Bachelor of Arts (Honours) - Criminology (CR01)

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Criminology blends the disciplines of criminology, psychology, international law, and political science and international relations with expertise in research methods, preparing students for a wide range of careers in criminal justice, police and law enforcement, border protection, security, and community safety. Other careers include employment in international organizations, business, finance, government institutions, agencies, consultancies, advocacy groups, and the media.

Students specialize in five areas in the study of Criminology and its connected fields (plus Combined Studies):

• Core theories and practices of Criminology: theories of crime, criminality and victimhood (and critical responses to these); finding and interpreting data concerning crime; institutions of the criminal justice system (including law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, corrections and rehabilitation, and alternative approaches); types of crime; crime prevention strategies.

• Key contemporary issues in Criminology: social structure and crime; deviant behaviour and social norms; criminology and the changing role of the media; organized crime; international criminal activities; terrorism/extremism and state responses to these; criminology in popular culture.

• Psychology: Clinical psychology is the broad field of psychology to which forensic psychology belongs. Students study psychology throughout the programme, from Introduction to Psychology at level 4, to Human Science Research at level 5, to Clinical Psychology at level 6. This provides real substance to Criminology at Richmond as a genuinely interdisciplinary programme.

• Public Policy: Ensuring students understand the global legal and political contexts for crime, as well as the issues and problems policy-makers and political processes face in addressing the dynamics of crime and criminal behaviour which may be transnational in character. Includes International Law and Human Rights at level 5 and Policy-Making in a Globalized World at level 6. Students engage in interdisciplinary cognate fields to Criminology (International Relations and Political Science) while addressing cutting edge issues on the discipline such as human rights violations.

• Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative approaches and research ethics. There is strong emphasis on research methods in the programme. All students take probability and statistics as a core maths requirements, and study qualitative research methods both in the core Research Methods in Criminology course and as embedded in the other Criminology courses, as well as taking Human Science Research as part of the Psychology stream. Research ethics are addressed at various points in the programme, including in the Service-Learning course (Global Citizenship and Migration) and the final Senior Project in Criminology.

• Combined Studies: students take a range of courses as part of the US ‘Liberal Arts’ component of the programme, including from arts and humanities, the sciences, and a service-learning course, as well as a further course in either International Relations or Psychology. There is also space in the degree structure for students to take a Minor in a range of other subject areas.