Criminology and Psychology
Criminology and psychology is a combination designed to understand human behaviour from two complementary angles. Psychology provides the frameworks and methods for understanding how individuals think, feel, and act, including why people make harmful or self-destructive choices, how cognitive biases operate, and what factors predict risk and resilience. Criminology applies social and structural lenses to crime and justice, asking how deviance is defined, how criminal justice systems respond, and what broader societal forces shape the patterns of crime we observe.
Together they offer a comprehensive, multi-level account of criminal behaviour and the systems built to address it.
The Open University's programme in Criminology and Psychology is delivered by distance learning on a part-time basis, making it genuinely accessible to students who cannot commit to full-time campus study. The Open University's approach is well regarded: structured course materials, dedicated tutor support, and a large and supportive learning community ensure you receive a rigorous and engaging education regardless of where you study. You will cover core topics in psychology including cognitive, social, and developmental psychology, alongside criminological theory, criminal justice systems, the psychology of offending and victimisation, and the legal and ethical frameworks that govern criminal justice.
The part-time route allows you to progress at a pace that fits your circumstances, making the combination available to career changers and those already working in related fields.
Graduates are well placed for careers in probation, prison services, youth offending teams, victim support, social work, counselling, police services, and policy organisations. Many use the qualification as a platform for postgraduate training in forensic psychology, counselling, social work, or criminology, which opens routes to more specialist practice and registered professional status. The combination of psychological insight and criminological knowledge is particularly valuable in organisations working at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice, a rapidly growing area of policy and practice.