Course summary

The Criminology and Criminal Justice MA covers a range of criminal justice and criminological debates. It also enables you to engage in more specialised socio-legal studies and offers the opportunity to explore discourse on international human rights, criminal law and transitional justice. Our Law School is home to the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice, the Centre for Law and Society, and the Centre for Child and Family Justice; these centres underpin our postgraduate teaching, which is often research-led and research-informed. The Lancaster University Law School is ranked 6th in the UK for research impact in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (2021, published May 2022), with 88% of its impact rated ‘outstanding’. Many of our lecturers are internationally recognised researchers. The course of study is similar for the MA and the LLM apart from the final dissertation and the Criminological Research in Practice module. Core modules are Crime and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century, Criminological Theory, and Criminological Research in Practice. You’ll also choose three from: International Criminal Law; Criminologies of Violence; Feminist Criminology; International Human Rights Law; International Terrorism and the Law; and Transitional Justice, Human Rights and Peace Building. You’ll complete your degree with either a Criminology or Criminal Justice Dissertation (MA). Your postgraduate degree can open doors to a wide range of careers within, and beyond, the criminal justice sector. Your degree could lead to jobs such as research jobs in the Home Office, Probation Service, and Social Services, and jobs within non-profit-making organisations, including the NHS, educational institutions and charities working with young offenders or victims of crime. You will have the opportunity to develop the skills required to critically evaluate criminological research, which can be highly prized by employers in both the public and private sectors. Whilst on the degree you will also have the chance to develop your analytical and communication skills which can help to build on your employability in and out of the criminal justice sector.