Course summary

Criminology at the University of Birmingham is about understanding the social implications of crime and its impact on local and global communities. Criminology as a discipline helps us to make sense of crime and the related issues of punishment and victimisation. A unique aspect of the University of Birmingham’s programme is the focus given on social harm to the study of crime. This will provide you with the opportunity to think more broadly and critically beyond the confines of ‘crime’ that criminology traditionally offers. Our BA Criminology degree has been carefully constructed to provide you with a unique opportunity to develop your skills in explaining complex social problems in terms of criminological theory and to be able to apply conceptions of human rights in order to evaluate efforts to prevent harm and ensure personal safety. By studying a Criminology degree at the University of Birmingham, you will be confident in both applying and understanding:

• the traditional criminological questions from various standpoints. You will be able to contextualise the causes of crime within their societal context and re-evaluate criminal justice responses on the basis of the harms caused.

• contemporary debates around harm and crime and be challenged to consider how our societies should respond to pressing problems, such as domestic violence, knife crime, or drug related crime, as well as supra national issues like genocide and transnational crime.

• The development of the criminal justice institutions (police, prisons and courts) in the UK and a comparative context, as well as the inter-relationships between these systems, as mechanisms to respond to crimes and social harms

• The construction and representation of crimes and social harms, and of responses to these in policy making, mass/socialmedia and public opinion

• The understanding and appropriate use of research strategies and methods in criminological research