Childhood & Youth and Psychology

Childhood and youth studies is a multidisciplinary field that examines the experiences, rights and social contexts of children and young people, drawing on sociology, psychology, history, social policy and cultural studies to ask how childhood is constructed, contested and lived in different times and places. Combining it with psychology deepens the individual level of analysis, giving you the scientific tools to understand how children and young people develop cognitively, emotionally and socially, and how psychological factors interact with the social and structural contexts that shape their lives.

At Liverpool Hope University this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year option for those who would benefit from additional preparation before the main degree. You will explore issues and challenges facing children and young people in the UK and around the world, examining questions about rights and welfare, family and community, education and inequality, mental health and wellbeing, and the role of policy and institutions in shaping young lives. The psychology strand gives you a grounding in developmental and social psychology, research methods and the science of human behaviour.

A sandwich year provides substantial professional experience before your final year, a year abroad adds an international dimension, and work placement opportunities connect academic learning with real professional environments throughout.

The combination equips you to understand children and young people from multiple perspectives and to work with them effectively in a range of professional contexts.

Graduates typically move into social work, education, early years practice, youth work, child psychology, family support, policy, research and the third sector. Many pursue postgraduate study, including professional qualifications in social work, educational psychology, teaching or child and adolescent mental health. The broad disciplinary base of this degree is an asset in any role that requires both knowledge of child development and an understanding of the social world.