Criminology and Sociology

Criminology and sociology are natural partners. Criminology investigates the causes, patterns, and consequences of crime, and asks how societies respond to it through law, policing, courts, and prisons. Sociology provides the broader theoretical framework: the analysis of social structure, inequality, culture, and power that makes it possible to understand why crime is distributed unevenly across society and why responses to it reflect particular interests and assumptions.

Together they offer a rigorous and critical lens on some of the most pressing questions in contemporary public life.

At Roehampton, you will study both disciplines in depth, exploring sociological theories from the classical canon through to contemporary debates on intersectionality, globalisation, and digital society, while also examining criminological frameworks such as labelling theory, strain theory, and desistance. You will engage with the sociology of deviance, the politics of criminal justice, the sociology of punishment, and the ways in which race, class, gender, and age shape both offending and responses to it. Research methods training equips you to gather and interpret evidence critically, and you will learn to evaluate claims about crime with the same rigour you would bring to any empirical question.

The programme includes a foundation year, which builds your academic skills and confidence before you enter the full degree. A sandwich placement year and work placement are integral to the programme, giving you extended experience in relevant professional settings such as probation services, charities, local government, or community organisations. The typical entry tariff is 88 UCAS points, and the programme is studied full time.

Graduates from criminology and sociology combinations move into careers in criminal justice, social work, probation, policy research, community development, journalism, the civil service, and the voluntary sector. The degree also provides a strong foundation for postgraduate study in criminology, social policy, law, or social research.