BA (Hons) Criminal Justice and Criminology

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose this course?

You want to debate crime and its causes. What is your opinion on targeted policing? Do offenders have an innate criminal mind? Is restorative justice enough to repair community relations? Whatever your stance, we want to hear it. Hear the opinions of other aspiring criminologists. Dare to challenge your own beliefs. Uncover the realities of the underworld. Learn to connect the environmental and sociological trends of crime throughout history. Learn how you could influence positive social change. Together, let's explore potential solutions to reduce the crimes of today.

You’ll understand crime at a deep level. Be inspired by internationally recognised researchers. You’ll be taught by experts with first-hand public servant experience, from the police to prisons, the probation service and victim support. We even have staff from the military! Take advantage of our contacts. Network with departments like the Hertfordshire Constabulary, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and established resettlement teams. Thinking of becoming a prison officer? A fraud investigator? Or what about a crime journalist? Whatever your career goals are, choose the University of Hertfordshire. A TEF Gold-rated university that will give you the best possible start to your career.

What are the facilities like?

Outstanding. Our bright, modern Law School Building opened its doors in 2011. It brings you a mixture of fantastic technology, well-equipped study spaces and realistic criminal justice settings. Inside you’ll find our incredible replica Crown Court, complete with judge’s bench and viewing gallery. Experience how the criminal justice system really works.

Hertfordshire Law School has helped graduates forge successful careers for 40 years. You’ll benefit from our reputation for being forward-thinking, innovative, and responsive to the world around us.

What's the course about?

You’ll study criminal justice as well as criminology. But what is the difference between the two? Criminal justice refers to established systems for dealing with crime. You’ll learn how the police and Crown Prosecution Service come together to investigate crime. You’ll explore the limits of the magistrates’ courts. How a jury and judge prosecute in the crown court. The powers of the high courts to overturn a guilty verdict. It’s also about punishment - detention centres, prisons, probation, and community sentencing. Are they all needed? Is one more effective than the other?

In criminology, you’ll look at the social, economic, and psychological side of crime. How does offending behaviour affect society? Learn victim psychology, and attitudes towards anti-social behaviour. Compare cultural perspectives on what is seen as a crime or just considered deviance. You will gain a solid understanding of both fields and how they come together to thwart crime.

At one time in history, theft was considered to be in your genes. It was in your blood to steal! In your first year, you will learn how attitudes towards crime and punishment have evolved. You’ll explore the stages of the justice system, from arrest to release. You’ll explore the schemes in place to reintegrate ex-offenders back into society. You’ll recognise its strengths. Challenge its weaknesses. We have moved on from the brutalities of hanging. But are prison sentences harsh enough?

In your second year, you’ll specialise in an area that fascinates you. Want to know more about the psychology of crime? Question if psychology can be used to shape how the public sees criminality. Or what about the race and crime debate? Look at the evidence on media stereotyping. Explore how this could lead to an increase in criminalising minority ethnic people. There are 117 prisons in England and only 12 of those are female. Explore feminist theories on gender, victimisation, and offending.

Work placement/ study abroad option

Between your second and final year, you’ll have the possibility to study abroad or do a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about but will also give your CV a boost. If you’d rather go straight to your final year, that’s absolutely fine too.

Shape your entire third year. Choose all your modules. You could explore how the media report crime events. Compare social moral panics to the official statistics. What about the ''war on drug's''? Is there an increasing social acceptance of recreational drug use? Does this justify harsher governing? Gangs. War crimes. Rehabilitating offenders. Your discussions will be endless. Your detailed research will inform your opinions. And we want you to debate them. Choose a topic. Gather your research. Analyse your readings. Use your final year project to produce a thought-provoking study. Challenge the system. Tell us how you believe we could make a fairer society.

Your main campus is de Havilland

You’ll share this campus with students from business, law, sport, education, and humanities subjects. The student housing is close to our Sports Village which includes a gym, swimming pool and climbing wall. You can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner in our on-campus restaurant or bar (in the newly built Enterprise Hub) on days you don’t feel like cooking. You can also use the common room to play pool, video games or just to hang out with friends. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.

This course includes the options of:

• Work placement
• Study abroad

At the University of Hertfordshire, we see your potential, we hear your ambitions and we support your futures. From the moment we meet, we will set you on a path to achieving your goals. We will drive you forward, we will actively guide you every step of the way. You may not be confident or you may have questions – but we believe in you and we will help you find the answers. You may have a goal that you want to achieve – we can help focus you. You may want an experience – we can get you some. Here at Herts, there are many pathways to success, so let us empower your future, and take you all the way. This is your platform, your opportunity to succeed – so what are you waiting for?

Prepare to succeed

Show employers what you’re made of. We’re big on placements – and for good reason. Research tells us that over 70% of employers prefer students with work experience. That’s because placements aren’t just an excellent way to put what you’ve learnt into practice, they also show employers what you’re like as a person – with all those attributes like ambition, teamwork and a can-do attitude. To make sure our students get that work experience advantage, we’ve developed strong links with businesses and organisations here and internationally. These have allowed us to build valuable placement opportunities, from short-term experience to full-year paid placements, into many of our courses. What’s more, you won’t have to pay fees during the year you’re on placement.

Passport to success

Many students at Hertfordshire have the chance to study or work overseas – for a semester, a summer or even a whole year. Studying or working abroad is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture, broaden your horizons and create many unforgettable memories. We have partnerships with many universities across the world, including in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and across Europe. The cost of living in many countries is lower than in the UK and you’ll still be eligible for any grants or loans you’d get if you were studying here. Most students also pay no tuition fees during the year away and may be eligible for one of our scholarships to help with living and travelling costs.

Learn from the best

We like to think our teaching is a little different. Not only are our academics experts in their respective fields, but everything they teach is shaped by businesses and industry, giving you the subject-specific and transferable skills for an exciting career. Alongside your core subject, you’ll also be able to pick up other qualifications to help you stand out to employers. From mentoring to Microsoft qualifications, City & Guilds awards to getting your pilot’s licence, there’s a tonne of ways to build an impressive CV.

Key Facts

• TEF Gold : Our teaching is among the best in the UK.
• 170 : Study abroad at one of over 170 universities in 40 countries around the world.
• National Rankings : 4th Economics 7th Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management 10th Engineering: Electronic and Electrical.
• Number 1 for Games : TIGA Games Industry Award 2019.
• 96.5% of students in employment or further study within 6 months.
• Award-winning : Employment mock assessment centre simulation (Institute of Student Employers).
• Career enhancing experience : Our students have undertaken placements at companies including KPMG, Tesla Motors (UK), Microsoft and GSK.

Learning and teaching

Whatever your background, wherever you are from, we believe that higher education can be a transformational experience.

We develop graduates who are capable, creative and enterprising. Through engaging with employers and professional bodies who contribute to the development of our curriculum and our status as one of only 20 University Enterprise Zones, we transform the lives of our students.

We offer the flexibility, opportunity and community students need to succeed. We achieve this by:

combining traditional teaching methods with digital resources including our online student network, StudyNet teaching courses that are designed with the input of business and professional bodies giving students the chance to learn about employability through listening to the experience of our alumni organising networking events where staff, students and graduates can meet offering a vibrant multicultural campus by increasing the proportion of international students on campus giving students the option of studying at one of our partner universities overseas supporting students in their learning and living offering students valuable work experience in research, business or industry before their final academic year.

Vision

Our vision is to transform lives. This means whatever your background, wherever you are from, we will drive your potential, powering you to succeed.

We are committed to having a positive transformational impact on every member of our university community, and to share our successes with the community around us.

Our strategy

We support a diverse range of students, staff, businesses, researchers and members of the community. What they all share is the desire to make the most of the opportunities in front of them. Our strategy will enable us to power their potential and achieve their goals.

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Key strategic themes

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Offering opportunity

We offer every student the opportunity to succeed, with varied and well-signposted routes into university and clear pathways through study. We support students to achieve to the best of their ability and will support them in preparing for global opportunities after graduation. We will use our links in business, our research expertise, and our global outlook, to transform lives.

Building community

We are a diverse and welcoming community with a global reach and a common purpose, to transform lives, which we will work together to achieve. Through communities of learning, exploration and knowledge, we celebrate diversity and share our passions. We want all our students and staff to find their communities here. We are engaged as a Civic University in our region, supporting schools, colleges and students. We will share our knowledge, culture, research and resources with businesses, the professions and the wider community.

Embracing flexibility

We will respond flexibly to the challenges and opportunities ahead. Flexible modes of study will support our students to succeed and allow them to engage with a greater range of opportunities in education, extra-curricular activities and work experience. We want our students to follow their interests and passions to transform their lives and to be empowered by a choice of pathways that take them to the next stage and open doors to the future.

Our values

We provide opportunities to attract, retain and develop individuals. We are building a diverse and inclusive community and we respond with flexibility to the challenges of the changing world. Our values underpin everything we do. We are friendly, ambitious, collegiate, enterprising and student-focussed.