Criminology and Sociology

Criminology and Sociology together offer one of the most powerful analytical frameworks available for understanding contemporary social problems. Sociology provides the theoretical tools to examine how societies are structured, how institutions reproduce inequality, and how social norms and power relations shape behaviour. Criminology applies a specific and urgent version of those questions to crime: why it occurs, how it is defined and responded to, who bears its costs, and whether the institutions of criminal justice serve the ends they claim to serve.

Studying the two together creates a graduate equipped to think critically about some of the most contested issues in public life.

At the University of Lincoln, this part-time programme includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you professional and international experience alongside your academic studies. You will study criminological theory, the sociology of crime, criminal justice institutions including the police, courts, prisons, and probation services, and the social contexts, including class, race, gender, and age, that shape both crime and responses to it. Research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, are a core part of the curriculum, giving you the skills to investigate social questions with rigour.

The placement year and work placement allow you to apply your knowledge in professional settings such as community organisations, public policy teams, or criminal justice agencies.

Graduates from Criminology and Sociology degrees work across a wide range of sectors. Many enter criminal justice roles in probation, youth offending, victim support, and policy. Others move into social work, housing, community development, research, journalism, and the voluntary sector.

Academic and policy-focused careers are well within reach, and postgraduate study in sociology, criminology, social policy, or law is a common next step.