BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology

This module enables you to examine contemporary social and environmental issues of prominence and it will demonstrate the contribution of different sociological approaches to your understanding. It will become apparent that a key strength of sociology is its diverse and challenging interpretations of social and green issues.

This module introduces students to the discipline of sociology, covering both classic and contemporary research as applied to issues of contemporary debate.

After completing the module the student should be able to:

• Reach informed judgements about the value of classic and contemporary approaches to sociology.
• Use their sociological imaginations to consider contemporary issues.
• Draw on the basic skills required for effective study and learning.

After completing the module you should be able to:

• Identify and reflect upon the following aspects of self-awareness in respect of personal development and career planning: strengths and weaknesses, motivations and values, ability to work with others.
• Design a qualitative research design.
• Collect and present qualitative data.
• Reflect on their experience of designing a qualitative research project.
• Reflect on their experience of collecting and presenting qualitative data.

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 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.

In this module you will develop a range of essential qualitative research skills to undertake and reflect upon problem solving research within a supportive environment. The module builds on the EBL in Level 4 and enhances your abilities to engage in research activities. The module includes a short field trip to apply methods in 'the real world' developing the transferable skills. For students who are intending to write a dissertation at Level 6, this module provides an essential grounding.

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 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.

In this module you will learn to understand, evaluate and analyse the merits and shortcomings of secondary data analysis of a large quantitative dataset, downloadable from the UK Data Archive. You will use these skills to generate sociological arguments based upon a large dataset.

The first section of this module introduces you to the key areas in the sociology of health and illness, bringing together the contribution of different perspectives and methodological approaches which characterise sociological research in this area. It will allow you to understand the dominance of the biomedical model and how it has come to attempt to define experiences of health and illness. A sociological orientation will allow you to understand the importance of the social context in shaping the health of the nation. The second section will introduce you to the concept of medicalisation and we will use this lens to interrogate the ways in which bodies are 'othered', compartmentalised and differently treated. The related field of 'healthism' will further be explored and you will be challenged to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of such processes in relation to the perceptions and treatment of certain bodies.We will use case studies of particular embodied experiences which will uncover the relationship some bodies have with nature, technology, society and structures that expose regimes of discipline, regulation, normalisation and surveillance. Students will have the opportunity to build on some of these themes at level 6 in modules Body Politics.

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.

The aim is to provide students with a semester of study at an approved overseas partner that will replace one semester of their LJMU programme at level 5.This is a semester of full-time study at an approved higher education institution which will replace one semester of level 5 study at LJMU. The modules to be studied must be agreed in advance, and must be an appropriate substitute for the modules being replaced. Assuming successful completion of this semester, 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.

After completing the module you should be able to:

• Utilise sociological perspectives on musical identities to place them within their historical and sociocultural contexts.
• Explain the connections between music and people's diverse identities via concrete case examples.
• Explain the role of music in expressing, reflecting and modelling diverse individual and group identities, including marginalised identities.

After completing the module you should be able to:

• Understand how sociological perspectives can be applied to enhance employability and careers.
• Evaluate a range of sociological theories on work.
• Reflect on the employability skills gained during the course and how to negotiate a sociology related work placement.

Module Overview: This module offers students a chance to examine the social significance of digital media in contemporary society. Beginning with an overview of the relationship between media and social change, the first part focuses on capitalism in its communicative form and develops a broad critique of digital power and inequality. The second part looks at the challenges encountered by social movements in contesting inequality by way of digital activism. A sample of research case studies will be considered as a means of evaluating the impact of online activism on participative democracy (eg. BLM). The third part of the module will be dedicated to combining theory, practice and social critique, offering the students a chance to develop a ‘guerrilla’ documentary praxis in producing a short activist documentary of their own.

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 provides you with an opportunity to develop your own sociological specialism by conducting an extended, in-depth study on a freely chosen topic in sociology. You will plan and design an extended piece of academic work and present the completed work as a written dissertation whilst demonstrating a detailed and critical understanding of a relevant field of sociological enquiry. You will be supported through group seminars to successfully complete the dissertation and will work with a staff supervisor to develop a critical understanding of your research topic.

This module provides the opportunity for you to undertake independent guided study on a topic, congruent with the aims and themes of the programme within an international context. You will also further develop a wide range of study skills in the process such as working in small groups, writing reflective blog posts, considering the ethics of blogging and social media and applying sociological concepts and ideas to an international setting. The module has a compulsory international fieldwork element incorporated which provides the backdrop to your study focus.

This module adopts various sociological and critical criminological approaches in the understanding of sport in contemporary societies. You will look at issues relating to recent transformations, prejudices and cultural cohesion in the world of sport, focusing in particular on developments relating to issues such as racism, nationalism, globalisation and gender prejudice. The module will also be centrally concerned with the transformation of sport in the light of ongoing changes to a consumerist society.

In this module you will explore sociological and feminist debates around the body, gender and sexuality. You will engage with ideas which challenge the normative representations and 'taken for granted ideas' around body shape and image, gender and sexualities. It covers topics such as body modification, beauty, pornography, sex work, trans* identities and violences against the body.

This module aims to explain to you the place of music in society, using sociological theory to unlock the codes and secrets of musical culture and society. It is based on the premise that music is a social product, social resource and social practice. In doing so, the module focuses on the relationship between music and social life through a wide range of topics, including music as representation, the economy of music, the relationship between musical taste and social divisions, the political role of music, music as self-expression and political resistance, the changing media forms and technologies of sound production, the therapeutic potential of music, and more. In exploring these themes, you will consider all forms of musicpopular, classical, folk and worldto reflect the vitality of musical expressions in the world today.

This module encourages students to think sociologically about the role of visual images and representation in social life, and be able to sociologically analyse and explain the role and meaning of representations.

This module provides students about to embark on their working lives with the opportunity to undertake a self-directed work placement relevant to the study of Sociology.

The aim is that students will be able to identify, assess and reflect upon how their skills and abilities transfer from their academic studies to the world of work and how these skills and abilities have been enhanced via their work placement.

The module also offers students opportunities to reflect on the links between their work placement experience and their programme of study.

This module will begin by examining major philosophical and theoretical approaches to the study of emotions. Thereafter the module will examine a series of case studies in aversive emotions such as fear, hate, anger, and disgust. By the end of the module, students will have a strong understanding of the ways in which we might approach the analysis of emotions, and will have covered a range of contemporary cases allowing them to unpick the politics and aesthetics of aversive emotion.

This module will equip students to discuss cities, urban processes and urban futures from a critical and sociological perspective. It will enhance their understanding of the nature, origins and consequences of urban issues. This module studies cities from a sociological perspective and is structured according to 3 main parts. Firstly, students will gain insights into the origins of urban sociology, especially its significance for the emergence of sociology as an academic discipline. We will read and discuss foundational texts and theories in early urban sociology. The second part of the module, will study the nature of urban politics focusing on questions of power and capital in the urban environment. The last part of the module, interrogates several urban issues and their relationship to sociological categories such as class, gender, race and more. The emphasis of the module is not just that student engage with complex theories and texts but also that student are able to develop alternative approaches and solutions to conflicts and issues that play out in the urban environment. Students are also encouraged to apply these theories to Liverpool and seek out examples and sites in our immediate urban environment that illustrate these points. 

Module Overview: This module will give students the opportunity to engage with the dominant political ideology of our time, and draw a critical awareness to it and how it operates. The module begins by introducing students to the notion of everyday nationalism, helping to see the way nationalism is embedded in daily life, and then follows this with a discussion of the main theoretical approaches to nationalism. The second block will then consider some major approaches to nationalism, giving students the opportunity to consider how nationalism interacts with other major social categories and aspects of contemporary life. Finally, we will look at some case-studies that engage with historical and contemporary issues that provide an overview of how nationalism can be critically examined to understand the contemporary world, and how it came to be.

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 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 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 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.