Criminology

Criminology is the systematic study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the social responses to both. It draws on sociology, psychology, law, and social policy to examine why crime occurs, who is affected by it, how the criminal justice system operates, and whether the responses to crime that societies adopt, including policing, prosecution, imprisonment, and rehabilitation, achieve what they are intended to achieve. Criminology also engages critically with the processes through which behaviours come to be defined as criminal in the first place, examining how power, inequality, and social norms shape the boundaries of legal and illegal conduct.

At the University of Bedfordshire, this part-time programme allows you to study criminology flexibly, combining your studies with employment or other commitments. The programme develops your understanding of criminological theory, criminal justice institutions and processes, victimology, policing, courts, and prisons, alongside the research methods needed to study crime empirically and critically. You will develop strong analytical and critical thinking skills, the ability to evaluate evidence and competing explanations, and the communication skills needed to present arguments clearly in written and spoken form.

The programme engages with contemporary criminological debates and with the real-world contexts in which criminal justice policy is made and criminal justice practice is delivered.

Graduates go on to careers in the criminal justice system, including probation, youth justice, the prison service, police, and victim support services, as well as in social work, community development, policy research, and the voluntary sector. Many go on to postgraduate study in criminology, law, forensic psychology, or social work, some pursuing professional qualifications that open routes into specialist criminal justice practice. The analytical and communication skills the degree develops are also valued in education, journalism, and any field that requires rigorous engagement with evidence about social problems and institutional responses to them.