehabilitation, as well as contemporary forensic psychology topics of investigation and discussion.

This module introduces you to the sociological and criminological imagination, the ability to connect individual experiences and local situations to wider social, historical, and global processes. You will explore how social norms, deviance, and systems of justice are socially constructed and contested, shaping everyday life. By engaging with key theories and debates in both sociology and criminology, you will develop an understanding of how questions of power, inequality, and social order underpin both disciplines and inform the study of social behaviour, crime and identity in contemporary societies.

This module gives you a solid foundation in criminology using a topic-based approach. You will examine how we can make sense of crime and criminality and explore key areas of debate and controversy within the discipline of criminology. Crime dominates much discussion on the political and social stage and this module enables you to take part and contribute to these public discussions in an informed and knowledgeable way. You will be able to discuss the cause and nature of crime and criminality. Important practical data skills of mapping crime data are a key part in this module.  

This module explores the process and institution of British policing, alongside the attendant challenges that have animated policing over the last half century. You will examine relevant theories and models and the latest developments in policing. Having developed a broad understanding of policing the module goes on to place specific focus on the rapidly growing challenges of policing crime itself. Given that more than 90 per cent of recorded crime now contains a digital component, you will be introduced to the ways in which technologies and digital crime shape contemporary offending, victimisation, and police responses. To understand how policing must evolve to meet the demands of an increasingly complex crime landscape.

Understanding and applying research methods is a foundational skill in social sciences. This module is designed to introduce you to the core principles, practices, and ethical considerations of social science research, laying the foundation for academic success and informed engagement with real-world issues. You will explore both qualitative and quantitative approaches, gain the confidence to evaluate research and begin to design your own studies, preparing you for more advanced work in your degree and for evidence-based practice in a range of professional settings. You will develop critical thinking skills, data literacy, and ethical awareness, while fostering transferable skills such as problem-solving and independent learning.

This module critically examines the complex relationship between crime, criminal justice, and the media in contemporary society. It explores how media representations influence public perceptions of crime, shape criminal justice policy, and contribute to broader societal understandings of deviance, law, and order. The module interrogates how various forms of media construct narratives around crime, victims, offenders, and justice processes. This module fosters interdisciplinary analysis and media literacy, encouraging you to move beyond surface-level interpretations and develop a critical understanding of the relationship between media and crime. You will develop analytical and research skills, preparing you to question dominant narratives and evaluate the real-world consequences of media influence on crime policy, public fear, and social control.

This module develops your understanding of key sociological and psychological criminological theories and their relevance to explaining criminal behaviour and informing responses to crime. This module is a core component of the criminology curriculum and builds upon Level 4 Introduction to Criminology by deepening theoretical engagement by critically exploring a range of individual, situational, and structural explanations of offending. Using case studies and current policy debates, you develop analytical skills that are essential for work-based learning, practice-focused modules, and independent research. It directly supports the development of theoretical and conceptual understanding required for the final-year Independent Project.

This module critically explores the theory, policy, and practice of punishment and rehabilitation within the criminal justice system. It examines the historical and contemporary justifications for punishment, considering both custodial and non-custodial strategies, and the political ideologies that have shaped penal policy over time. The emergence and evolution of the modern prison are analysed in depth, with attention to key issues facing prisons, staff-prisoner relationships, power and internal cultures that define carceral life. The module investigates the development and transformation of rehabilitative approaches, exploring how rehabilitation functions as an aim of sentencing and how it is operationalised by key agencies, including the Probation Service. Emphasis is placed on the competing models of rehabilitation, including how this is enacted in both prison and community contexts. It has a particular focus on interventions, with young people, women, ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, life-sentenced prisoners, and individuals with mental health disorders

This module equips you with the knowledge and skills to design, conduct, and communicate research in the social sciences. This will involve engaging in applied, practical research tasks reflecting real-world data practices. You will develop an integrated understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods, ethical considerations, data analysis and visualisation strategies. You will gain confidence in both designing ethically sound research projects and applying data analysis and visualisation techniques using contemporary software tools. The module contributes to Sociology and Criminology programmes by building foundational research competencies essential for independent research, empirical dissertation work, and professional roles requiring data literacy.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

This module offers you the opportunity to explore the complex and contested place of drug use within contemporary society. It enables you to critically examine how drug-related issues are constructed, debated, and governed through political, legal, and public health frameworks. The module supports you in developing a critical understanding of how social problems are defined and how policy is shaped by broader philosophical, ideological, and institutional influences. In doing so, it contributes directly to your ability to analyse contemporary social control practices and policy interventions — a key feature of criminological study.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

Getting meaningful work is probably one of your main aims when you graduate. Work and employment are also one of the central areas of interest across the social sciences. You will explore your current and future career aspirations, develop a CV and be able to undertake a work placement or work shadowing. You will also complete the Future me programme at the university of Suffolk as part of the module.

This is an optional module at level 5 or level 6 (rotational offering).

This module explores the processes, practices and institutions constituting the UK criminal justice system (CJS). A chronological approach is taken to the whole CJS lifecycle, from initial attendance and intervention by CJS agencies, through to prosecution, the courts process, traditional and alternative justice arrangements including out of court disposals. The process of ‘aftercare’ and risk management arrangements, used by the CJS in the pursuit of justice, is also examined as well as the pathways to rehabilitation and desistance. The module adopts a holistic approach, recognising that no individual CJS actor is ‘primus inter pares’, and that multistakeholder partnership working is essential for the CJS’ effectiveness and efficiency. By holistically foregrounding processes, practices and institutions, the module critically analyses the social, economic and political factors underpinning the British democratic and partnership-oriented approach to criminal justice.

In this module you will addresses a critical gap in traditional criminological study by centring the experiences, rights, and needs of victims. It equips you with the theoretical and analytical tools to explore how victimhood is socially, legally, and politically constructed, and how these constructions influence policy, justice processes, and public perception. As victimisation extends beyond individual acts to include structural, institutional, and global harms, this module encourages you to think critically about power, inequality, and justice in contemporary society. It focuses in particularly on violence against women and girls, crimes of the powerful and against particular groups (hate crimes).

In this module you will produce a final year project that allows you to exercise your independent judgement and skills in the development and execution of a project or dissertation relevant to your field of study. Under the supervision of an assigned tutor, the module provides you with the opportunity to independently apply the core subject knowledge and skills developed over the course of your degree. Over the course of the year, you will undertake independent analysis and research, and communicate and present it to high professional standards.

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the branch of psychology known as forensic psychology and to explore its application in legal and criminal justice settings. It will involve discussions of the theory and practice of contemporary forensic psychology and an exploration of the role it plays in prisons, probation, policing and the courtroom. In studying this module you will form an understanding of the interaction between psychology and the investigation and detection of crime, legal and trial processes and in dealing with offenders. The module will also examine relevant historical and current psychological literature, and utilise it to appreciate key issues involved in the practice of forensic psychology such as the efficacy of methods concerning the prediction and classification of offenders, approaches to prevention and rehabilitation, as well as contemporary forensic psychology topics of investigation and discussion.