Criminology and Criminal Justice

Criminology and criminal justice is the social-scientific study of crime, deviance, and the systems society creates to respond to them. Criminology asks why crime occurs, who commits it, who is most affected by it, and whether the categories we use to define and measure it are as neutral as they appear. Criminal justice examines the institutions, processes, and practices through which society responds to crime, including the police, the courts, the prison system, and the probation service, asking whether these systems are effective, fair, and humane.

Together they provide both the conceptual tools to understand crime as a social phenomenon and the critical perspective to assess the systems designed to address it.

At the University of Kent this three-year programme covers a wide range of topics, including drug policy and the criminalisation of drug use, cybercrime and the challenges of policing digital spaces, violence and its social contexts, the psychology of offending and desistance, the experience of imprisonment, and the role of forensic psychology in the justice system. You will engage with both quantitative and qualitative research methods, developing the skills to investigate social phenomena rigorously and to evaluate the evidence behind policy claims. Kent's location and its connections to criminal justice institutions in the region provide opportunities to connect academic study to real professional practice.

Graduates from criminology and criminal justice programmes work across a wide range of settings, including the police service, probation, the prison service, youth justice, social work, victim support, policy research, and the voluntary sector. Journalism, legal practice (with further training), and academic research are also destinations for graduates with strong analytical skills. The degree develops a critical and evidence-based way of thinking about social problems that is valued in any role concerned with public services, social policy, or justice.

Further study at postgraduate level in criminology, criminal justice, law, or social policy is a natural next step for those who wish to specialise.