BA (Hons) Criminology

This module will introduce you to a core of key theoretical perspectives within criminology. You will be encouraged to reflect upon the ways in which different theoretical strands have attempted to explain crime and criminal behaviour. This will foster an understanding of the reasons for these differences and similarities between different theoretical approaches.

This module will help you to appreciate the requirements of studying at HE level within the context of the Criminology programme and to acquire such skills in a supportive environment and module structure. You will receive an induction into use of Library, JMU intranet, Canvas and other key aspects of studying at LJMU. This module aims to encourage students to engage with the development of employability skills.

This module will introduce you to the roles, agencies and institutions key to the operation of the Criminal Justice System. You will outline the decision-making mechanisms and how the Criminal Justice System operates in practice. Alongside this, you will also consider the range of possible outcomes arising from involvement with the Criminal Justice System and the impacts of this for individuals, groups and communities.

This module will introduce you to a range of contemporary criminological issues and surrounding academic debates. You will be encouraged  to explore the different ways key thinkers have attempted to explain contemporary criminological issues. This includes recognition of key social divisions that pervade crime, harms and criminal justice.

This module will introduce you to a range of research methods used in criminological research, and their strengths and weaknesses. You will begin to understand the relationship between research, policy, and practice through the use of case studies based upon researchers' and practitioners' research experiences. This will emphasise the politicised nature of criminological research alongside the ethical and methodological challenges faced by criminological researchers

This module will introduce you to the main research and theoretical positions that have focused on the relationship between media and crime. Throughout the module you will have opportunities to improve your ability to evaluate and interpret media constructions and representations of crime, deviance and victimization. This will encourage you to reflect upon the role played by the media in constructing and representing crime and victimisation.

This module will help you to critically evaluate the theoretical perspectives of a number of key thinkers in criminology. A review of existing literature will enable you to appreciate the intellectual histories of their work. In doing so, you will be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these theorists’ work for explaining crime and our responses to it.

This module will develop your ability to critically think about the nature of criminological research and research problems. In doing so, you will be required to critically evaluate the principles, practice, politics and ethics of quantitative research methods in criminology.

Alongside this, the module intends to further support your professional development. This includes practise of widely used computer packages for quantitative data capture, analysis and reporting. As well as opportunities for group-work and collaborative research projects, with the intention to develop a viable and ethically sound research plan for future research.

This module will provide an introduction to a range of qualitative research methods. With the intention to foster your ability to undertake an ethically and procedurally sound research project. During this time, you will have the opportunity to improve your ability to work and communicate in a team. Completion of this module will empower you to design, collect, analyse and present qualitative data and findings carefully and with due regard for ethical procedures.

This module will help you to understand the complexities of contemporary theoretical perspectives in criminology, moving beyond standard ‘textbook’ accounts of crime, deviance and/or social control. Using this knowledge you will be able to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of contemporary accounts of crime and deviance in relation to their more established counterparts.

The aim is to provide students with an additional year of study at an approved overseas partner that will complement their programme at LJMU. This is an additional year of full-time study at an approved higher education institution. The modules to be studied must be agreed in advance, and must be appropriate for the student's programme of study. Assuming successful completion of this year, mark-bearing credit will be awarded by the Faculty Recognition Group. The grade conversion scale to be used will be made available in advance of the year abroad.

This module will help you to understand some of the connections between criminology and practice. It centres on talks from invited guest speakers to provide an insight into a range of contemporary issues in practice. As a result, you will be able to contextualise issues facing practitioners and employers in a range of fields relevant to criminology.

The module will also support your ability to reflect on your employability skills and access relevant employability resources and support.

It is increasingly recognised that globalisation, socio-economic and ecological interdependence, is revealed in the constant transition of people between places, societies and cultures, and globally generalised ecological impacts. Crime, its control, and social and environmental harms, transcend local and state borders – they have global dimensions. Global processes create newly marginalised and excluded groups, social constructions are destroyed, new ones emerge, organised and serious crime transcends traditional boundaries, places and identities. Globalisation also provides opportunities to contest these new elements of victimisation. This module will address these global dimensions of crime and harm, decolonise their criminological examination, explore emerging 'Southern' criminologies, Social Movements, resistance and the contested nature of crime and justice.

This module is concerned to address the substantive and growing criminological interest in the issue of victimization. It explores different theoretical perspectives associated with the study of victims and the victims place within regulatory and criminal justice practices. It will encourage students to critically explore the state's recognition of and responses, to victims and their demands for justice, along with the work of groups that campaign on behalf of particular groups of victims. The module will involve students' participating in interactive 2-hour workshops involving lecture input, small group activities and IT skills; attending tutorial (drop-in) sessions and receiving input from guest speakers who are experts in their fields.

This module intends to critically engage you with important questions around harm, responsibility, accountability and regulation. It seeks to explore how and why particular acts (or failures to act) by particular actors become viewed as ‘crimes’ worthy of criminal justice sanction, whilst others do not.

The module aims to apply the core concepts of harm, responsibility, accountability and regulation to the study of powerful people, groups and institutions. In doing so, it hopes to enhance your knowledge and understanding of social harm theory, the harms caused by state and state-corporate acts and omissions, the competing claims made around organisational and individual agency, and the problems and possibilities of different regulatory approaches.

During this module, you will explore criminological theory which examines criminalisation, management and punishment of social divisions. You will use case studies to illustrate the management of social divisions across the policy terrains of penology and social policy. Alongside this, you will explore the impacts of criminalisation and punishment on different social divisions and how social justice might be achieved.

This module will ensure you develop a systematic understanding of the literature relevant to the object of study. You will then use this knowledge to develop a research proposal, complete the ethics form, and write the methodology chapter. 

This module intends to develop your ability to critically evaluate and interrogate a body of knowledge in a manner conforming to the tenets of disciplined, lucid and critical scholarship. During the module, you'll be expected to critically apply the literature and method developed in 6200CRIM during your data collection process. You will use the data (quantitative and/or qualitative) obtained from your research project to critically explore the subject of crime, harm, social divisions, and/or social change.

This module will explore how 'green' or environmental' crime is conceptualised and addressed within Criminology, and related disciplines. You will examine how 'green' or 'environmental' crimes are perpetrated and the harms it generates for victims and society. In doing so, you will be able to assess the relative success and failure of regulatory and criminal justice frameworks in addressing 'green' or 'environmental' crime and associated harms.

This module will provide you the opportunity to conduct a focused piece of critical independent work in an international context, under supervision, on an area congruent with the themes and substance of Criminology. The module will act as a vehicle for the improvement and development of a variety of transferable skills and abilities appropriate to the task in hand, from identification of appropriate topic/s through to the development of a viable study programme, and the presentation of a clear, coherent and robust piece of reflective written work. By participating in this module, you'll be encouraged to monitor and reflect critically on your own learning.

This module will encourage you to critically consider the exercise of police power and its relationship to ideas of social and political order and disorder. You will explore the origins of police, considering the development, expansion and transformation of policing in domestic, colonial and international settings. In doing so, you will foster a critical understanding of the policing of a range of marginalized, minority and dissenting/dissident populations.

This module will help you to understand the social, historical and political constructions of matters related to drugs and intoxication. You will engage with on-going debates about drug control in local and international contexts. As a result, you will situate knowledge surrounding drugs and intoxication in their wider social/historical/political contexts, offering evidenced-based solutions to identified problems wherever possible.

This module will critically explore the contemporary principles and perspectives surrounding children and young people 'at risk' in various contexts. You will assess how these principles and perspectives inform legal, policy and practice responses to children and young people 'at risk'. This understanding will help you to interrogate the debates that surround contemporary responses to children and young people 'at risk'.

This module will increase your ability to critically discuss sex/gender questions in relation to violent interpersonal crime. You will engage in and explore Foucauldian discourse analysis and regimes of power, truth and knowledge via critical examples of discursive practice. You will use this knowledge to critically analyse legal responses to violence against women.

This module was developed to provide a summative overview of the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of Human Rights. Participation in this module will enable you to examine the ideas, theories, and politics of global human rights, as well as evaluating the discrepancy between the theory and practice of human rights.

This module will aid your understanding of the multiple and complex links between crime, media and culture. Participation in the module will provide you with succinct knowledge as to how processes of 'cultural construction' are applied to a range of deviant/criminal sub-cultures. Alongside this, you will also have an opportunity to explore the growing criminological significance of a variety of new, popular and entertainment media.

This module will explore how the emergence and development of the youth justice system has served to recognise the special case of the child in conflict with the law. You will examine how criminology has sought to conceptualise and address the Youth Justice System and its impacts on children's and young people's lives and life chances. This will enable you to evaluate the Youth Justice System's attempts to address the deviant, criminal and violent behaviours of children and young people.

This module examines the challenges associated with defining and studying terrorism and insurgency. As a criminology student, you will assess how terrorism is constructed in social, political, legal, and media discourses. You will analyse how governments and nation-states respond and react to contemporary forms of terrorism in a globalised world, mapping the connections between organised crime and terrorist actors. Alongside this, you will also document the effects of counterterrorism and security policy on communities and counter-hegemonic politics.

This module will help you to identify, assess and reflect upon how your skills and abilities transfer from your academic studies to the world of work. It provides you with an opportunity to identify, negotiate and secure a work-based learning experience to enhance your employability.

This module will help you to develop, apply and analyse the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to effectively and successfully undertake a work based learning opportunity.

This module will critically analyse theoretical explanations of inequalities, and stigma. As a criminology student, you will be expected to utilise a range of contemporary case studies to explore the experiences of stigmatised groups and as a means of developing your ability to critically apply criminological and sociological theoretical perspectives. Alongside this, you will explore the opportunities and barriers to addressing inequality and stigma, situating discussion within historical, social and political contexts.