Sociology with Psychology

Sociology with psychology brings together two disciplines that complement each other in important and often illuminating ways. Sociology examines the structures, institutions and social forces that shape human life at collective level, asking how inequality, culture, power and social organisation produce the conditions in which individuals exist. Psychology examines individual mental processes and behaviour, asking how people think, feel, learn and relate to each other.

Studied together, they allow you to move fluidly between the individual and the social, developing a richer understanding of human experience than either discipline provides alone.

At the University of Portsmouth, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year in professional placement, a year abroad and a work placement, giving you substantial practical and international experience alongside your academic study. You will take a sociological and social psychological approach to the most pressing social issues of the present day, including global economic inequality, the migrant crisis, homelessness, climate change and gender equality. The programme develops your capacity to analyse evidence, engage with contested questions and understand how individual actions interact with and influence social justice and wellbeing.

Graduates from sociology with psychology programmes work across social services, community development, counselling support, youth work, education, public health, policy research, journalism and the voluntary sector. Many go on to postgraduate training in social work, counselling, clinical psychology or educational psychology. Others pursue careers in human resources, market research, public affairs and the media, where the combination of social structural analysis and psychological understanding is directly relevant.

The analytical and research skills developed through the programme are among the most transferable that the social sciences produce.