BSc (Honours) Criminology and Psychology
Three years full-time
UCAS code • MC98
Location • Collegiate Campus
Subject area • Criminology
Related subjects • Psychology
By adding to My Courses you can compare courses and create a personalised prospectus.
Read profiles of students on this course
This course includes a number of initiatives designed to enhance your learning experience and make you more employable after you graduate. Find out more.
Visit the Department of Criminology website to view profiles of the staff who teach in this subject area.
At a glance
Study the thoughts and behaviours of criminals and their victims to understand the psychological dimensions of crime. You get up-to-date perspectives on both criminology and psychology from staff working in two active research centres. You also have opportunities to gain experience and knowledge on academic exchanges and industry placements during the course.
Key points
• Gain a psychological perspective on crime and society.
• Maximise your career prospects with work-based learning and overseas exchanges.
• Benefit from the research and expertise from two key subject centres.
• Option to become British Psychological Society accredited through further study.
What is criminology and psychology?
Criminology explores crime, criminality and criminal justice institutions and processes.
Psychology focuses on the individual and the influence of psychological perspectives in understanding human behaviour.
This course
Gain a psychological perspective on the causes and effects of various types of crime. You gain an insight into why individuals might be involved in crime and learn to assess whether treatment, rehabilitation or punishment is the most appropriate response.
By studying both psychology and criminology, you gain a broad perspective on how society and government respond to a variety of crimes, as well as why people behave in the way that they do in a general context.
You benefit from teaching staff who are active in two research centres – Hallam Centre for Community Justice and our Centre for Research on Human Behaviour. Thanks to this involvement with research we can offer course content that is up-to-date and teaching perspectives that are of a very high standard.
You have the opportunity to go on placements, or work-based learning, or benefit from study abroad. All students can take a credited placement module (based in the workplace) or a simulation module (taught by practitioners in the classroom) in the second and third year. Previous placement students have worked with organisations such as South Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Probation Trust and SOVA.
International academic exchanges take place in the second semester of your second year.
As well as being prepared for a career in criminology, criminal and community justice areas, you also gain skills that make you attractive to all employers. These skills include • information gathering and analysis • problem solving • presentation skills • organisational and time management skills • critical thinking and analysis • report writing • the ability to construct an argument based on sound evidence • equality and diversity awareness.
Key areas of study
Gain a foundation in key areas of criminology and criminal justice and psychology in your first year. Then specialise with optional modules such as • crime prevention • gender • hate and bias crime • mentally disordered offenders • cognitive processes • psychological development • forensic psychology.
As a student you can become involved in the student-run criminology society who organise socials, invite guest speakers, hold film nights and organise visits to places such as prisons.
Find out more about BSc (Honours) Criminology and Psychology
Related courses
You apply for this course through UCAS.
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding
2013/14 academic year
Typically £10,680 a year
2014/15 academic year
Typically £11,250 a year
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees, scholarships and bursaries see www.shu.ac.uk/international/fees
• essays • projects • research reports • workbooks • portfolios • examinations • dissertation in year three
Your study includes project, portfolio and research work
Key Information Set 
Helen Cox
2008 graduate, now working as a psychological assistant at a maximum security prison
'I am currently working for a maximum security prison as a psychological assistant. As the prison is a maximum security one, I deal with some of the most challenging offenders in the prison estate.
'I have a dual role here as working as a facilitator on an accredited offender behaviour programme (Core Sex Offender Treatment Programme) and also providing services to the psychology and interventions team. I am a trained WAIS-VI assessor (IQ Test) and I am also trained in specialised tools in order to assess risk of recidivism amongst offenders.
'When I graduated in 2008 I went to work for the UK Border Agency in Sheffield. My role there involved dealing with applications from foreign nationals, and also training and mentoring staff.
'Processing applications from foreign nationals involved tasks such as gathering relevant evidence to support decisions I would make, security checks, preparing documents for court and more.
'As a trainer and mentor to new and existing staff I was involved in creating my own training package for different work streams across the business and supporting individuals once training had finished.'
Profiles
Helen Cox
2008 graduate, now working as a psychological assistant at a maximum security prison
How we enhance you employability
As part of the course we run a number of initiatives designed to enhance your learning experience and make you more employable after you graduate. Examples of these initiatives are given below.
Employability fair
Every September a variety of agencies from across the criminal justice and voluntary sectors attend our event with the sole aim of employing our students as volunteers within their organisation. This has included prisons, Police, probation, SOVA and Remedi amongst others, who are involved with a broad spectrum of individuals including victim services, young offenders, neighbourhood resolution teams, prisoners and independent custody visitors. The placements you secure can be used in your second and third year of study to gain academic credit as you look at how theoretical approaches apply to real life situations.
Probation training
The department delivers the Probation Qualifications Framework across Yorkshire and Humberside and also the North West, under contract from the Ministry of Justice. This course offers the qualification required to be a probation officer.
Guest lectures and career mentoring
Throughout the year we have a variety of guest speakers. The talks are from a variety of practitioners and academics and may focus on a range of issues, from case studies to policy initiatives, from employment histories to careers advice. A number of these individuals also offer their time as career mentors, where you are partnered with a practitioner who will meet with you regularly to discuss your academic goals and your future career path.
Visit the Department of Criminology website to view profiles of the staff who teach in this subject area.
