BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology

Course details On this course you will usually be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry. Year 1 Core units Introduction to Criminology & the Criminal Justice System: An introductory exploration of crime, the discipline and study of criminology, drawing on international perspectives, and the history and development of the criminal justice system and penology, especially in the UK. There will also be scope for international comparison of approaches to crime and punishment in developed and less developed societies. Social Exclusion & Discrimination: You will explore the nature, lived experience, impact and possible causes of social exclusion and discrimination, using sociological and anthropological approaches. You will apply relevant sociological and anthropological enquiry to explore social exclusion, inequality, discrimination and oppression. Introduction to Social Research: This unit offers a broad introduction to sociological and anthropological methods and approaches to research. You will be introduced to a range of classic and contemporary examples of social research and will develop your knowledge of research methods and methodologies in dedicated skills workshops. Finally, you will be encouraged to carry out your own supervised group project into social phenomena as the first formal step into conducting your empirical at undergraduate level. Introduction to Social Theory & Deviance: You are introduced to key social theory that has informed classical and contemporary sociology and anthropology. Such theories will be embedded in the historical and philosophical context of the analysis of Western society and its social forms. Understanding Rural & Urban Communities: This unit aims to provide you with a broad overview of the development of urban and rural communities. You will be encouraged to consider the ways in which ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ are represented in contemporary society, and how this impacts upon both individual and community identity and participation. Families & Kinship in Contemporary Society: The overall aim of this unit is to introduce you to the complexity of family constellations and their meanings in contemporary societies. You will be introduced to the sociology of families, competing definitions, social policies relating to families, and comparative international family practices as they constitute and are constituted by their members. Contact hours The hours below give an indication of the contact time and independent learning you can expect during the first year of this course. You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions. Your independent learning could include reading books and journal articles, working on group projects, preparing presentations, conducting library research and writing your assignments. Learning and teaching: 180 hours (estimated) Independent learning: 1020 hours (estimated) Year 2 Core units Ethnographies of Crime & Policing: You will explore ethnographies of crime and policing. You will study critically how crime and ‘policing’ may be understood and approached within social worlds and will observe ‘policing’ behaviour in Bournemouth. Methods & Methodologies in the Social Sciences: You’ll broaden your understanding and familiarity with core social research design, modes of analysis and methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative and emancipatory methods. What hurts, where does it hurt, how much does it hurt? – The Impact & Costs of Crime: The unit will explore the obvious and less obvious ‘costs’ and impact of crime on individuals (whether ‘victim’ or ‘perpetrator’ or others, such as the families of offenders), on communities and on society at large. This will include the obvious personal safety aspects, as well as the emotional, social and financial impact on individuals,communities and wider society. Trafficking, Migration & Criminality: You will consider the relationship between trafficking, migration and criminality. The unit looks at different forms of trafficking (including human trafficking, the drug trade, the global sex industry, organ trafficking and the smuggling of commodities) across a number of countries in Europe, North Africa, South East Asia and the United States and considers the trafficking industry in relation to South to North migration flows. Option units (choose two) Growing Up & Growing Old: This unit explores sociological and anthropological perspectives and theories of childhood, youth and aging. Crime Health & Society: The aim of the unit is for students to explore the rich and complex findings of social science in the sphere of health and how it relates to crime. 20-day Placement: You will have the opportunity to study an area of academic and professional interest in sociology and its relationship to wider society through participation in placement based learning. Into the Field: This unit aims to provide you with experience of carrying out ethnographic research. Working in teams, you'll collaboratively design and undertake research projects in the Bournemouth area, using ethnographic methods and techniques to investigate sociologically and anthropologically framed research questions. Globalisation & Marginalisation: You’ll explore how a series of global processes, institutions, and flows (of people, capital and commodities, for example) generate complex forms of inequality and marginalisation in the contemporary world, as well as some of the ways in which these developments are challenged and opposed. Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year. Contact hours The hours below give an indication of the contact time and independent learning you can expect during the second year of this course. You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions. Your independent learning could include reading books and journal articles, working on group projects, preparing presentations, conducting library research and writing your assignments. Learning and teaching: 180 hours (estimated) Independent learning: 1020 hours (estimated) Year 3 Placement: You'll complete an optional minimum 30-week placement which can be carried out anywhere in the world. The placement year offers you a chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future. Year 4 Core units Terrorism, Protection & Society: The aim of this unit is to introduce you to many of the complex issues involved in conceptualising and responding to terrorism and protection in contemporary societies. You will be introduced to protection and counter-terrorism as a form of social regulation and control of individuals and ‘deviant’ groups (micro and meso issues) and prescribing ways in which society is ordered in an age of terrorist threat (macro-political issues). You will develop a deep critical understanding of the ways in which meanings are constructed and how these impact on social life. Addressing Crime: Penology, Prevention & Victims: You will consider individual level responses designed to prevent crime and to protect individuals, an historical review of policing, penology and the development of criminal justice systems. Consideration will also be given to whether wider policy changes such as in education and mental health or drug policy might make a difference in the medium to longer term. Questions of social change and transformation as a way of addressing crime thrown up by the more structural sociological perspectives will also be evaluated. Dissertation: The dissertation provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate your intellectual, analytic and creative abilities through sustained independent work. Specifically, it aims to provide an opportunity for critical in-depth review of the research literature within the broad parameters of sociology and/or anthropology, and to enable students to apply this knowledge in the development of a research proposal. Option units (choose two) Anthropology of International Policy & Intervention: This unit aims to familiarise students with critical anthropological debates on international intervention policies and practices. 20-day Placement: Students will have the opportunity to study an area of academic and professional interest in sociology and its relationship to wider society through participation in placement based learning. Troubling Gender: This unit will explore gender as socially constructed and historically variable aspect of societies, past and present. It will examine the ways in which gender informs social structures, inequalities, and analyse the interrelationships between gender and other social categories (e.g., class, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, and nationality). Intersectionalities of Crime: You will critically explore the social construction of crime by looking at the media and attitudes towards different social groups, social policies and laws relating to crime, and global perspectives on crime. Seekers, Believers & Iconoclasts: Sociology of Thought: This unit explores belief systems as a sociological phenomenon contextualised within a cultural and social analysis, as well as a philosophical and historical one. Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year. Contact hours The hours below give an indication of the contact time and independent learning you can expect during the final year of this course. You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions. Your independent learning could include reading books and journal articles, working on group projects, preparing presentations, conducting library research and writing your assignments. Learning and teaching: 180 hours (estimated) Independent learning: 1020 hours (estimated) Programme specification Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used. Download the programme specification for BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. 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