Course summary

With crime frequently in the news and always an important issue, criminology has never been more relevant. The Criminology BA Honours aims to enthuse, inspire and equip you with the skills for a successful career in today's competitive job market. Criminology draws on a wide range of human and social science disciplines, and the course has been designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of criminology as an interdisciplinary subject area. It will also equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development. Westminster's criminologists are concerned with who commits crimes and how offenders should be punished, but at the heart of criminology are fundamental questions about how 'crime' is defined, how criminal law is made, and how definitions of crime and justice vary historically and cross-culturally. Where better to study this fascinating discipline than in the heart of the UK's policing and criminal justice systems? Contemporary concerns are reflected as the subject engages with globalisation and culture throughout the theoretical, qualitative and the empirical. Our graduates go on to develop careers in a wide range of sectors including the police and policing-support organisations, the Probation Service, local government and crime prevention. The course is organised around three distinctive themes – justice, human rights, and crime in its local and global contexts. However, the wide range of core and option modules cover an extensive range of topics including processes of criminalisation and victimisation; the social, legal and cultural meanings of crime; the causes and organisation of crime and deviance at all levels; understanding crime in relation to class, gender, race and ethnicity, religious faith, and sexuality; and the practical and political processes of preventing and managing crime. Teaching and learning methods include lectures, seminars, independent study, and 'off-site' learning such as visits and field walks which make use of Westminster's central London location. Assessment methods may include essays, debates, criminal justice policy analyses, individual and group presentations, exams, statistical analyses, and your dissertation.