2023/24 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BSc Social Policy, Sociology and Crime (For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

Total credits: 360

Entry requirements:

For entry requirements please visit Coursefinder

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

School of Sociology & Social Policy

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

School of Sociology & Social Policy

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

QAA Subject Benchmark Group: Social Policy (in part) and Sociology (in part)
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/subject-benchmark-statement-social-policy.pdf?sfvrsn=64e2cb81_4

https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/subject-benchmark-statement-sociology.pdf?sfvrsn=6ee2cb81_4

Programme specification:

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme from September 2023. For students who entered the programme before September 2023, you can find the details of your programme: BSc Social Policy, Sociology & Crime


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 deviance, 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 government 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 such as disability rights, terrorism, discrimination and childhood.

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 crime and deviance from both a policy and theoretical perspective as well as consider 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 fields in the public, private and charitable sector, including employment spheres relating to crime or criminal justice. Students will grad uate 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]

In level 1, students must pass 100 credits and all core modules as identified in the programme.

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 this basket:

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

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

Discovery modules:

Year3 - 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 dissertation modules from the basket:

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

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

Discovery modules:

Last updated: 12/05/2023 16:52:04

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