BA (Hons) Criminology

Core units

• Introduction to Criminological Theory: An introduction to key sociological, psychological and criminological theory that has informed classical and contemporary criminology, engaging with key criminological thinkers and perspectives. You’ll evaluate theories within historical and contemporary social constructs and will consider the role of structure and agency with regards to criminality and deviance.
• Becoming a Social Scientist: This unit aims to help you transition from school or college to university-style work and the skills needed to achieve at university. You will use the skills learnt in lectures to carry out a small group project.
• Crime & Control in the Digital Age: This unit analyses how digitalisation and emerging technologies shape both criminal activity and efforts to control it. You’ll explore the complexities of crime that occurs online, from online hate, extremism and cyber-bullying to fraud and organised crime on the dark web. The roles and responsibilities of social media platforms will be debated, alongside reflection on policing strategies, legal processes and recent legislation to deal with the realities of everyday digital crime.
• Introduction to Social Research: Offering a broad introduction to the conceptual and theoretical framework of social scientific approaches to research, this unit will provide the opportunity for you to consider ethical, practical and methodological issues. You’ll explore the parameters and scope of social scientific enquiry, focusing on the relationship of individuals to society, and will gain the skills to develop your own social scientific research plan.
• Crime & the Criminal Justice System: You’ll explore the concepts of crime, the discipline and study of criminology and the structure and responsibilities of the key agencies within the criminal justice system, especially in the United Kingdom (UK), but with scope for international comparison of approaches to crime, policing, criminal justice and penology in developed and less developed societies. Considering specific case studies will allow you to reflect on differing approaches to addressing these fields of crime through policing and punishment.
• Social Inequality & Exclusion: Discover the nature, lived experience, impact and possible causes of discrimination, inequality and social exclusion, using sociological, criminological and anthropological approaches. You’ll apply relevant sociological, criminological and anthropological enquiry to explore social exclusion, community cohesion, inequality, discrimination, marginalisation and oppression, together with an understanding of how this might be addressed and tackled.

Students are required to complete all 4 core units and also 2 option units of your choice. Option units will run if selected by a minimum of 10 students. Some combinations of optional units may not be available depending on the semester of delivery and timetable configurations.

Core units

• Qualitative Research Skills: The unit will equip you with the knowledge and skills to be able to carry out and analyse qualitative research. You’ll gain the knowledge of the skills necessary for effective design, implementation, and data analysis in qualitative research.
• Globalisation, Justice and Global Instabilities: Globalisation is a concept that refers to economic, political and technological forms of global interdependence and alignment in today’s world. In this unit, you’ll explore the debates about globalisation within sociology and associated social science disciplines.
• Quantitative Skills: Develop your understanding and evaluation of a range of quantitative methods and the underlying philosophical and ethical principles of their application within social science research. This unit will assist you in your preparation for your final year dissertation.
• Human Trafficking and Criminality: You’ll consider the relationship between human trafficking, migration and criminality by looking at the different forms of trafficking across a number of countries. You’ll also explore human rights issues and develop critical skills in understanding migration, human trafficking, organised crime, as well as a series of emotions around trauma, violence and loss from criminological, sociological and anthropological perspectives.

Option units (choose two)

• The Impact of Crime: Examine the various forms of crime, particularly criminal acts within relationships, as well as sex offending and sex work. Alongside the established ‘legal’ definitions of crime, you’ll also explore the broader concept of social harm and related theoretical frameworks such as zemiology, environmental criminology and risk society. Consider the obvious and less obvious ‘costs’ and impact of crime and harm on individuals, on communities and on society at large, as well as the role and impact of the media on social attitudes and stereotypes, which might determine how we perceive crime and harm.
• Policing & Society: This unit considers the institution of the police and the social practice of policing society. It will cover the colonial origins of policing and the introduction of the Metropolitan police in London in 1829, as well as key events. You will also explore the creation and maintenance of 'police culture', the policing of protest and address contemporary issues around technology and media.
• Youth, Crime, Gangs & Youth Justice: This unit explores the specific context of youth offending within the wider context of on-road subculture and gang involvement. You will gain a broad understanding of the context around youth offending and criminality, as well as the policing and punishment of youth crime. On-road subculture will be explored using examples such as involvement in the drug trade, drug transportation (county lines), and the criminalisation of grime music. 
• Growing Up & Growing Old: This unit studies sociological and anthropological perspectives and theories of childhood, youth and aging.
• Crime, Health and Society: Discover the rich and complex findings of social science in the sphere of health and how it relates to crime. You’ll also investigate the sophisticated interrelation between these fundamental concepts and how their relationship continues to change.
• Doing Ethnographic Research in the Social Sciences: Gain experience of designing and undertaking an ethnographic research project in the Bournemouth area. You’ll investigate sociological and anthropological research questions and will critically reflect on the benefits and challenges of qualitative research. The skills and experience developed from this unit will assist you in your preparation for the research you may wish to carry out as part of your final year dissertation. You’ll also have the opportunity to present your research findings at BU’s annual Student Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Contemporary Social Theory: Introducing social theory that informs contemporary sociology, criminology and anthropology, you’ll explore theories embedded in the contemporary and philosophical context of Western society and its social forms.
• Culture: Socio-Legal Perspectives: This unit explores and develops a critical and theoretically informed understanding of the extent to which the concept of ‘culture’ can be applied for explaining when and why people associated with different cultures come into conflict with the law. Topics include 'legal parallelism', ''subculture' and 'gang culture' in criminal proceedings, 'cultural defence', 'cultural evidence', 'cultural expertise' in court, 'culturalism', the crime of 'culturicide', and much more.
• Criminological Psychology: Develop your understanding of the contribution of psychology to issues relating to crime and criminal justice. You’ll be introduced to a range of theoretical perspectives on offending behaviour, drawing from cognitive, developmental, social and biological psychology. The unit will explore aspects related to criminal investigation and detection, such as offender profiling, eye-witness testimony, police interviewing and false confessions. It will also consider the psychological impacts of crime, through exploring issues such as fear of crime and the psychology of victimisation.  
• 20-day Placement: You’ll have the opportunity to study an area of academic and professional interest in criminology and its relationship to wider society through participation in placement-based learning.
• Being Human in a Posthuman World: The Sociology of AI: The aim of this unit is to explore whether the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) perpetuates social inequalities and creates new ones using sociological evidence. You will gain a broad understanding of how everyday use of AI shapes how you think and behave, and the unit will also offer a global perspective on how AI is shaping society by looking at international businesses utilising and developing AI today.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester-by-semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

In year 2, you can choose either a 4-week placement on a three-year course, or an optional 30-week (minimum) placement on a four-year sandwich course. This gives you the chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future.

Whether you choose the three- or four-year option, you will complete the following units in your final year.

Core units

• Dissertation: The dissertation provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual, analytic and creative abilities through sustained independent work. Specifically, it aims to provide an opportunity for critical in-depth review of the research literature within the broad parameters of sociology and/or anthropology, and to enable students to apply this knowledge in the development of a research proposal.
• Criminology of Organisations: This unit will introduce you to organisational crime and how this type of crime is currently being policed and regulated through means of law and social control. You’ll explore critically, the reasons why only a small percentage of this type of crime is prosecuted and adjudicated by the criminal justice system.
• Drugs, Crime and Society: Examines the phenomenon of illicit drug use and drug supply within the UK and internationally. It critically evaluates policing and policy regimes that have attempted to reduce the availability and consumption of drugs, whilst considering possible alternatives. The module explores theoretical explanations around drugs and drug addiction and considers the benefits of harm reduction and treatment programmes.

Option units (choose two):

• ​Crime and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Build on your understanding of how crime is defined, its possible causes, and how crime and criminal acts can impact on individuals, communities and societies.
• International Interventions and Humanitarianism: Following crises, conflict, war or regime change, many populations and states become subject to large-scale military or humanitarian interventions, global knowledge transfer and development projects, which has led to a recognition of the importance of understanding local knowledge and involving local stakeholders in order to ensure the success of projects intending peace and state-building. During this unit, you’ll be familiarised with critical anthropological and multi-disciplinary debates and insights on international intervention policies and practices in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and you’ll also develop your critical and creative thinking for improving such projects.
• Seekers, Believers and Iconoclasts:  Explore belief systems as a sociological phenomenon contextualised within a cultural and social analysis, as well as a philosophical and historical one. You’ll also consider belief systems as phenomena subjects to social change and transformation in terms of influencing social structures, interactions and shared or diverse social understandings, shaping changing societies.
• Terrorism, Protection and Society: You’ll be introduced to many of the complex issues involved in conceptualising and responding to terrorism and protection in contemporary societies. You’ll explore protection and counter-terrorism as a form of social regulation and will consider ways in which society is ordered in an age of terrorist threat, and how this impacts on social life.
• Intersectional Criminology: This unit will introduce you to the overlapping relations of crime between different social groups. You’ll critically explore crime by looking at the media and the creation and construction of images, identities and attitudes towards different social groups, social policies and laws relating to crime and victimisation, as well as considering the representation of marginalised communities within the criminal justice system.
• Politics & Ideology:  To improve, change and transform the situations and lives of individuals and communities, it may be necessary to influence government and decision makers in order to seek positive change. Therefore, this unit will provide you with an understanding of politics, political processes and the ideologies that may be key drivers in the development of policy and governance at the local, societal and global level.
• ‘Troubling’ Gender: This unit will explore gender as socially constructed and historically variable aspect of societies, past and present. It will examine the ways in which gender informs social structures, inequalities, and analyse the interrelationships between gender and other social categories (e.g., class, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, and nationality).

• Capitalism’s crimes, contracts, and crises. Decolonial perspectives in the social sciences: This unit will introduce you to decolonial perspectives in sociology, social anthropology, and criminology. You will be encouraged to question and deepen your understanding of the world, including looking at the origins of capitalism in colonial slavery, the social and environmental impacts of global supply chains and tax havens, the links between racism and class divisions, climate change and fossil fuel capitalism.

• Sport and Leisure Cultures: Critical Perspectives: You will critically explore the socio-cultural, political and economic aspects of sport and leisure. This unit will analyse many societal concepts, including discrimination, exclusion, inequality, social justice, and theories of the body, gender, class, race, sexuality, agency and globalisation, as well as considering specific contexts such as physical education, football, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Gay Games, and gym culture.

• The Sociology of Health & Illness: Health pervades all aspects of human experience and is defined by the World Health Organisation as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being" and not solely the absence of illness. However, at the global, national and community levels there are inequalities in how long we live, how healthy we are in older age, the types of illnesses we develop across the life course, and the healthcare we receive. You will critically explore the social context of health and illness and contrast this with the dominant biomedical perspective of health and illness.

Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

This course provides the opportunity to undertake a 20-day placement as an optional unit in your second year, or to complete a minimum 30-week placement in-between your second and final year studies to be eligible for a sandwich award. 

The faculty running your course will offer the support of a Placement Co-ordinator.   

Through timetabled sessions and one-to-one appointments, they’ll help support you in your placement search including advice on finding a placement, information and advice on all aspects of job searching and job applications, as well as ensuring your proposed placement meets the requirements of your course.    

Our CareersBU service is also available throughout your time at BU, offering services like CV checking and careers fairs to meet employers.  

Placement Development Advisors will support you once you have started your sandwich placement – so you will be able to maintain contact with the university throughout.  

Our placement students have previously worked with:
• Dorset Police
• 999 Call Centre
• National Probation Service
• Government Social Research sandwich placement
• Microsoft Marketing Internship
• Amazon Research Internship
• Change Grow Live
• The YMCA
• Longmead Community Farm
• Hampshire County Council in the Insight and Engagement Team
• Nationwide Building Society as a Risk Analyst
• House of Fraser, as a Training Support Administrator
• SCA (Social Care Agency Social Enterprise, Hampshire)
• Monkton Wyld (an education centre for sustainable living)
• Insight & Engagement Team, Hampshire County Council
• Bournemouth Foodbank
• Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA)
• Citizens Advice, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
• Footprints Project (supporting men and women leaving prison)
• Primary, secondary and SEN schools
• Universiti Sains Malaysia, partner University
• NGOs in Malaysia (the Peace Learning Centre, House of Hope)

AccessBU: AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, please submit your deferral request through our website.

Direct entry: We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please visit our RPL webpage for more information.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

As a student, you will be required to use your IT skills to utilise the web-based resources that are designed to support your study, write assessments, perform literature searches and create presentations.

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application; there are usually no interviews or selection activities needed. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU. You can find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply webpages.

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

If you are unable to meet the entry requirements, we may be able to make you an offer through AccessBU if you meet certain criteria e.g. you have been in care or live in an area where fewer people typically progress to Higher Education. If you don't meet our published tariff, we will accept you at least 8 points below if your personal circumstances match our AccessBU criteria. 

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

• Social services
• Criminal justice
• Community work
• Police
• Prisons
• Probation services
• Education
• Government and civil service
• Counselling charities and the voluntary sector
• International development and aid
• Marketing and policy research
• Corporate management
• Welfare and housing associate professional
• Journalism and media
• Further postgraduate study opportunities including various Master’s degree options or a MRes research Master’s.

If you are a BU graduate you are eligible for a 20% ‘loyalty’ discount on the published fees for further programmes with us!  

Depending on your qualifications and experiences, you can choose to undertake a MRes or PhD level research degree. Bournemouth University has a strong nursing social sciences foundation within our Faculty of Business & Law and through a number of research centres, including the Centre for Seldom Heard Voices, which explores interdisciplinary collaboration around social science research.

Visit our postgraduate research courses for further details about research degree options and the funding options available. 

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for laboratory and field-based teaching activity
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and fieldwork and non-financial support whilst on placement if this is part of your course of study
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow
• Free software download to your personal device of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus while you are studying, as well as access to applications provided on AppsAnywhere, subject to licensing and compatibility restrictions 
• Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shop stocks a wide range of stationery supplies
• Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website.
• Travel cost for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (where applicable).
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus passcan be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. Information about funding your placement year can be found on our website
• You will need to meet the cost of any Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if required by your placement setting, including any Post Office verification changes.
• You may have the opportunity to study abroad as part of your programme, and there may be some additional costs attached to this.
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Before joining Bournemouth University, Richard was a Police Sergeant in West Yorkshire Police, where he served for 28 years.

He is a Fulbright Scholar (University of Cincinnati, 2012) and in 2014 he was Visiting Bramshill Scholar at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, where he taught courses on international criminal justice and policing.

Richard holds degrees in Sociology, Politics and Education and, as such, he brings a multi-disciplinary approach to his research and teaching. Dr Heslop is the Editor for Practitioner Liaison at Police Practice & Research: An International Journal.

Francesca studied BSc (Hons) in Criminology and Criminal Psychology (University of Greenwich, 2016), MSc in Criminology and Criminal Psychology (University of Greenwich, 2018) and completed a PhD in Criminology (University of Greenwich, 2022).

Francesca has been a member of the BSC: Women, Crime and Criminal Justice Network since 2021 and has expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals.