2024/25 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BSc Social Policy, Sociology and Crime

Total credits: 360

Entry requirements:

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

School of Sociology & Social Policy

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

Sociology

Social Policy

Criminology

Programme specification:

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme in 2022/2023 or before. For students entering the programme from September 2023 or after, you can find the details of your programme: BSc Social Policy, Sociology and Crime (For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

Our Social Policy, Sociology and Crime degree is a unique interdisciplinary programme that examines the changing nature of social relations, the role of social problems in our everyday lives and how institutions of the state respond to them. As part of this programme, you learn about the inequalities that undermine the rights and recognition of marginalised groups and what role social policy can play in maximising our individual and collective welfare. You will learn about the social and political construction of crime, including who and what comes to be recognised as 'criminal'. In doing so, you will investigate how certain behaviours and populations are regulated and whose interests these interventions serve.

Through the course of your degree, you will investigate the dynamics between individuals and wider society and the contemporary challenges facing social policy that extend beyond national borders and discrete policy domains. By engaging with social theory, historical evidence and practical policy issues, your studies will draw on key thinkers across a range of fields to develop a deep understanding of the drivers behind particular social policies and their (often unintended) effects on individuals and civil society. At the same time, you will explore how policy areas such as poverty, health, housing, education and street-level crime (as opposed to the crimes of powerful elites and governments) have come to be seen and portrayed as social problems. Across these areas, this programme will help you question the methods and extent to which different states do or do not provide for the welfare of its citizens or effectively tackle their social problems. By connecting 'evidence-based' policy issues facing contemporary societies to social theory, you will be able to comprehend why social problems persist and identify what can be done about them. A wide range of optional modules are available allowing you to tailor your degree to your individual interests and study key topics in more detail.

The programme will provide the opportunity for students to combine sociological theory with the critical and creative aspects of the discipline of social policy and the policy area of crime. Students will study from both a policy and theoretical perspective as well as considering the impact of the welfare state on questions of poverty and social exclusion, racial justice, gender recognition, disability, climate change and globalisation. They will have the opportunity to deploy and combine various techniques of analysis and enquiry contained within the fields of Social Policy, Sociology and Crime to develop a conceptual understanding of policy debates and describe and comment on particular aspects of scholarship and recent research. Study in the programme is thus structured in ways that provides breadth, depth, proficiency in the application of policy analysis (both in term of the 'social' and the 'anti-social') and an aptitude towards theoretical concepts in quantitative or qualitative research. Crucially, opportunities will be provided for students to develop interests and informed opinions through autonomous study.

Ultimately, students will be able to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding in a final year/level dissertation. This will provide students with the conceptual understanding required for future employment across a wide range of fields in the public, private and charitable sector, including employment spheres relating to crime or criminal justice. Students will graduate with key transferrable skills developed in policy analysis and evaluation, critical thinking, research methods and collaborative working.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year2 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

Students must take ONE of the following compulsory modules from the basket:

Basket 1: Candidates will be required to study 1 module from the following optional modules: 

Basket 2: Candidates will be required to study 1 module from the following optional modules: 

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year3 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

In order to be eligible for an honours degree, students must meet the normal Rules for Award by passing all modules which are designated to be passed for award or progression and by passing the required number of credits at each level as specified in the Curricular Regulations (at least 200 credits at level 2 or above, of which at least 100 should be at level 3). Students must pass at least 100 credits at Level 3 and all core modules to proceed to gain the degree.

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory module:

Optional modules:

Candidates are required to study one of the following 40 credit dissertation modules:

Candidates are required to study at least 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Discovery modules:

Candidates may study up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Last updated: 07/05/2024 17:03:56

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