Criminal Justice

Criminal justice as an academic field examines the systems, institutions, and practices through which societies define crime, investigate it, prosecute offenders, and attempt to manage or rehabilitate those who have broken the law. It draws on criminology, sociology, psychology, law, and public policy to understand not just how the criminal justice system works but whether it works, whether it is fair, and whether it achieves the goals it sets for itself. The discipline is critical and multidisciplinary, and it takes seriously both the perspectives of those caught up in the justice system and the broader social conditions that shape both offending and responses to it.

At Edge Hill University, this part-time programme develops your understanding of the criminal justice system and the treatment and management of offenders in depth. You will explore the social, psychological, and structural factors that contribute to offending, and you will examine how the criminal justice system responds to these through policing, prosecution, sentencing, and rehabilitation. A sandwich year and year abroad are available, and work placement opportunities are built into the degree, giving you practical grounding in professional contexts and broadening your understanding of how criminal justice operates in different settings.

Graduates from criminal justice programmes enter careers across the full breadth of the justice and public safety sector. Many go on to work in the police service, probation, prison service, youth justice, victim support, and social care. Others move into policy research, journalism, advocacy, legal practice, and the voluntary sector.

The analytical skills developed through the degree transfer well across public service careers and the third sector. Postgraduate study in criminology, social work, law, public policy, or forensic psychology is a natural continuation for those wishing to develop specialist expertise.