Criminology and Law
Criminology and Law is a combination that provides two complementary ways of understanding the governance of harmful behaviour. Law examines the formal rules, institutions, and reasoning processes through which societies define rights and obligations and resolve disputes, including the criminal law that defines offences and the procedural rules governing trials and sentencing. Criminology provides the social-scientific perspective, asking why crime occurs, who it affects, how criminal justice institutions operate in practice, and whether the outcomes of the system are fair and effective.
Together they give you a sophisticated toolkit for engaging with questions of crime, justice, and rights.
The Open University offers this programme in part-time distance learning mode, making it accessible to those who cannot study on campus or who need to balance study with employment, family, or other responsibilities. The Open University's established distance learning model provides well-structured materials, tutor support, and an active community of learners who are managing study alongside the rest of their lives. You will study criminal and civil law, legal reasoning and doctrine, constitutional frameworks, and the practical operation of legal institutions alongside the major theories of criminology, the sociology of crime and deviance, policing and criminal justice processes, victimology, and penology.
The combination of legal and social-scientific analysis enables you to understand crime and justice at multiple levels simultaneously.
Graduates of Criminology and Law programmes pursue careers in criminal justice, law, social work, policy, research, and journalism. For those wishing to qualify as solicitors or barristers, further legal training is required after the degree. Others enter roles in probation, victim support, policy analysis, and community-based justice work.
Many graduates continue into postgraduate study in law, criminology, social work, or criminal justice, and the degree's flexibility through distance learning makes it accessible to those already working in relevant professional contexts.