UDCRYHST - BSc Criminology and Youth Studies

The course is delivered through a range of pedagogic methods including formal lectures, seminars, workshops and project-based research activity and individual tutorials held in staff office hours. There is an emphasis upon the link between teaching and research so that staff research provides the basis for teaching on a range of modules.

The course integrates face-to-face with online learning. All modules use Weblearn-Blackboard facilities making key information available and also providing a convenient place for handbook information, calendars and class announcements. Some modules, for example Researching Crime and Deviance, focus specifically on the development of CIT skills. The course will also progressively examine ways of further developing the link between face-to-face and online learning as ideas abd technology develop, and as resources permit. The course encourages contact between students and tutors and, in the course of this, encourages active learning. CIT and other media are used to encourage collaboration between students.

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The course aims to:

1. offer a course relevant to a range of careers in the areas of criminal justice, youth work and related fields
2. develop the intellectual skills necessary for the understanding and critical evaluation of a range of theoretical approaches to the study of crime, deviance and youth
3. develop students’ familiarity with the institutional apparatus which regulates and seeks to control socially defined deviant populations
4. develop students’ competence in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
5. explore and analyse the ways young people experience and engage with contemporary society in both national and international contexts
6. offer the opportunity to develop the above in relation to specialist areas of interest, including a self-directed piece of research at honours level.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Criminology and Youth Studies
2. devise and sustain arguments, and/or solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Criminology and Youth Studies
3. describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Criminology and Youth Studies, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge
4. manage their own learning, and make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Criminology and Youth Studies
5. apply the methods and techniques they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects
6. critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), make judgments, and frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution, or identify a range of solutions, to a problem
7. communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences
8. exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts
9. undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

- Deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within Criminology and Youth Studies:

SC4000 Introduction to Criminological Theory (I) SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P) SC5000 Crime in Context (P)
SC6000 Crime Control and Penology (A)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SW4007 Social Problems and Social Issues (I)

- Devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of Criminology and Youth Studies :

SC4000 Introduction to Criminological Theory (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P) SC5002 Perspectives on Policing (P)
SC5050 Crime, Media and Technology (P)
SC6000 Crime Control and Penology (A)
SC6052 Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (A)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SW4007 Social Problems and Social Issues (I)
SS5006 Racism and Ethnicity (P)
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- Describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in Criminology and Youth Studies, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P) SC5051 Youth, Crime and Violence (P),
SC5000 Crime in Context (P)
SM5052 Youth, Culture and the Media (P)
SC6000 Crime Control and Penology (A)
SC6051 Serious and Serial Offenders (A)
SC6052 Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (A) SM6054 Analysing Popular Music (A)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SW4007 Social Problems and Social Issues (I)
SH5050 Partnership Working (P)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

- Manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to Criminology and Youth Studies:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P) SC5000 Crime in Context (P)
SC6000 Crime Control and Penology (A)
SC6051 Serious and Serial Offenders (A)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SW4007 Social Problems and Social Issues (I)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

Apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I)
SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P)
SC5051 Youth, Crime and Violence (P)
SC5050 Crime, Media and Technology (P)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

- Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution or identify a range of solutions - to a problem:

SC4000 Introduction to Criminological Theory (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P) SC5000 Crime in Context (P)
SC5002 Perspectives on Policing (P)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)
SC6001 Justice, Punishment and Society (A) SC6052 Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (A)
SC6050 The Criminology of Pleasure (A)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SW4007 Social Problems and Social Issues (I)
SS5006 Racism and Ethnicity (P)

- Communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P)
SW4004 Youth Work and Youth in Society (I)
SH5050 Partnership Working (P)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

- Exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P)
SH5050 Partnership Working (P)
SH6W50 Work-based Learning (A)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

- Undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature:

SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance (I) SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime (P)

SC5002 Perspectives on Policing (A)
SC6000 Crime Control and Penology (A)
SH6W50 Work-based Learning Placement (A)
SC6P04 Criminology and Youth Studies Project (A)

Criminology

(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/AssuringStandardsAndQuality/subject-guidance/Pages/Honours-degree-benchmark-statements.aspx)

Students are assessed through a combination of essays, module-specific research projects, seen and unseen examinations and an individual largely self-directed project at level 6. At level 4 assessments seek to encourage students to specify and describe theories and institutions. At level 5 assessments require students to extend and critically to evaluate the knowledge they have encountered. Students at this level are also required to produce research reports including data analysis and interpretation. At level 6 assessments test students’ critical knowledge of applied areas of Criminology and Youth Studies and their ability to think and research independently.

There are opportunities for students to study for part of their degree in another European country. ERASMUS is part of the European Union SOCRATES programme for cooperation in the field of education. Under ERASMUS the university has student exchange agreements with 16 different European countries.

Students must take:

Level 4
SC4000 Introduction to Criminological Theory
SC4003 Researching Crime and Deviance
SW4005 Introduction to Working with Young People (I)
SS4007 Social Problems and Social Issues

Level 5

SC5001 Measuring and Interpreting Crime
SC5051 Youth, Crime and Violence

Level 6

SC6000 Crime Control and Penology
SC6P04 Criminology and Sociology Project
SS6030 Childhood, Youth and Education
SS5032 Working With Children and Young People

In the first year students begin processes of personal development planning in core modules and start to build up a record of achievements. They are encouraged to reflect in workshops contexts and individually on specifically what they have learned from modules and the ways in which this knowledge may be used in, or applied to, the wider social world. Specific modules focussed on social research methodologies provide a forum in which students reflect upon their practice as social researchers, its ethical dimensions and the ways in which this practice may be applied to solving problems in the context of volunteering activity and/or employment. Self-directed project research at level 6 provides an opportunity for students to consolidate this reflection, bringing together particular substantive areas of interest with methodological issues and considering how this might provide a basis for their further self-development and contribution to the wider social world in the future.

Many staff on the course are active researchers and others have links to a range of organisations associated with relevant areas; these contacts are used to engage professional as well as academic guest speakers on the course, so students have an opportunity to hear from and engage with practitioners within these disciplines. Throughout the course students are encouraged to consider the ways in which their learning might be applied to a wider social and vocational environment. Students are also introduced to the careers service.

Staff include ex-practitioners who have built formal and informal links with their past places of work to help facilitate student employability.

We hold employer events where key Criminal Justice employers are invited to meet our students. The strong methodological component throughout the degree and range of assessments utilised are designed to aid students’ employment opportunities and enhance the contribution they can make to agencies within the Criminal Justice System and other organisations. Currently several students are Special Constables and we are in contact with the Association of Chief Police Officers to formalise our relationship with a view to extending these opportunities.

We provide contexts for undergraduate students to engage with practitioners in Probation and other areas undertaking PhD and Masters degrees courses and to discuss employment opportunities and experiences. We are also represented at the London-wide Probation Forum which can be attended by both undergraduate and postgraduate students and facilitates a cross-fertilisation of ideas as well as networking opportunities.

Students are invited to careers fairs and engagement with criminal justice agencies on a voluntary basis and we encourage students to draw on staff links and to develop their own links with employers, a process facilitated by the location of the faculty. Furthermore the faculty has developed a formal link with the ADAB Trust which provides motivational speakers from minority backgrounds who have succeeded in criminal justice professions. Students also have access to wider employability events and careers fairs that take place within the faculty.

Successful completion of this undergraduate course offers you improved career opportunities in youth work and similar areas of the Criminal Justice System, the National Probation Service, the police, the Youth Justice Board, housing welfare, education, charitable institutions and more. Examples of our the roles our graduates have secured include Substance Misuse Officer and Sessional Play Service Coordinator. Others have gone on to work at Central Care and Sutton Mencap.

The degree is also excellent preparation if you want to pursue further research or study in universities, governmental bodies and private institutions. Through postgraduate study at London Met you can gain even further links with police forces through and John Grieve Centre for Policing and Community Safety.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• a minimum of grades BBC in three A levels (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg Advanced Diploma)
• GCSE English at grade C (grade 4 from 2017) or above (or equivalent)

Applications are welcome from mature students who have passed appropriate Access or other preparatory courses or have appropriate work experience.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.