Social Care Practice
Criminology with Counselling with Foundation Year
School of Health and Society
Full-time
Four year
September 2023
In a nutshell
The Foundation Year programme will help you develop an understanding of the key subjects in social sciences so that you can continue to successfully study your degree in Criminology with Counselling or a related subject.
This foundation year is part of a four year pathway which will prepare you to study your chosen social sciences course. There will also be a limited number of places on our BSc Social Work programme for suitable students of this foundation year.
The key areas of study are effective communication and study skills, combined with fundamental subjects in the social sciences. You will study modules on sociology, criminology, social policy and social care to explore inequalities associated with gender, class, race, disability and health, using different theories to understand social change and how societies try to address inequalities and discrimination.
You will:
- Be introduced to basic theories and concepts within the disciplines to provide a basic knowledge in all related subject areas
- Use different theories to understand social change and how societies try to address inequalities and discrimination
- Examine key ideas in political and social thought, discussing ideas of citizenship and democracy and learning about the development of policy
This is for you if...
You want to continue on to any of our undergraduate social sciences courses, including Criminology with Counselling
You need extra support to help you progress
You have a keen interest in changing society
All about the course
The aims of the programme are to:
- Improve competence in essential areas of social sciences necessary for progression onto social science degrees
- Develop factual, theoretical knowledge, skills and understanding necessary for progressing in social science subjects
- Develop analytical, critical and problem solving skills in social science subjects
- Develop IT skills
- Develop communication and study skills
Below you can find the modules for your Foundation Year study as well as the modules for the BSc (Hons) Criminology with Counselling course.
This module aims to introduce you to key ideas about social care practice. Key models of practice and values will be explored in order to equip you with the knowledge to meet the requirements of this level of study. The focus on culturally competent practice and service user led provision will help you to understand the needs for practice that recognises a range of needs and is able to respond to individuals living within the community. The assessment strategy is designed to measure academic knowledge and communication skills with an explicit relationship between the lectures, seminars, learning outcomes and assessments.
Sociology; Theories and Concepts
The module aims to provide you with a firm grounding in sociological substantive and factual knowledge, help build interpretive capacity, and encourage the development of evaluative thought. You will also be encouraged to develop a range of allied transferable skills. Teaching will include formal delivery of material via lectures, supported by online materials, alongside seminars, for which you will be expected to prepare and in which you will be expected to actively participate. Tutorials will give you the opportunity to speak one-to-one to members of the teaching team to discuss any issues, questions or queries they have pertaining to aspects of their learning and development.
Understanding Social Policy
This module aims to introduce you to key ideas in social policy. The focus on the British experience of welfare services is designed to encourage you to examine welfare provision from different perspectives, use theory to explain social change and critically assess existing institutions such as the NHS, benefits and housing systems. Lectures include topics such as; meeting needs and the different welfare providers, introduction to social divisions; researching race/ethnicity in the media, political and ideological influence on policy, the feminist perspective (worker, wife, mother, carer), disability and education, poverty in the UK, tax and benefits, the winners and losers.
Understanding Criminology
The module introduces fundamental questions in criminology: What is crime? What causes crime? How does crime and criminal justice affect us? How should we best respond to criminal behaviour? In addressing these questions, key concepts will be explored. You will have the opportunity to choose a particular type of crime or deviance, then apply the various fundamental questions raised by the module week by week. The case studies will help you to apply concepts to contemporary issues. You will have the opportunity to consider different policy and practice solutions for criminal justice ‘industry’.
Introduction to Counselling
What is counselling? What does it mean to be an effective citizen? Counselling skills of active listening, empathy, respect and genuineness, identifying our values, beliefs and barriers to communication, enhancing personal development. This module introduces you to basic counselling skills and the skills and qualities required to be an effective citizen. The assessment strategy will prepare you for interview for admission to undergraduate Counselling and Psychotherapy programmes. The assignment is a personal learning statement which will require you to make your own learning plan for the future.
University Life
This module has been designed to promote a positive and supportive transition from further to higher education, focusing initially on the importance of wellbeing to successful study. The module will provide a firm grounding in the key skills required to be able to read, write and present in the academic world. You will embed your learning through a series of large and small group activities using a problem-based approach. Small group work will allow for regular, tailored feedback specific to small group tasks and group dynamics with a focus on your future chosen vocation. Following the completion of the module, you should feel very prepared for your journey at level 4 and beyond.
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 exploration of the issues relating to justice and civil liberties.
Crime, Conflict 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 crime policy.
Counselling and Therapeutic Approaches
This module has theoretical and practical components. The theory lectures will explore the history of counselling and psychotherapy, and introduce the student to some key concepts in the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers. The skills element of this module introduces counselling and listening skills in a lively interactive workshop framework where students have the opportunity to work in pairs and groups. The aim is to develop the student’s appreciation of the nature of helping relationships and to define some central elements in them. Students will be introduced to ideas that have shaped counselling practice.
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.
Becoming a Social Scientist
This module introduces you to the ways in which sociologists and criminologists work and aims to develop the critical, interpretive, reflective and academic skills required to succeed on the programme.
Therapy, Ethics and Human Rights
This module will define the terms of ethics and how they relate to Human Rights. You will explore the ethical boundaries of a therapeutic relationship and consider national, international and global issues that can impact on clients and therapists.
Theoretical Criminology
You will develop an understanding of the range of theories of crime and criminal justice and locate the key issues of criminology within their socio-political and historical context. You will gain a knowledge of the most important theories, and their relevance for understanding crime matters in contemporary society.
Research Problems and Methods: 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.
Research Problems and Methods: 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.
Intermediate Counselling Skills - 1
You will gain knowledge of the Rogerian Person-centred approach to counselling. You will be able to apply theory to practice, using counselling and listening skills. You will have opportunities to develop your self-awareness and interpersonal skills, relating these to theories of personality and personality change, as well as to theories associated with the person-centred approach.
Intermediate Counselling Skills - 2
You will be supported in extending your knowledge relating to counselling skills and how psychotherapeutic approaches can support people with mental health issues. You will deepen your ability to effectively use counselling skills, learn how to give and receive constructive feedback, and learn about the contexts within which counselling has developed and current exists.
Extended Essays
You will develop an area of interest through two pieces of extended criminological prose, without having to meet the demands of research-based activity associated with the Dissertation, examining topics of your choice.
Dissertation
You will examine a criminological topic of your choice in an independent piece of research, exploring an area of your own academic, professional or personal interest.
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.
Criminology optional modules (years two and three):
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.
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.
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.
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.
Constructing Guilt and Innocence
The typical criminal trial is primarily a contest between the prosecution and the defence over whether or not a crime was committed and whether the accused is guilty. Each side uses narrative, rhetorical and argumentative strategies to construct its own version of the events and to present claims about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Judges and juries must also do the same when they pronounce on a case, and third parties such as the public or the media often engage in a similar exercise. This module examines the strategies used to construct guilt and innocence, paying particular attention to their sociological underpinnings. Case studies will be an important part of the module’s content, and there will be presentations by prosecutorial, defence and judicial professionals.
The Criminal Justice Process - Criminology
You will gain an overview of the philosophy, nature, significance, outcomes and consequences of the criminal justice process and explore how it functions. You will think critically about key aspects of the criminal justice process and examine the interaction between different actors and agencies involved, and between the criminal justice process and politics, the community and the media. You will also have the opportunity to engage with professionals from each stage of the criminal justice process.
Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice
This module offers a broad introduction to the gendered dimensions of crime/criminality, criminal victimisation, criminal justice, and penology, and of the gendered theorising which attempts to account for this. It looks at the significance of gender to our understandings of and responses to crime and deviant behaviour.
Counselling optional modules (year three):
Bereavement and Loss
An in depth exploration of these important experiences in all our lives.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Skills
You will gain an understanding as well as the skills acquisition of the application of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Skills for mild to moderate anxiety and depression. The National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) identifies CBT as the therapy of choice for anxiety and depression. You will gain an understanding of how people are affected by anxiety and depression and other associated mental health issues.
Counselling and Mental Health
You will learn how counselling is used in specific contexts and with specific mental health issues.
Expressive Therapies
Explores the range of therapies that allow us to express ourselves.
Languages
You can take a university language module in place of one criminology option or one counselling option. Courses are available in Arabic, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
Please note that it may not be possible to deliver the full list of options every year as this will depend on factors such as how many students choose a particular option. Exact modules may also vary in order to keep content current. When accepting your offer of a place to study on this programme, you should be aware that not all optional modules will be running each year. Your tutor will be able to advise you as to the available options on or before the start of the programme. Whilst the University tries to ensure that you are able to undertake your preferred options, it cannot guarantee this.
School of Health and Society
The School of Health and Society is a forward-thinking, dynamic school with a commitment to lifelong learning and real world impact.
Our courses are informed by the latest research and we work closely with organisations from both the public and private sector to ensure our teaching is at the forefront of practice.
We have recently developed a special counselling suite which will be used for training students to become professional counsellors and psychotherapists.
The suite features therapeutic areas where one-to-one, family and group interactions can occur.
What about after uni?
You will be equipped with transferable skills in areas such as research, ICT, critical thinking and advanced problem solving, which will provide you with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a diverse range of professions.
Our degree in Criminology with Counselling degree provides a strong foundation for a wide range of occupations from victim and witness support, prison, probation work, and community rehabilitation companies.
Our graduates have gone on to become victim support workers, prison officers, police officers, crime analysts, private security managers, youth offending workers, and to occupy a variety of roles in programmes focusing on drug use, domestic violence or other problems.
Some of our graduates also go on to complete a conversion qualification for a career in law while others do a postgraduate certificate in education and go into teaching.
What you need to know
This course isn’t suitable for international students. If you are an international student and interested in studying a foundation year, please visit our International Foundation Year course page.
APPLICANT PROFILE
You would have a keen interest in changing society with perhaps some experience of the social sciences from school or college. If you have practical knowledge of change in the systems that provide welfare services, economic, political and social structures this programme can assist you in the development of your ideas and progression. Career opportunities are widespread across all sectors dependent on the degree path chosen.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
Applicants will be required to show a proficiency in English. An IELTS score of 6.0, with no element below 5.5, is proof of this.
GCSE
English Language and Mathematics at grade C/ grade 4 or above.
You must fulfil our GCSE entry requirements as well as one of the requirements listed below.
UCAS tariff points
64 points
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 points
A level
64 points from a minimum of two A-Levels
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 points from a minimum of two A2 subjects
BTEC National Diploma
MPP (BTEC Extended Diploma), MM (BTEC Diploma)
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be MMP points
Scottish Highers
64 points
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 points
Irish Leaving Certificate
64 points
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 points
European Baccalaureate
Pass in Diploma of at least 60%
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 UCAS points equivalent
Access to HE
64 points
If applying for entry in 2022, our entry requirements will be 80 points. Sociology and Social Sciences preferred.
Salford Alternative Entry Scheme (SAES)
We welcome applications from students who may not meet the stated entry criteria but who can demonstrate their ability to pursue the course successfully. Once we have received your application we will assess it and recommend it for SAES if you are an eligible candidate.
There are two different routes through the Salford Alternative Entry Scheme and applicants will be directed to the one appropriate for their course. Assessment will either be through a review of prior learning or through a formal test.
How much?
Type of study | Year | Fees |
---|---|---|
Full-time home | 2023/24 | £8,250 for Foundation Year and £9,250 for subsequent years. |
Additional costs
You should also consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits.
All set? Let's apply
UCAS code: MC12
Start date: September
Duration: One year, progressing to three year degree programme
Enrolment dates
UCAS information
Course ID MC12
Institution S03