Criminology

Criminology is the scientific study of crime and the social responses to it. It draws on sociology, psychology, law, politics and economics to examine why crime occurs, how it is distributed across societies, who its victims and perpetrators are, and how the institutions of criminal justice respond. It is a discipline that takes seriously the complexity of crime as a social phenomenon and refuses simple explanations, developing the analytical rigour to engage with evidence and the intellectual honesty to acknowledge what we do not yet know.

At the University of Nottingham, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year, a work placement and a year abroad, providing a well-supported pathway that combines strong academic training with professional experience and international perspective. The sandwich and placement elements give you structured experience in criminal justice settings, research organisations, policy bodies or related institutions. The year abroad allows you to study criminology in a different national context, where different legal frameworks, policing approaches and justice systems provide invaluable comparative material.

You will study criminological theory, the sociology of crime, policing and the police, courts and sentencing, prisons and probation, victimology, youth justice and the politics of law and order. Research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, are developed alongside analytical and critical writing skills that are genuinely transferable.

Graduates go into careers in criminal justice, probation and prison services, police, youth offending, social care, charities, policy research, the civil service and journalism. Some go on to postgraduate study in criminology, law, social policy, psychology or related disciplines. The intellectual training the subject provides, combining theoretical depth with empirical rigour, is valued across many fields where understanding of human behaviour and social institutions is important.