Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice

Law, criminology, and criminal justice together offer a comprehensive framework for understanding how societies define, prohibit, and respond to crime. Law examines the formal rules, rights, and procedures through which crime is constituted and prosecuted in the legal system, developing the skills of statutory interpretation, case analysis, and legal argument that underpin both legal practice and informed public policy. Criminology approaches crime as a social and political phenomenon rather than simply a legal one, asking why crime occurs, how it is distributed across populations, and what the effects of criminal justice interventions are on individuals and communities.

Criminal justice analysis evaluates the institutions of police, courts, and prisons directly, examining their effectiveness, fairness, and the social values they embody.

At Teesside University, this four-year full-time degree with a foundation year develops expertise across all three fields in a single integrated programme. The foundation year builds the social science foundations and study skills needed before the main degree begins, introducing students to the nature of interdisciplinary research, academic standards, and the ethical and professional frameworks relevant to the subject areas. Across the programme you will study the core subjects of English law alongside criminological theory, empirical research on crime and criminal behaviour, and analysis of criminal justice institutions and policy.

Research skills in both quantitative and qualitative methods are developed throughout, giving you the capacity to evaluate evidence about crime and justice critically.

Graduates enter careers across criminal justice and its related fields, including roles in probation, youth justice, police services, prison services, victim support, legal advice, social care, and policy organisations. The breadth of the degree, combining legal knowledge with social science analysis of crime and justice, is particularly valuable in roles that require both legal awareness and a sociological perspective on how the system operates. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in law, criminology, social work, criminal justice, or social policy, building the specialist expertise needed for research or senior professional roles.