Criminology and Sociology

Criminology and sociology are disciplines that were practically made for each other. Sociology is the science of social life, examining how societies are structured, how norms and institutions are formed, and how power, inequality, and culture shape what people do and who they are. Criminology applies many of the same questions and methods to a specific domain, asking how certain behaviours come to be defined as criminal, why those definitions vary across places and over time, what causes offending, and how the criminal justice system operates in practice.

Studied together, they develop an unusually complete analytical toolkit for understanding both crime as a social phenomenon and the society in which it occurs.

At Queen's University Belfast this three-year full-time programme covers both disciplines properly, giving you grounding in the sociological theories that seek to explain the full breadth of social experience alongside the specific frameworks and empirical research of criminology. You will study the causes and consequences of crime, the harms associated with offending, how the criminal justice system responds to different types of crime, and the experiences of victims. You will also engage with wider sociological questions about power, inequality, identity, and social change, developing a perspective that situates crime within its broader social and historical context.

Belfast's own recent history gives the programme a distinctive setting for exploring how societies define crime, manage conflict, and pursue justice through transitional and post-conflict processes.

Graduates move into careers in probation, prison and rehabilitation services, youth justice, social work, policing, policy, the voluntary sector, and academic research. Many continue to postgraduate study in criminology, social work, sociology, or public policy, building towards specialist professional or research roles.