Sociology is concerned with understanding social life and our place within it. It helps us understand and tackle difficult questions, such as issues of poverty, immigration, privacy and social unrest, as well as providing insights into our cultural and everyday lives. Sociologists have for decades been providing answers to difficult government and policy questions, informing industry and challenging inequalities.
The social sciences have a long and well established history at the University of Salford, having been taught here since 1954, and today, the Sociology subject groups continues to be extremely strong both in terms of its teaching quality and research excellence.
A Sociology degree from the University of Salford will equip you with insight into key theories and approaches to understanding the social world, and transferrable skills in areas such as research, information communication technology, critical thinking and advanced problem solving — all of which will equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a diverse range of professions.
You will be taught by teaching staff who are internationally recognised experts in their fields of research, which ensures you will be at the cutting edge of academic understanding, and you will be able to study a diverse and engaging range of subjects, such as those dealing with crime, the legal system, social unrest and riots, the media and popular culture, cities, bodies and much more — ensuing that your time at Salford will be productive, valuable and provide a platform for future successes.
In the first year all modules are compulsort and we will equip you with the study skills needed to get the best out of your degree, and introduce you to both the nature and scope of research in sociology.
YEAR 1
In the first year all modules are compulsory and we will equip you with the study skills needed to get the best out of your degree, and introduce you to both the nature and scope of research in sociology
Thinking Sociologically
Here, you will develop knowledge of the major forms of sociological reasoning and the ability to think sociologically about the major problems and issues in society and social life. You will gain an understanding of key concepts in sociology and of the contribution of sociological inquiry to explaining social dynamics.
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Culture, Power and Identity
You will become familiar with sociological approaches to the understanding of culture, and the relationship between culture, power and identity. You will examine the social and cultural construction of identity and consider the formation of collective and individual identity, as forces of control and opportunity
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Social Divisions and Inequality
You will be introduced to social scientific concepts and theories about the nature of social divisions, diversity and social inequality in advanced industrial societies. You will develop an understanding of evidence about major forms of social division and their causes and social consequences and compare alternative explanations of complexity and differentiation in contemporary society.
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Riots, Resistance and Revolutions
The module will develop your understanding of the nature of collective action, conflict and struggle. You will explore the specificities of collective action and subjectivity involved in riots and other forms of resistance, and identify and debate institutional responses to them. You will identify the fundamental forces and factors behind revolutions and examine the novelty of social, political and cultural resistance.
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Crime and Society
You will be introduced to the key foundational issues, ideas, and ways of thinking within criminology. You will explore the various relationships between crime and society drawing upon contemporary, historical and comparative evidence and demonstrate links between particular theories and concepts and their implications for research methodology and social policy.
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Criminal Justice and Human Rights
You will be introduced to the form, key features and purpose of the institutions of the contemporary criminal justice system in England and Wales and begin an insight into the issues which are comprised in the question of justice and civil liberties.
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YEAR 2
In your second year you build on the foundation of year one by looking in more detail at different issues and perspectives. You will also have the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of selected topics by choosing optional modules (from the indicative list below).
Research Problems and Methods 1: Qualitatively better
You will develop an understanding of competing methodological approaches to social research. The focus throughout this module will be on learning and experiencing applied methods to address “real world” research social problems. You will gain a working knowledge, and practical experience of, alternative methods of collecting, reporting and presenting qualitative data.
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Research Problems and Methods 2: Making it Count
You will gain an understanding of the survey research process, including forming a suitable research question, operationalisation, and types of sampling strategy. You will gain knowledge of key concepts in quantitative research, including statistical significance and probability and practical experience of alternative methods of analysing qualitative data.
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Understanding the Social World
You will develop an understanding of the key schools of thought in sociological inquiry and evaluate the contribution of sociological inquiry to social life. You will analyse the relationships between individuals and their social settings and groups, and critically compare different sociological approaches and their implications for understanding the dynamics of social structures.
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3 optional modules from the indicative list below
YEAR 3
In your third year you will take two compulsory modules, which includes an Independent Study module. You will also be able to choose three optional modules (from the indicative list below).
Modules may include:
Human Rights, Citizenship and Struggle
You will look at the origins, development and scope of the principles of human rights. You will gain an understanding of socio-legal mechanisms for promoting and protecting both 'civil and political' and 'economic, social and cultural' rights, and an understanding of the problems posed by their violation. You will also engage with theoretical and contemporary debates surrounding citizenship, activism and social change.
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Independent Study (one of the following):
Extended Essays
You will develop an area of interest through TWO pieces of extended Sociological or Criminological prose, without having to meet the demands of research-based activity associated with the Dissertation., examining topics of your choice.
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Dissertation
You will examine a Sociological or Criminological topic of your choice in an independent piece of research, exploring an area of your own academic, professional or personal interest.
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Work: Practice and Reflection
You will engage in work based learning, making practical and conceptual connections between the academic study of sociology and criminology and work based activities. You will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of critical reflection.
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3 optional modules from the indicative list below:
Bodies: Biology to Blushing
This module aims to denaturalise your understanding of the body and promote a sociological conception of both biology and human emotion. You will become familiar with sociologically thinking about the body, including the gendering and racialisation of bodies and you will explore the impact of modern genetics and other technological advancements on contemporary social life.
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Connected Lives
You will be introduced to different forms of social connections, from gemenschaft to gesellschaft, and explore the meanings, practices and roles of family, friendship, kinship, and community within the context of capitals, localities, and policy debates.
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Identities and Interactions
You will gain an understanding of the features of interactionist sociology and recognise how interactionist sociology differs from other ways of studying the social world. You will look at the ways in which theoretical approaches can be applied in areas such as socialisation and education, work and employment, and health and illness, and gain an understanding of the problems and opportunities of ‘working in a tradition’.
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Modernity: Cities and States
You will gain an understanding of the major perspectives on modernity, the modern state and modern metropolis, and consider the major perspectives on modernity and its disputed meaning, its promises and its dark sides. You will consider theoretical approaches to the modern state and politics, and examine modern political ideologies. You will also explore the modern/postmodern city and life in modern metropolis, and analyse utopian and dystopian visions of the urban 'site’.
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Popular Culture and the Media
It is the aim of this module is to you with an understanding of the role and location of popular culture, consumption, leisure and media and within contemporary society. You will consider the historical processes, theoretical and political debates, underlying and informing the nature of these practices, institutions and texts, as well as our understandings of these.
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Risk Society
You will examine recent and contemporary social science debates and evidence about the modern preoccupation with ‘risk’ in society. You will address questions about social constructionist and realist accounts of risk, the emergence and impact of regulatory processes to ‘manage’ risk, and their manifestation at individual and institutional levels.
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Utopias and Dystopias
You will be introduced to the concepts of utopia and dystopia and key debates on these topics. You will gain an understanding of the complex relationship between the material world and utopian projections, and develop a critical approach to a variety of texts which seek to represent various utopias and dystopias.
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Visual Representation
This module examines a variety of themes and issues – practical, substantive, theoretical, methodological, textual and ethical- about the use of visual materials to account for social phenomena. You will address these matters through a range of work in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies.
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Media, Crime and Justice
You will gain an understanding of the relationship between news and popular media, crime, criminal justice, and cultural, social and political justice more broadly. You will focus on four key areas: media influence and effects; news media reporting of crime and criminal justice; fictional representation of crime and criminal justice; and new media and new forms of crime and justice.
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Forensic and Social Constructions of Guilt
You will analyse the sociological and socio-legal dimensions to the construction of guilt and develop a critical analysis of the key debates surrounding the use of forensic evidence in the detection of crime and in relation to expert evidence in the courtroom. You will assess the problematic nature of “facts” and “truth” in constructions of guilt and use selected high profile criminal cases as case studies.
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Intersectionality and Crime
You will gain an understanding of the construction of deviant labels based on variables of ethnicity, gender and youth, and the relationship between these labels and crime. You will engage with issues surrounding experiences of crime and encounters with the criminal justice system. You will also compare crime policies on a national and international scale and look at a number of historical and contemporary case-studies.
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Policing and Social Control
You will be introduced to issues surrounding the policing and social control in the past, in contemporary society and in the future, and analyse how social control and surveillance are manifested. You will identify the implications for policing and social control studies on wider sociology as well as policy and practice.
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Prisons and Punishment
You will develop an understanding of the evolution of the modern prison and of the relationship between prisons, probation, the courts and the media and the economic and social environment in which they operate. You will gain an understanding of the impacts of punishment with regard to age, gender and ethnicity and consider criminal justice institutions, policies, and practices in their contexts.
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Terror, Trials and Truth Commissions
You will critically analyse state violence and transitional justice and prominent examples of them. You will appraise the meanings of “terror,” “truth” and “justice” and assess the results of transitional justice mechanisms.
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Becoming a Victim
You will develop an understanding of how and why people become victims and of the relationship between victimisation and social and cultural variables. You will critically explore the place of the victim in the criminal justice system, and how they are processed.
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Violence in Society
An overview of the conceptualisation of “violence”. You will examine debates concerning violence in various aspects of life, consider the contemporary debates surrounding violence in a range of contexts, trace the development of theorisations of violence and consider ethical, methodological and practical issues involved in the researching of violence.
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Foreign Language (offered by UWLP)
You have the option to study a foreign language through the UWLP, which is practical in content and available at four levels (stages): Stage 1 (complete beginner), Stage 2 (Grade A*-C at GCSE), Stage 3 (Grade C or below at AS level), Stage 4 (Grade D or below at A2 level). The lower stages help you cope with everyday situations abroad or when dealing with visitors to this country, and the higher stages enable you to use the language in more professional contexts.
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