Sociology with Criminology

Sociology and criminology are disciplines that are naturally in dialogue: sociology provides the theoretical frameworks for understanding social structures, inequality, institutions, and collective behaviour, while criminology applies those frameworks to the specific domain of crime, deviance, law, and punishment. Criminology asks why crime occurs, who commits it, how it is defined and measured, and what happens when criminal justice systems respond to it. Sociology provides the wider context, examining how social class, race, gender, poverty, and institutional power shape both the production of crime and the nature of the official response.

Studied together they give you a sophisticated understanding of social order, its maintenance, and its failures.

University of Chester's three-year full-time Sociology with Criminology programme develops this understanding through engagement with key thinkers and theoretical traditions in both fields, alongside rigorous training in social research methods. You will study classical and contemporary sociological theory, the major perspectives in criminology, the sociology of deviance, victimology, penology, policing, youth justice, and the relationship between media and crime. The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study in a different social and legal context, which enriches your understanding of how crime and criminal justice are understood differently across national boundaries and cultural settings.

A typical entry tariff of 120 points makes the programme accessible while offering substantive intellectual content. You will develop skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods, critical writing, and the ability to analyse social phenomena using theoretical frameworks.

Graduates pursue careers in probation, the prison service, policing, social work, youth justice, community development, policy research, journalism, charity work, and the civil service. Many also proceed to postgraduate study in criminology, sociology, social work, law, or public policy.