Sociology and Criminology

Sociology and criminology together form a powerful analytical partnership. Sociology provides the theoretical and empirical tools to examine how societies are organised, how inequalities are produced and sustained, and how institutions from families to states shape human experience. Criminology focuses those tools on crime, deviance, and the systems societies create to manage them, asking who commits crimes, who becomes a victim, how the criminal justice system operates in practice, and whether punishment, rehabilitation, or prevention is the most effective social response.

The combination equips you to engage seriously with some of the most pressing questions in public life.

At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year with work placement, giving you the chance to spend a significant period working in a professional environment relevant to your studies. Placements might be in criminal justice agencies, social research organisations, local authorities, charities, or policy bodies, and the experience you gain feeds directly into your academic development as you apply theoretical frameworks to real-world settings. Your studies will cover sociological theory, research methods, the sociology of race, class and gender, criminological thought from classical to contemporary perspectives, the operation of courts, policing and prisons, and the social causes and distribution of crime.

Graduates work across the criminal justice system in probation, youth justice, the police, the prison service, and victim support services. Policy research and analysis, working for think tanks, government departments, or local authorities, is another common path, as is employment in the voluntary and charitable sectors addressing issues such as homelessness, addiction, domestic abuse, and social exclusion. The research and communication skills the degree develops are also valued in journalism, human resources, and general management.

Further study in criminology, social policy, law, or social work is a natural route for those who wish to deepen their professional expertise.