Criminology with Foundation Year

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.

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.

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’.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You will develop an area of interest through an extended Sociological or Criminological essay, without having to meet the demands of research-based activity associated with the Dissertation, examining topics of your choice.

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.

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.