Criminology BA (Hons)

Modules

• Year 1 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Critical Reading and Writing for Criminologists
  • Themes and Perspectives in Sociology I
  • Thinking Like a Criminologist

  Spring teaching

  • Criminological Classics
  • Criminology in Theory and Perspective
  • Understanding the Criminal Justice System

  Your degree

  In your first year, you’ll develop the key skills you’ll need to think like a criminologist. You’ll:

  • build an understanding in the theory and practice of criminology as a discipline
  • develop the knowledge and intellectual tools needed to undertake a more detailed analysis of crime and deviance across the world today – its manifestations, social causes and consequences
  • deepen your understanding of the topics, issues and debates within criminology
  • learn about key theoretical perspectives and concepts – the analytical frameworks vital to understanding theories of crime, and to evaluating competing criminological explanations in national and international contexts
  • apply criminological thinking as tools to understand and analyse crime, criminality and punishment by situating them within broader social, cultural, political and historical contexts.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures and seminars.

  

  50%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include essays, professional logs, a report and a portfolio.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 170 hours of contact time and about 1,030 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Year 2 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn teaching

  • Designing Social Research

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn teaching

  • A Sociology of Generations and Social Change? From Passive to Active Generations
  • Citizenship, Activism and Resistance
  • Crime and the Media (Aut)
  • Drugs, Crime and Deviant Leisure
  • Gender, Crime and Justice
  • Identity, Violence and Transgression
  • Lions Den: An Exploration (A)
  • Police and Policing
  • Sociology of Emotions and Mental Health
  • The Climate Crisis, Criminology & the Justice System
  • The Politics of Criminalisation (Autumn)

  Spring teaching

  • Doing Social Research: working with qualitative data
  • Drugs, Crime and Deviant Leisure
  • Gender, Crime and Justice
  • Precarity and the Politics of Work (Spr)
  • Punishment and Penology (Spr)
  • Sociology of Emotions and Mental Health
  • The Alchemy of Race and Racism (Spring)
  • The Sociology of Human Rights
  • Victimology and Emotion

  Your degree

  In your second year, you’ll:

  • study the foundational principles and practices of social research – from project design to empirical practice
  • explore a range of different methods and methodologies that will strengthen your applied social research skills. These foundational research skills will improve the quality and rigour of your academic work across all facets of your degree
  • have the opportunity to tailor your degree to your interests by choosing from specialised options. Our options build on the knowledge developed in the first year and explore key topics and debates in contemporary criminological thought – for example the politics of policing and criminalisation, mass incarceration and punishment, crime and the media, or green and environmental crime – in greater detail. 

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include lectures and seminars.

  

  50%: Lecture
  50%: Seminar

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include longer essays, portfolios, a professional log and a computer-based examination.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 170 hours of contact time and about 1,030 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

• Experience Year

  Study abroad (optional)

  Apply to study abroad – you’ll develop an international perspective and gain an edge when it comes to your career. Find out where your course could take you

  If your application to study abroad is successful, you’ll have to meet the academic requirements at Sussex and also at the partner university. Find out more about studying abroad as a Sussex student

  Placement (optional)

  To help you gain experience and increase your employability, you can apply for an optional placement as part of your course. You’ll be responsible for applying for and securing your placement. Our dedicated careers team can provide you with information and advice. If you’re successful in obtaining a placement, this will form part of your course.

  Find out more about placements and internships

  Please note that if you’re receiving – or applying for – USA federal Direct Loan funds, you can’t transfer to the version of your course with an optional study abroad period in any country or optional placement in the USA if the number of credits for the placement/internship exceeds 25% of the total credits for your course. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid

• Year 3 at Sussex

  Your modules

  Core modules

  Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.

  Autumn and spring teaching

  • Criminology Project

  Options

  Alongside your core modules, you can choose options to broaden your horizons and tailor your course to your interests. This list gives you a flavour of our options, which are kept under review and may change, for example in response to student feedback or the latest research.

  While it’s our aim for students to take their preferred combinations of options, this can’t be guaranteed and will be subject to timetabling. Options may be grouped and if so, students will be able to choose a set number of options from the selection available in any particular group.

  Autumn teaching

  • (Im)mobilities and the Criminal Justice System
  • Carceral Technologies
  • Class, Power and the State (Aut)
  • Crimes against Humanity (Aut)
  • Critical Perspectives on Terrorism
  • Digital Activism and Citizenship in Datafied Societies
  • Technology and the Human
  • The Death Penalty

  Spring teaching

  • Criminology of Violence and Death
  • Neurocriminology
  • Riots, Strikes, Revolts
  • Temporalities - Histories - Hauntologies (Spr)
  • The Death Penalty
  • Understanding Gangs (Spr)
  • Visual Criminology (Spr)

  Your degree

  In your final year, you become a researcher – you’ll undertake an independent empirical research project that runs across the whole year. You’ll build on the social science research methods knowledge gained in Year 2 and apply it to a research topic of your choice.

  You’ll also choose specialised options to match your interests. Your lecturers are experts in their field and inform their modules with the material they actively research. This ensures that your course is always current and up to date. You’ll take a deeper look at some of the key criminological topics, issues and debates around the use of carceral technologies, the death penalty, hauntologies, gangs and crimes against humanity.

  Teaching

  Teaching methods typically include practical workshops.

  

  100%: Practical

  Assessment

  Assessment methods typically include longer-form essays and portfolios. For your criminology project, you’ll submit a dissertation based on a year-long independent empirical research project. Other assessed components of the criminology project include a research proposal and an oral presentation of your project.

  Contact hours and workload

  This year of study includes approximately 1,200 hours of work. This breaks down into about 110 hours of contact time and about 1,090 hours of independent study.

  Engage and actively participate throughout your studies to get the most out of your course.

Customise your course

• Progressive Futures electives

  Year 1

  Autumn teaching

  • Digital and Data Futures
  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Human Flourishing

  Spring teaching

  • (Re)Imagining Future Worlds through Humour and Play
  • Adapting Literature
  • American Political Culture
  • Art and Artists
  • Black British History
  • Climate Justice: Policy & Activism in a Time of Global Crisis
  • Gender Across Cultures
  • Gendering the Life Course
  • Global Cultures, Local Lives
  • Global Issues
  • Global Migration in a Digital Age
  • Inclusive Practice with Young People
  • Introduction to Human Rights
  • Introduction to the European Union
  • Leading Social Change: Communication and Activism
  • Mental Health and Madness: exploring socio-cultural approaches
  • Music and Society
  • People, Culture and the Global Economy
  • Principles of Cognitive Science
  • Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
  • Society, State and Humanity
  • The Age of Adolescence: Reading 20th Century Youth Culture
  • The Look of America
  • The Meaning of Life
  • Understanding the Criminal Justice System

  Year 2

  Autumn teaching

  • Access, Equity and Gender
  • Analysing Film (E)
  • Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law
  • Biological Psychology
  • Business in World Politics
  • Crime and Criminal Justice
  • Decoding Cultures of Technology and Social Change
  • Feminist Philosophy
  • Forest Food Gardens: The Theory and Practice of Food Growing
  • Global News Cultures
  • Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Education
  • Inter-cultural Encounters
  • Landscapes of Resistance and Social Justice
  • Leading Social Change: Taking Action
  • Migration, Identity and Rights
  • Police and Policing (Elective)
  • Political and Social Change in Contemporary Europe
  • Race and Ethnicity in US History
  • Sleep and Mental Health
  • Sustainability and Climate Justice
  • Video Games: Creative & Critical Writing

  Spring teaching

  • Activist Skills for Global Justice and Sustainable Futures
  • Advertising (E)
  • American City
  • Autism and Education
  • Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
  • Contemporary Issues in Law
  • Creative Coding
  • Creative Production in the Arts
  • Decolonising Education: Knowledge, Power and Sustainable Societies
  • Digital Law Toolkit
  • Education, Peacebuilding and Conflict
  • Everyday Digital: Generation, Life-Course and Expertise
  • Exploring Death and Dying; Cultural, Theoretical and Practice Perspectives
  • Exploring Teaching in Schools
  • Forest Food Gardens: Communities, Ecologies and Collaboration
  • Language, Identity and Nation
  • Language, Mind and Brain
  • Making Sense of Complexity: Tools for Addressing Real World Sustainability Challenges
  • Philosophy of Race
  • Psychology of Cognitive Processes
  • Punishment and Penology
  • The Far Right and the Politics of Immigration
  • The Liberal World Order - in Crisis
• Languages and TESOL electives

  You can choose to study language electives for two or three years. This allows you to add the language to the title of your degree:

  • if you study a language for two years, you could graduate with a title such as Psychology with proficiency in Japanese BSc (Hons)
  • if you study a language for three years, you could graduate with a title such as Psychology with Japanese BSc (Hons).

  Year 1

  Autumn teaching

  • Arabic Beginners A
  • Arabic Intermediate A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2A
  • Chinese Beginners A
  • Chinese Intermediate A
  • French Beginners A
  • French For Professional Purposes 1A
  • French Intermediate A
  • German Beginners A
  • German Intermediate A
  • Introduction to TESOL - Theory and Methodology 1
  • Italian Beginners A
  • Italian Intermediate A
  • Japanese Beginners A
  • Japanese Intermediate A
  • Spanish Beginners A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
  • Spanish Intermediate A

  Spring teaching

  • Arabic Beginners B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2B
  • Chinese Beginners B
  • Chinese Intermediate B
  • French Beginners B
  • French For Professional Purposes 1B
  • French Intermediate B
  • German Beginners B
  • German Intermediate B
  • Italian Beginners B
  • Italian Intermediate B
  • Japanese Beginners B
  • Japanese Intermediate B
  • Spanish Beginners B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
  • Spanish Intermediate B
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 1

  Year 2

  Autumn teaching

  • Arabic Advanced A
  • Arabic Beginners A
  • Arabic Intermediate A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2A
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3A
  • Chinese Advanced A
  • Chinese Beginners A
  • Chinese Intermediate A
  • French Advanced A
  • French Beginners A
  • French For Professional Purposes 1A
  • French for Professional Purposes 2A
  • French Intermediate A
  • German Advanced A
  • German Beginners A
  • German Intermediate A
  • Introduction to TESOL - Theory and Methodology 1
  • Italian Advanced A
  • Italian Beginners A
  • Italian Intermediate A
  • Japanese Advanced A
  • Japanese Beginners A
  • Japanese Intermediate A
  • Spanish Advanced A
  • Spanish Beginners A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A
  • Spanish Intermediate A
  • TESOL Theory and Methodology 2

  Spring teaching

  • Arabic Advanced B
  • Arabic Beginners B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • Arabic Intermediate B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2B
  • British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3B
  • Chinese Advanced B
  • Chinese Beginners B
  • Chinese Intermediate B
  • French Advanced B
  • French Beginners B
  • French For Professional Purposes 1B
  • French for Professional Purposes 2B
  • French Intermediate B
  • German Advanced B
  • German Beginners B
  • German Intermediate B
  • Italian Advanced B
  • Italian Beginners B
  • Italian Intermediate B
  • Japanese Advanced B
  • Japanese Beginners B
  • Japanese Intermediate B
  • Spanish Advanced B
  • Spanish Beginners B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
  • Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B
  • Spanish Intermediate B
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 1
  • TESOL Teaching Practice 2

These electives are designed to help you explore key global challenges with world-leading experts from across the University and beyond.

Whichever path you take, you’ll develop key skills to tackle the complexity of contemporary challenges. This will help improve your employment prospects and help you contribute to creating progressive futures for all.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.