Psychology with Criminology with Professional Placement

Psychology and criminology share a fundamental question: why do people behave the way they do, and what happens when behaviour causes harm? Bringing these two disciplines together offers a particularly rich perspective on human conduct, social order, and the systems societies build to understand and respond to crime. Psychology contributes the tools of cognitive, social, and developmental science; criminology provides the frameworks for understanding crime as a social phenomenon, including theories of deviance, the workings of the criminal justice system, and debates about punishment, rehabilitation, and prevention.

At the University of Reading, this four-year full-time programme includes a professional placement year, giving you the opportunity to apply your learning in a real working environment before you complete your degree. In your academic studies, you will cover core psychological science, including research methods and statistics, biological bases of behaviour, perception and cognition, and social and developmental psychology. Alongside this, your criminological studies will introduce you to theories of crime causation, the sociology of deviance, policing and the courts, victimology, and criminal justice policy.

The combination equips you to think across disciplinary boundaries, examining questions such as what psychological factors are associated with offending, how witnesses and juries form judgements, what rehabilitation programmes are effective, and how institutions shape behaviour.

Research methods receive sustained attention throughout the programme, because both psychology and criminology place considerable weight on the quality of evidence. You will learn to design studies, collect and analyse data using quantitative and qualitative approaches, and evaluate existing research critically. These skills are as important as subject knowledge in preparing you for careers that depend on evidence-based reasoning.

The placement year creates a genuine bridge between academic study and professional practice. Students have worked in probation services, police forces, mental health settings, social care, research organisations, and the third sector, among other environments. This direct experience is valuable both for your own development and for demonstrating capability to future employers.

Graduates from programmes combining psychology and criminology pursue careers across the criminal justice system, including roles in probation, prison services, police, victim support, and youth offending teams. Mental health services, social work, research, and policy analysis also draw heavily from this graduate pool. Many students go on to postgraduate study in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminology, or related fields, with the British Psychological Society's graduate basis for chartership available for those who meet the relevant requirements.