Criminal Justice

Criminal justice is the study of the systems, institutions, and policies through which society responds to crime and seeks to maintain order, protect victims, and rehabilitate or punish offenders. It encompasses the police, the courts, the prison and probation services, and the range of community and restorative justice interventions that sit alongside or outside formal legal processes. The discipline draws on criminology, law, sociology, and public policy to examine not just how the criminal justice system works in theory but how it operates in practice, who it affects, and how it can be reformed to better serve its stated purposes.

At the University of Northampton, this three-year full-time programme develops your understanding of crime, law, policing, the courts, sentencing, and rehabilitation, alongside the sociological and policy frameworks needed to evaluate the criminal justice system critically. You will study theories of crime and punishment, the history and development of criminal justice institutions, the experience of victims and offenders within the system, comparative criminal justice in other countries, and research methods for investigating criminal justice questions empirically. The programme has strong local links to criminal justice organisations in the East Midlands, which enhances the practical relevance of the learning experience.

A typical entry tariff of 88 points makes the programme broadly accessible.

Graduates of criminal justice programmes work in probation, the prison service, youth justice, victim support, community safety, the police service, and the charitable sector organisations that work alongside the statutory criminal justice system. The degree also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in criminology, law, social work, or public policy, and for professional training routes into policing. Many graduates develop careers in criminal justice policy and research, working to improve the systems they have studied critically during their degree.