Criminology and Sociology

Criminology and sociology are disciplines that share a central concern: understanding why societies produce the outcomes they do, including the patterns of crime, deviance, and harm that every society generates and the institutional responses that follow. Criminology draws on sociology, psychology, law, and political science to examine the causes of crime, the functioning of the criminal justice system, the experiences of victims and offenders, and the effectiveness of punishment and rehabilitation. Sociology provides the broader framework, asking how social structures, inequalities, cultural norms, and institutional arrangements shape the conditions in which people live, behave, and are judged.

At Teesside this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, giving you a preparatory stage to develop the academic and social science foundations you need before entering the main degree. You will be introduced to the historical and contemporary development of social science disciplines, exploring theoretical perspectives, research methods, and the practical application of knowledge in society. Across the degree you will develop a critical understanding of both criminology and sociology, learning to analyse crime and deviance as social phenomena and to connect the study of the criminal justice system to broader questions about inequality, power, and social change.

Graduates move into careers in the probation service, police, prison service, youth offending teams, social work, policy and advocacy, the voluntary sector, research, and education. The sociological grounding also opens doors in community development, public health, and social policy roles where understanding social inequality and its consequences is directly relevant. Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in criminology, sociology, social work, or law.