Criminology, Policing and Investigation - BSc (Hons) *

This module aims to develop your critical analysis and original thinking skills within the application of artificial intelligence/ machine learning tools and models in policing and criminal justice. This involves a range of operational settings including the predictive analysis of crime, offender management, live facial recognition, bail and sentencing decisions, large language models and data analytics. The subject matter will examine the core ethical questions in the use of AI within policing and criminal justice, including legislation, governance, legitimacy and accountability. You will evaluate the increasing importance of AI tools and models, along with public attitudes towards these powerful emerging technologies.  

You will examine and test the evidence of AI effectiveness and its application within operational policing and criminal justice settings. This signposts how AI may be implemented in the future and presents further investigation of further AI developments including artificial general intelligence and what this means for human agency and decision-making. You will also compare the emergence of AI governance models within a global context and how AI is being maliciously deployed by within crime and security settings.   

You will participate in learning and teaching on this module via in-person lectures, workshops, eLearning activities and formative assessments. You will attend twelve, one-hour lectures and twelve two-hour workshops in Semester Two at our city centre campus. This allows you to engage the central concepts of Policing and Criminal Justice in the Machine Age. You will be provided with considerable support within formative tasks and assessments throughout the 12 weeks of study. Your assessment for this 20-credit module is highly authentic; relating to professional employment and research skills that involves you working in a team to make an in-person presentation to the module leader on an AI enabled policing solution and governance framework. This will include questions from the module leader to assess your understanding of the subject matter. For your assessment, you may use AI tools, i.e. Chat GPT, Claude etc. However, you must document the prompts used, evaluate the AI outputs and show where and/or how the AI tool was wrong, displayed limitations or may have hallucinated. Harvard referencing is also required throughout your presentation submission, with a bibliography.    

This module considers the role of forensic science in criminal investigations. You will examine a variety of methods and practices of forensic science, including crime scene analysis, DNA evidence and blood spatter analysis, and will discuss how these are interpreted to solve criminal cases. You will explore the theories and academic debates surrounding current practice.  

Teaching on this module is carried out by way of lectures and seminars, with individual guidance and assistance being available to you in the research and preparation of your work. The lectures will provide a basic framework and background to the subject and need to be supplemented by reading from the core texts and further reading. Seminar topics have been carefully chosen to promote discussion, through class debates, group exercises, and the use of selected media, therefore, you are strongly recommended to prepare for seminars by doing background reading and research where indicated. Emphasis is placed throughout on active and participatory learning in small groups. The module is assessed by an essay.   

Furthermore, the module will provide you with a critical understanding of the forensic sciences and their use within criminal investigation. As such, this module delivers an important background knowledge and comprehension to those seeking a career in policing or other spheres involving investigation, or in areas of employment that require the critical understanding of the conclusions that might be drawn from investigatory processes.  

This module is designed to help you explore Criminology‑related career pathways and begin developing your professional identity. It provides structured support to help you understand how the knowledge and skills gained through your degree can be applied in a wide range of professional contexts, both within and beyond the criminal justice system. It encourages you to connect Criminological theory to professional practice, strengthening your professional identity and preparing you for graduate employment. The module encourages you to think critically about different sectors, organisational cultures and ethical issues, and to consider where you see yourself working in the future. 

Through a combination of taught sessions, guided activities, and professional engagement, you will explore potential careers, develop employability skills, and reflect on your strengths, values and areas for development. The module is split into two parts: the first part comprises of taught sessions which focus on areas such as career exploration, skills mapping, professional conduct, reflective practice, and preparing effective examples for applications and interviews.  

The second part of the module encompasses a short period of professional engagement where you will be encouraged to connect your academic learning with professional experiences, and to articulate the transferable skills developed through your degree. This engagement is intended to be exploratory and flexible, allowing you to gain early exposure to professional or civic settings and to generate real experiences that can inform your learning and career planning. You will choose one of four pathways:  

The module provides you with the opportunity to apply the learning from your Criminology degree to the world of work. It is designed to enhance your ability to critically self-reflect and to strengthen your employability skills, professional awareness and further applied learning opportunities. If who wish to gain more extensive professional experience may choose to progress to the optional Semester 2 placement module, where they can continue to undertake their placement or a deeper and more sustained placement experience can be undertaken for an additional 20 credits.  

By the end of the module, you will have greater confidence in your employability skills, a clearer understanding of possible career routes, and a stronger foundation for making informed decisions about your future. 

This module is designed specifically to make you a confident social researcher, prepare you for writing an undergraduate dissertation, and enhance your employability, particularly project management skills. You will have a chance to engage with major and emerging methods of researching criminological, policing and security issues. The module will encourage you to think critically about choosing appropriate research approaches, ensuring ethical conduct, designing and using data collection tools, analysing data, communicating and disseminating your research, and managing projects. All these skills are what employers expect from criminology graduates. 

The module is assessed based on coursework, which involves preparation of a research proposal. The teaching is designed around preparing you to meet the learning outcomes and helping you design your own project. Methods will include lectures and interactive resources. You will also be able to apply your knowledge in practice by participating in seminar activities and designing your own research proposal for the assessment. We will provide examples of completed small and large research projects, discussing their design and methodology. Readings will include chapters from methodology textbooks, as well as articles reporting findings from completed studies. 

The module will help you strengthen the following competences: developing a research project; project management; conducting data analysis; addressing ethical issues; reviewing literature; academic writing; and referencing. 

In this module we will take a critical look at crime, social contexts, and the impact of space and place as linked to the urban city as a social milieu. We will also investigate the nature of contemporary city living and how this is experienced across intersections of identity, and what this means for vulnerabilities to being victims of crime or being led into criminal pathways. We will also look in detail at forms of criminological theory and consider newer emergent aspects of cultural and critical forms of criminology.   

Topics covered will range from conventional forms of crime to more sophisticated phenomena often considered under the rubric of harm rather than crime. Key features of the module include the focus on social and spatial factors on crime, as well as how city spaces facilitate crime, and what this means for the policing of city spaces. Subsequent inequities across a range of intersectional dynamics of identity are integral to the module, and it is a specific requirement that these wider contextual factors are drawn upon in the assessment. Other specific requirements include regular and consistent attendance, commitment to reading around topics covered in the module, and actively contributing to student-led discussions in seminars. The mode of assessment is a group presentation (20 minutes) to be accompanied by an individual written brief (1500 words) outlining the student’s contribution to the group work.  

Employability skills acquired throughout the module include time management, effective teamworking, decisive decision making, secondary research skills, and presentation skills around engagement and effective verbal communication. The module will encourage you to think about issues in your  

immediate locality and beyond, using both theoretical and empirical research material and personal reflection. 

Youth Crime and Justice aims to equip you with a sound theoretical knowledge of juvenile offending and justice. In essence, the understanding of the complex relationship between young people and criminality fits within the wider aims of the course and associated pathways as it draws on sociological and criminological understandings, furthering your ability to understand and problematise crime and its causes.  

The module also recognises that the separate and distinct administration of criminal justice to young people is a topic worthy of consideration in its own right, and considers important debates around justice, welfare, education, and the construction of youth and childhood. It takes both a contemporary and historical focus, considering how the nexus of crime, control, and youth have variously been considered during different historical periods. 

This module will equip you will the knowledge and understanding of current policy issues and responses to youth justice, essential for a career in the Criminal Justice System working with young people. The module is delivered in a lecture/seminar format and is assessed by an individual presentation. Furthermore, this module will enable you to enhance your oral communication and presentation skills which are transferable to employment. As well as giving you a working knowledge of employment within the youth justice industry. 

Black theoretical perspectives and debates on crime, criminal justice, and criminology are seldom heard, seen, or referred to, within so called ‘mainstream criminology’. A possible explanation for this ‘invisibility’ could be as a consequence of implicit biases within the discipline itself. It is argued that these implicit biases further reproduce and reinforces privilege of some perspectives, whilst at the same time subordinating others. Russell (2002) calls for the development of a ‘black criminology’, Phillips and Bowling (2003) further call for the need to develop ‘minority perspectives’ in criminology, whilst Glynn (2018) sees the need for a Critical Race Criminology to transcend the current subordinate status of non-white criminological perspectives.   

Key features of the module include a focus on racialisation and ‘race’ and what these mean for inequities in criminal justice, and for the wider social marginalisation of racialised groups in white majority societies. The ‘call to context’ is another key feature of the module, and the module will explore how processes of racialised marginalisation can lead to elevated vulnerabilities around exposure to, and exploitation within, criminalised spaces. The module also critically interrogates master-narratives around ‘race’ and crime, and offers critical counter-narratives as another key feature of the module.   

Specific requirements for the module include regular and consistent attendance, commitment to reading around topics covered in the module and actively contributing to student-led discussions in seminars. The mode of assessment is a group presentation accompanied by an individual written brief on the student’s contribution to the group work. 

Employability skills acquired throughout the module include critical thinking, the ability to deconstruct ‘race neutral’ narratives in institutional and organisational settings, time management, effective teamworking, decisive decision making, secondary research skills, and presentation skills around engagement and effective verbal communication. 

This module enables you to examine the nature of both illegal and legal drugs. Within this remit the evolving and ever-changing nature of both how substances are supplied and consumed will be discussed. How such substance use/misuse is linked to various forms of deviancy and crime will be considered. To give you a rounded perspective of the subject, the content will be global in scale, with the development of the ‘war on drugs' and related criminal justice policies included. Finally, contemporary issues in both supply, demand, official policy and practice will be at the fore, raising questions around the nature of illicit substance usage. 

You will be asked to critically consider current and future drug policy in relation to harms caused, impact upon vulnerable communities, and the motivations of substance use. You will consider this from an global perspective which acknowledges the power dynamics at play in relation to international drug trafficking. The module considers not only addiction and recreational drug use, but the political motivations of policing and the ‘War on Drugs’ and possible alternatives including decriminalisation and harm reduction policies. You will be encouraged to consider intersectionality, the broader socio-political context, and the use of drugs by those who have experienced personal and systematic victimisation. 

This module is designed to help you explore Criminology related career pathways and begin developing your professional identity. It provides structured support to help you understand how the knowledge and skills gained through your degree can be applied in a wide range of professional contexts, both within and beyond the criminal justice system. It encourages you to connect Criminological theory to professional practice, strengthening your professional identity and preparing you for graduate employment. The module encourages you to think critically about different sectors, organisational cultures and ethical issues, and to consider where you see yourself working in the future. 

Through a combination of taught sessions, guided activities, and professional engagement, you will explore potential careers, develop employability skills, and reflect on your strengths, values and areas for development. The module is split into two parts: the first part comprises of taught sessions which focus on areas such as career exploration, skills mapping, professional conduct, reflective practice, and preparing effective examples for applications and interviews.  

The second part of the module encompasses a short period of professional engagement where you will be encouraged to connect your academic learning with professional experiences, and to articulate the transferable skills developed through your degree. This engagement is intended to be exploratory and flexible, allowing you to gain early exposure to professional or civic settings and to generate real experiences that can inform your learning and career planning. You will choose one of four pathways below.  

The module provides you with the opportunity to apply the learning from your Criminology degree to the world of work. It is designed to enhance your ability to critically self-reflect and to strengthen your employability skills, professional awareness and further applied learning opportunities. Students who wish to gain more extensive professional experience may choose to progress to the optional Semester 2 placement module, where they can continue to undertake their placement or a deeper and more sustained placement experience can be undertaken for an additional 20 credits.  

By the end of the module, you will have greater confidence in your employability skills, a clearer understanding of possible career routes, and a stronger foundation for making informed decisions about your future. 

This module is designed to develop your understanding of the emergence and development of key theories of punishment through an exploration of the history of penal theory and its contemporary challenges and controversies. Furthermore, this module seeks to refine and expand upon traditional theoretical perspectives of punishment and the current reliance upon imprisonment as a dominant form of punishment in England and Wales. In doing so, it will require you to critically engage with some of the strengths and limitations of such an approach and consider possible alternatives. 

This module will help you to acquire numerous employability skills, such as critical thinking and reflective practice. Vocationally it is linked to a range of potential criminal justice professions in the statutory, voluntary and non-governmental sectors, building your knowledge and understanding of core functions and debates in the prison and punishment realms.

Crime does not occur randomly. It is always embedded within particular social and environmental contexts. This module takes this as its starting point, examining how crime is produced through the interaction of community structure, informal social control, and the built environment. The focus throughout is on understanding why crime occurs in particular places and how such incidences of crime can be analysed and addressed. 

The module begins by introducing you to place-based approaches to crime. Attention is given to neighbourhood structure and social organisation and disorganisation, drawing on the work of the Chicago School of Sociology, alongside the role of informal social control and collective efficacy in shaping community responses to crime. These perspectives are then extended through environmental criminology, including routine activity and crime patterns theory, to show how crime is structured through everyday movement, opportunity, and urban design and planning. Building on this, the module turns to mechanisms of crime prevention. We will introduce you to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), as well as the contributions of Jane Jacobs and Oscar Newman, before examining community-based, developmental, and situational approaches to crime prevention. The emphasis is on how these approaches operate at different levels, and how they can be combined, to produce effective crime control interventions. 

Assessment has been designed to be integral to the module. You will work in groups to design a fictional neighbourhood, analyse the issues within it, and develop a set of crime prevention strategies. This culminates in a group presentation and a written report, ensuring that you engage with both the diagnosis of crime problems within your neighbourhoods and the development of applied, theoretically informed, solutions. 

This module examines some of the contemporary debates that surround the concept and practice of police ethics, with a particular focus on criminal investigation. It moves from an examination of broad ethical models, through an analysis of the relationship of these models to the policing of a diverse society, on to the study of how principled policing needs to inform the work of criminal investigation. 

You will discuss, analyse and critique approaches to both ethics and policing practice. Much of the taught content will focus on introducing and explaining key cases which have had an impact on public perceptions of policing and police legitimacy. You will be asked to examine these case studies and consider what changes have been implemented, why and how far we have come. This will also incorporate consideration of the historic relationship between the police and specific communities, how/if relations have improved and what steps the police should take to build public trust. 

The module will be assessed by a 3,000-word investigative report. You will be encouraged to take a proactive attitude towards the module and to bring with you any thoughts, reflections or opinions on both current events and any cases that we may not have covered on the module, as well as the impact of contemporary policing policies on public perceptions. 

Learning will be a mix of taught content, reading and class discussion and you will be encouraged to reflect upon your own ethical framework as well as consider the motivations of the officers in question. It will help you to embed the analytical skills and critical attitude required for a career in any form of investigation. 

This module will explore essential criminal justice interviewing skills for practice in England and Wales. The module is designed to have direct relevance to the workplace and develop your employability potential should you seek to work in the criminal justice arena in the future. You will emerge from the module equipped with the skills and knowledge to conduct witness, victim, and suspect interviews. The teaching team includes relevant professional expertise and experience within policing and major crime investigation.   

This module focusses on key skills and academic theory that underpins current investigative interviewing practice in England and Wales. The module starts with an examination of the history behind modern interview practices and then explores questioning styles and techniques that may be adapted to enhance qualitative research outcomes and improve life skills. The focus of the module moves onto an examination of interviewing considerations with formative assessments where you will explore witness categorisation and Special Measures that can be put in place during the judicial process to support witnesses. The module then progresses into suspect interviewing, where you learn the legal and strategic requirements of conducting a suspect interview. The module culminates in a unique summative assessment where you will be required to work with a partner to conduct a 'live' suspect interview with a role player, demonstrating your abilities to observe the legal constraints and conduct an ethical and effective suspect interview. The module has direct relevance to developing skills for employability within policing and criminal justice and frames international approaches to investigative interviewing, making contrasts and comparisons to approaches within England and Wales. Inclusivity is a key theme in the theory and practice of investigative interviewing, including considerations around vulnerability, safeguarding, and human rights.  

This module provides you with the opportunity to carry out a self‑directed, critical investigation of a specific topic relating to Criminology. You will produce a substantial independent piece of work, which may be empirical, policy‑based, or theoretical in nature. Building on the skills developed at Level 4 in Applied Research Methods in Criminology and Level 5 in the Research Proposal module, you will draw on your developing knowledge, interests, and methodological competence to conduct an in‑depth dissertation in an area of your choosing. 

Guidance will be provided through taught sessions scheduled across the academic year, alongside supervision tailored to your individual dissertation. You will be allocated a supervisor who will offer small‑group and/or one‑to‑one supervision at key stages of the research process. Assessment for the module takes the form of a written dissertation, with opportunities to submit up to three formative patches for feedback. A series of writing retreats will also be offered, enabling you to work in a supportive and collaborative environment with peers and supervisors. 

The module is geared towards enhancing your employability by equipping you with a range of competencies necessary for graduate-level work and further study, including research design, project management, analytical skills, ethical awareness, and report writing skills. 

Crimes of the Powerful encompasses the damaging and victimising behaviours perpetrated by privately or publicly operated corporations, as well as the state facilitated legalistic and political responses to these activities. Within criminology and wider academia, we generally fail to scrutinise those who operate within the highest levels of society – those individuals or institutions with much economic and cultural capital. This module will address such deficiencies by providing a nuanced and holistic overview of the actions of such individuals, organisations and State actors.  

By utilising critical criminological theories and critical notions of violence underpinned by zemiology (the study of social harm), this module will highlight the contradictions in conventional state and academic approaches to criminality, whilst also demonstrating that some of the most significant harms and dangers we currently face – both in the UK and abroad - are interwoven into very fabric of normality. Specifically, we will look at how many of the harms produced by the powerful are engrained and proliferated within the globalised context of neo-liberal capitalism and consumer ideology.   

By presenting both theoretical discussions and real-life cases, you will be provided an opportunity to develop knowledge and critical understanding of criminology and related disciplines both in theory and in practice. You will also be exposed to one of the areas of excellence of our research centre and the research specialisms of staff. 

This module will provide you with a comprehensive and critical introduction to these topics and encourages you to actively research areas of interest through the development of an assessed case study, culminating in an essay. The assessment will assist in the development of key employability skills including written communication, critical analysis, problem-solving, and ethical and social awareness.  

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) continues to be on the rise locally, nationally and internationally, despite repeated attempts to prevent and tackle the root causes of this deeply entrenched behaviour. Rooted in systemic gender inequality, VAWG manifests across a wide spectrum of harmful acts that disproportionately affect women and girls. The persistence of these patterns, even in the face of legislative reform and increased public awareness, reflects the complex social, cultural, and institutional factors that sustain them. 

Consequently, this module aims to explore how VAWG is deeply linked to women’s inequality and encompasses a broad range of behaviours occurring both within and outside of the home. These include, Domestic and Relationship Abuse, Street Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and Honour-Based Abuse and Violence. Each of these forms of abuse will be examined in depth, drawing attention to the distinct contexts in which they occur and the systemic failures that allow them to persist. Throughout the module, we will draw on theoretical frameworks as well as real-world case studies and contemporary research, to identify the measures and partnerships used to prevent, investigate, and address the consequences.  

Broader discussions within the module will consider how an individual’s experience of VAWG is further compounded by intersecting dimensions, including race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, sexuality, gender identity, disability, mental health, and age. These intersecting factors shape not only a person’s vulnerability to abuse but also their access to support, justice, and recovery. Finally, the module will evaluate the capacity of existing policing and criminal justice frameworks to address emerging trends associated with VAWG. Attention will be given to the growing threat of technology-facilitated and online-enabled offending, including image-based abuse, coercive control through digital surveillance, and online harassment, reflecting the rapidly evolving landscape in which VAWG now occurs.