2024/25 entry
BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology
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Minimum UCAS points required: TBC
Why study Criminology and Sociology at Liverpool John Moores University?
- Taught by subject specialists with national and international reputations for their research and civic engagement
- Delivered using innovative teaching, learning and assessment methods, with options for fieldwork at home and overseas, with international study opportunities
- The teaching team are committed to sociology and criminology in action, and to making a difference in peoples' lives
- You will have opportunities to participate in 'out of classroom' learning activities including educational field visits to organisations, museums, art galleries, places of worship and walking tours
- Work placement opportunities in teaching, international development, charities, tourism, media, creative and heritage industries
About your course
The BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology at Liverpool John Moores University combines two contemporary and popular disciplines, providing you with grounding in core elements of both subjects, together with a wide range of optional modules that will enable you to follow your own pathway.
Throughout the course you will be encouraged to develop your critical thinking skills by questioning what we mean by the terms 'crime', 'criminals', 'punishment' and 'justice'. You will learn about the institutions of the criminal justice system and study areas like corporate crime, state crime, miscarriages of justice, policing and drugs. The two disciplines share many concerns, and our degree brings the two subjects together in ways which emphasise the areas of social policy, the variable impact of age, class, gender, sexuality, religion and ethics, disability and ethnicity on social life.
The degree is taught in the Sociology department, and your personal tutor will be a sociologist. The modules will be taught by a team of well-qualified, experienced and dedicated staff from the Sociology and Criminology departments.
You will study social science research methods, including qualitative surveys and qualitative techniques, and be provided with a thorough grounding in theoretical perspectives which are drawn upon in the critical investigations of societies and of criminology.
The degree carefully fosters an international perspective on society and criminology, considers the relationships between the local and the global, and includes opportunities to study abroad, undertake educational field work visits to South Asia or Europe.
Pathways can be built through the study of modules, which concentrate ecological issues, social policy and cultural analysis of media, music, sport and religion. You will also receive training in sociological methods and sociological and criminological theory.
The degree also offers you exciting work-based and work-related opportunities to gain professional experience relevant to your degree.
"Providing me with the critical, analytical and literary skills that prove so attractive to future employers, LJMU gave me the application, confidence and belief that I may achieve whatever I set out to accomplish."
Fees and funding
There are many ways to fund study for home and international students
Fees
The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- Library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- Access to programme-appropriate software
- Library and student IT support
- Free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Additional costs
Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:
- accommodation and living expenditure
- books (should you wish to have your own copies)
- printing, photocopying and stationery
- PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
- mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
- field trips (travel and activity costs)
- placements (travel expenses and living costs)
- student visas (international students only)
- study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
- academic conferences (travel costs)
- professional-body membership
- graduation (gown hire etc)
Funding
There are many ways to fund study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you'll find all of the information you need on our specialist funding pages.
Employability
This Criminology and Sociology degree provides a thorough intellectual grounding and equips you with transferable skills that are sought by most employers.
Criminology and Sociology graduates enter a variety of professions and careers, including:
- local and national government and the civil service
- youth work
- criminal justice system
- academia and teaching
- career guidance
- research
- journalism
- third sector advocacy
- think tanks
- policy development
In addition, our graduates find opportunities in police and probation services; human resource management; legal service; marketing and advertising; ICT development; business and finance; publishing; health services and health promotion; public health; ecology and environmental campaigning; international development; policy and administration; Government advice; the children's and young people's workforce; social services, and youth work and the youth justice workforce.
Student Futures - Careers, Employability and Enterprise Service
A wide range of opportunities and support is available to you, within and beyond your course, to ensure our students experience a transformation in their career trajectory. Every undergraduate curriculum includes Future Focus during Level 4, an e-learning resource and workshop designed to help you to develop your talents, passion and purpose.
Every student has access to Careers Zone 24/7, LJMU's suite of online Apps, resources and jobs board via the LJMU Student Futures website. There are opportunities for flexible, paid and part-time work through Unitemps, LJMU's in-house recruitment service, and we also offer fully funded Discovery Internships.
One-to-one careers and employability advice is available via our campus-based Careers Zones and we offer a year-round programme of events, including themed careers and employability workshops, employer events and recruitment fairs. Our Start-Up Hub can help you to grow your enterprise skills and to research, plan and start your own business or become a freelancer.
A suite of learning experiences, services and opportunities is available to final year students to help ensure you leave with a great onward plan. You can access LJMU's Careers, Employability and Start-up Services after you graduate and return for one-to-one support for life.
Go abroad
LJMU aims to make international opportunities available to every student. You may be able to study abroad as part of your degree at one of our 100+ partner universities across the world. You could also complete a work placement or apply for one of our prestigious worldwide internship programmes. If you wanted to go abroad for a shorter amount of time, you could attend one of our 1-4 week long summer schools.
Our Go Citizen Scheme can help with costs towards volunteering, individual projects or unpaid placements anywhere in the world. With all of these opportunities at your feet, why wouldn’t you take up the chance to go abroad?
Find out more about the opportunities we have available via our Instagram @ljmuglobalopps or email us at: goabroad@ljmu.ac.uk.
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What you will study on this degree
Please see guidance below on core and option modules for further information on what you will study.
Further guidance on modules
Modules are designated core or optional in accordance with professional body requirements, as applicable, and LJMU’s Academic Framework Regulations. Whilst you are required to study core modules, optional modules provide you with an element of choice. Their availability may vary and will be subject to meeting minimum student numbers.
Where changes to modules are necessary these will be communicated as appropriate.
Level 4
Core modules
Inside the Criminal Justice System
20 credits
This module will introduce you to the roles, agencies and institutions key to the operation of the Criminal Justice System. You will outline the decision-making mechanisms and how the Criminal Justice System operates in practice. Alongside this, you will also consider the range of possible outcomes arising from involvement with the Criminal Justice System and the impacts of this for individuals, groups and communities.
Introduction to Sociology
20 credits
This module introduces students to the discipline of sociology, covering both classic and contemporary research as applied to issues of contemporary debate.
After completing the module the student should be able to:
- Reach informed judgements about the value of classic and contemporary approaches to sociology.
- Use their sociological imaginations to consider contemporary issues.
- Draw on the basic skills required for effective study and learning.
Level 5
Core modules
Contemporary Perspectives in Criminology
20 credits
This module will help you to understand the complexities of contemporary theoretical perspectives in criminology, moving beyond standard ‘textbook’ accounts of crime, deviance and/or social control. Using this knowledge you will be able to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of contemporary accounts of crime and deviance in relation to their more established counterparts.
Optional Modules
The Medicalised Body: the Sociology of Health and Illness
20 credits
The first section of this module introduces you to the key areas in the sociology of health and illness, bringing together the contribution of different perspectives and methodological approaches which characterise sociological research in this area. It will allow you to understand the dominance of the biomedical model and how it has come to attempt to define experiences of health and illness. A sociological orientation will allow you to understand the importance of the social context in shaping the health of the nation. The second section will introduce you to the concept of medicalisation and we will use this lens to interrogate the ways in which bodies are 'othered', compartmentalised and differently treated. The related field of 'healthism' will further be explored and you will be challenged to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of such processes in relation to the perceptions and treatment of certain bodies.We will use case studies of particular embodied experiences which will uncover the relationship some bodies have with nature, technology, society and structures that expose regimes of discipline, regulation, normalisation and surveillance. Students will have the opportunity to build on some of these themes at level 6 in modules Body Politics.
Tech-Topia: Social Media, Power and Activism
20 credits
Module Overview: This module offers students a chance to examine the social significance of digital media in contemporary society. Beginning with an overview of the relationship between media and social change, the first part focuses on capitalism in its communicative form and develops a broad critique of digital power and inequality. The second part looks at the challenges encountered by social movements in contesting inequality by way of digital activism. A sample of research case studies will be considered as a means of evaluating the impact of online activism on participative democracy (eg. BLM). The third part of the module will be dedicated to combining theory, practice and social critique, offering the students a chance to develop a ‘guerrilla’ documentary praxis in producing a short activist documentary of their own.
Level 6
Optional Modules
Cities
20 credits
This module will equip students to discuss cities, urban processes and urban futures from a critical and sociological perspective. It will enhance their understanding of the nature, origins and consequences of urban issues. This module studies cities from a sociological perspective and is structured according to 3 main parts. Firstly, students will gain insights into the origins of urban sociology, especially its significance for the emergence of sociology as an academic discipline. We will read and discuss foundational texts and theories in early urban sociology. The second part of the module, will study the nature of urban politics focusing on questions of power and capital in the urban environment. The last part of the module, interrogates several urban issues and their relationship to sociological categories such as class, gender, race and more. The emphasis of the module is not just that student engage with complex theories and texts but also that student are able to develop alternative approaches and solutions to conflicts and issues that play out in the urban environment. Students are also encouraged to apply these theories to Liverpool and seek out examples and sites in our immediate urban environment that illustrate these points.
Imagined Communities: The Sociology of Nationalism
20 credits
Module Overview: This module will give students the opportunity to engage with the dominant political ideology of our time, and draw a critical awareness to it and how it operates. The module begins by introducing students to the notion of everyday nationalism, helping to see the way nationalism is embedded in daily life, and then follows this with a discussion of the main theoretical approaches to nationalism. The second block will then consider some major approaches to nationalism, giving students the opportunity to consider how nationalism interacts with other major social categories and aspects of contemporary life. Finally, we will look at some case-studies that engage with historical and contemporary issues that provide an overview of how nationalism can be critically examined to understand the contemporary world, and how it came to be.
Teaching and work-related learning
Excellent facilities and learning resources
We adopt an active blended learning approach, meaning you will experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning during your time at LJMU. This enables you to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with your studies. Our approach ensures that you can easily access support from your personal tutor, either by meeting them on-campus or via a video call to suit your needs.
Teaching is delivered via lectures, seminars, workshops, audio-visual presentations, online activities and fieldwork trips. Online discussion boards allow you to further debate, with your tutors and peers, ideas that arise in the classroom. Outside the classroom you will have access to extensive electronic resources via the LJMU network and print resources via the nearby Aldham Robarts library.
Work-related Learning
Opportunities for work-based and work-related learning are integrated into the programme. This will offer you the chance to put what you have learnt into practice, as well as providing new skills and experiences. It will also add real value to your CV, giving you a professional edge when you come to negotiate your way through the graduate job market.
Careers events and information on volunteering opportunities are incorporated into core modules and you will have the option to undertake placements at Level 6.
You will be encouraged to undertake a work placement during your studies.
Support and guidance
Dedicated personal tutor, plus study skills support
If you choose to study Criminology and Sociology, you will join a friendly and stimulating environment in which you will be encouraged to achieve your full potential in both your academic work and your future career. We pride ourselves on our informal and supportive relationships with our students.
You will be assigned a personal tutor who will be responsible for your academic and personal progress throughout your studies. Along with this scheduled one-to-one support, you will receive regular feedback and guidance from your module tutors on your research, writing and study skills.
Assessment
Assessment varies depending on the modules you choose, but will usually include a combination of exams and coursework.
We understand that all students perform differently depending on how they are assessed, so we use a range of traditional and innovative assessment methods. These include essays, exams, reports, individual and group presentations, policy analyses, online tests, wikis, critical reviews, posters and group work. Approximately 75% of your assessments will be by coursework and the rest by exam, but this varies according to the options you choose.
Constructive feedback on your assessed work is designed to help you achieve your full potential and get the most out of your studies. Your tutors will provide this in writing, by email or in face-to-face meetings where they will help you identify your strengths as well as areas where you may need to put in more work. They can also direct you to further support if you feel you need it.
Course tutors
Our staff are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning
Dr David Tyrer
Head of Sociology
Prior to joining LJMU, I held the Chair of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield before which I was Professor of Classical Sociology at the University of Derby, having previously served as Head of Department of Sociology at Derby. During my time at Derby I spear-headed the formation of the Society, Religion and Belief Research Group which is now a Research Centre at the University. I began my research and teaching career at Oxford Brookes University, which I joined whilst completing my graduate studies in the Faculty of Social Studies at Oxford University (Hertford College). For my Master of Letters at Oxford I was supervised by Dr Bryan Wilson of All Souls. My first degree was in Biblical Studies from the University of Sheffield where I also received the Epworth Prize for Greek and Hebrew Translation and Exegesis.
I have always been interested in promoting international perspectives in my work and pursuing comparative work, often working with colleagues from overseas.
Facilities
What you can expect from your School
The School of Humanities and Social Science offers an ideal environment in which to expand your knowledge and horizons. Situated on Mount Pleasant in the new ‘Knowledge Quarter ' of Liverpool, the School is home to five subject areas: English, History, International Relations, Sociology, and Media, Culture & Communication. It has a lively programme of cross-disciplinary research seminars, conferences, visits from international scholars and public events. Research from the School is recognised nationally and worldwide.
The university reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the university. Where this does happen, the university operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.
Further information on the terms and conditions of any offer made, our admissions policy and the complaints and appeals process.