Politics and Criminology
Politics and criminology is a combination that examines two interconnected dimensions of how power operates in society. Politics studies how authority is organised and exercised, how laws are made and contested, how different social groups compete for influence, and how political systems vary across different national contexts. Criminology examines crime and deviance as social phenomena, asking not just how crimes are committed but how they are defined, how the criminal justice system responds, and what the social, economic, and political determinants of crime and punishment are.
The two disciplines illuminate each other throughout.
At the University of the Highlands and Islands, this four-year programme offers a flexible structure, allowing you to manage your study load across the time you have available, whether studying most days of the week in the standard pattern or at a reduced pace. You will engage with political theory, comparative politics, and the policy processes that shape how societies are governed, alongside criminological theory, the study of policing and justice, the experiences of victims and offenders, and the social and political contexts in which crime and responses to it are constructed. The Scottish Highlands and Islands setting provides a distinctive context for studying both politics and crime, with particular resonance in questions of devolution, rural policing, and community governance.
Graduates from politics and criminology programmes go on to work in the criminal justice system, social work, policing, probation, youth justice, the voluntary sector, policy research, journalism, public administration, and community development. The dual perspective the degree develops, understanding both how power is organised and how the justice system operates within that organisation of power, is particularly valuable in careers that require both policy awareness and direct practice knowledge. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in criminology, law, social policy, or politics.