Criminology and sociology queens

Last Updated on January 17, 2023

Criminology focuses on the causes and consequences of crime, as well as how the criminal justice system responds to crime. Criminologists are interested in how activities come to be defined as criminal, and why definitions of crime vary across countries and over time. The subject includes a wide range of social and psychological theories that attempt to explain criminal behaviour and the effective operation of the criminal justice system.

Sociology is a scientific discipline concerned with the explanation of social life and human behaviour of all kinds. It equips students with the skills to understand the breadth of social practice, ranging from the global (including power and politics, conflict and peace processes, security, the digital world, climate change, racism and social justice) to individual experiences (such as the body, intimacy, emotions, identity, beliefs and mental health).

Criminology And Sociology Degree Highlights

Criminology at Queen’s is ranked 9th in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2020.

Global Opportunities

  • Students can spend time studying in one of our linked universities in Europe.
  • There is also the opportunity to study or work abroad, supported by schemes such as Erasmus and Study USA.

Internationally Renowned Experts

  • Criminology and Sociology is taught by a group of internationally-recognised researchers who specialise in areas such as criminal justice policy, prisons, desistance from crime, offender reintegration, youth justice, conflict transformation, human rights, family and religion.

“The course offers a wide range of interesting and diverse modules covering a wide range of topics and interests. The support and guidance from the department and the expertise of staff has provided me with an invaluable experience that has furthered my knowledge and understanding of both criminological and sociological theory and has motivated me to further my learning by undertaking a Master’s degree at Queen’s.”

Rachel Stanley (Joint Honours Graduate 2016)

Course Structure

IntroductionCourses often draw on international comparisons with a strong Irish (North and South) emphasis. All of the optional modules are taught by experts in the area, who have published textbooks and research articles on the topic at hand.
Stage 1 Core Modules– Introducing Criminology

– Digital Society

– Exploring Criminology

– Rethinking Society

– The Sociological Imagination
Stage 1 Optional Modules– Introducing Social Policy

– Visualising the Social World
Stage 2 Core Modules– Qualitative Research Skills

– Quantitative Research Skills

– Crime and Society

– Policing and Society
Stage 2 Optional Modules– Crime and the Media

– Environmental Crime and Justice

– Social Inequalities and Diversity

– Theory Counts

– Sociology of Conflict and Peace Processes

– Criminological Theory

– The Power of Social Theory
Stage 3 Core Modules– Punishment, Penal Policy and Prison
Stage 3 Optional Modules– Contemporary Irish Society

– Religion: Death or Revival

– Youth, Crime and Criminal Justice

– Global Risk Society

– Criminology Beyond Borders

– Norms and Social Change

– Reintegration After Prison

– Psychological Perspectives on Crime

– Emotion, Power and Politics

– Modelling the Social World

– Social Identity: Difference and Inequalities
The Optional Q-Step Exit PathwayStudents who wish to benefit from specialist training in quantitative research can undertake a series of dedicated social science research modules over the course of their degree studies. Successful completion of 80 CATS credits of advanced quantitative research training (four modules) in level 2 and level 3 will receive the enhancement of BSc “with Quantitative Methods” added to the name of the degree awarded.

People teaching you

Dr Jonathan G. Heaney 
Lecturer in Sociology

SSESW
Jonathan teaches social theory and undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and researchers the sociology of affect and emotion, power, and political sociology. He is also Senior Personal Tutor.Dr Michelle Butler 
Programme Director and Senior Lecturer in Criminology

SSESW
Michelle’s research interests are in identity, violence, imprisonment, shame, masculinity, penal reform, reintegration, desistance, criminological psychology and restorative justice.

Contact Teaching Times

Large Group Teaching6 (hours maximum)
6 hours of lectures
Personal Study24 (hours maximum)
22–24 hours studying and revising in your own time each week, including some guided study using handouts, online activities, etc.
Small Group Teaching/Personal Tutorial6 (hours maximum)
6 hours of tutorials (or later, project supervision) each week.

Learning and Teaching

We aim to deliver a high quality learning environment that embeds intellectual curiosity, innovation and best practice in learning, teaching and student support to enable students to achieve their full academic potential.

On the Criminology and Sociology joint honors course we do this by providing a range of learning experiences which enable our students to engage with subject experts, develop attributes and perspectives that will equip them for life and work in a global society, and make use of innovative technologies and a world class library that enhances their development as independent, lifelong learners.

Criminology and Sociology students at Queen’s are taught in a dynamic academic environment by an award-winning teaching staff, in a School which was rated as one of the leading departments in the United Kingdom.

Examples of the opportunities provided for learning on this course are:

  • E-Learning technologies
    Information associated with lectures and assignments is often communicated via our Canvas Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A range of e-learning experiences are also embedded in the degree programme through the use of, for example, online discussion forums; interactive media workshops in a flexible learning space; statistics and data analysis modules; podcasts and interactive web-based learning activities; opportunities to use IT programmes associated with project- based work etc.
  • Field Trips/Study Tours
    Study visits and field trips are integrated into a number of core modules. These present opportunities to apply theoretical ideas and concepts within real world settings. Back in the classroom students present and discuss observations and ideas developed during the field trip.
  • Guest speakers
    We work regularly with criminal justice agencies and people from these agencies regularly lecture on the course. As well as studying the academic and theoretical aspects of criminology, students have opportunities to hear from senior practitioners within the Police, Courts Custodial and Community Services.
  • Lectures
    Introduce foundation information about new topics as a starting point for further self-directed private study/reading. Lectures also provide opportunities to ask questions, gain some feedback and advice on assessments (normally delivered in large groups to all year group peers).
  • Peer Mentors
    We offer a peer mentoring scheme for our BA students, which sees specially- trained second and third year students, under the guidance of staff and the Centre for Educational Development, help first year students settle into life at Queen’s through social events, small group or one-to-one informal support and learning skills workshops.
  • Personal Tutor
    Undergraduates are allocated a Personal Tutor from their first day at the University. The Personal Tutor is available to them to give advice and support throughout their time at Queen’s. The Personal Tutor will meet with them on several occasions during the year to support their academic development.
  • Practicals
    In research method modules you will have opportunities to develop research design and technical skills and apply theoretical principles to real-life research contexts.
  • Prizes
    The highest achieving students in the school are awarded the annual Lockheed Prize. We also support our students entering essays to the annual Undergraduate Awards.
  • Self-directed study
    This is an essential part of life as a Queen’s student when important private reading, engagement with e-learning resources, reflection on feedback to date and assignment research and preparation work is carried out.
  • Seminars/tutorials
    A significant amount of teaching is carried out in small groups (typically 10-20 students). These provide an opportunity for students to engage with academic staff who have specialist knowledge of the topic, to ask questions of them and to assess their own progress and understanding with the support of peers. You should also expect to make presentations and other contributions to these groups.

Assessment

Details of the assessments associated with this course are outlined below:

  • The way in which students are assessed will vary according to the learning objectives of each module. Some modules are assessed solely through project work or written assignments. Others are assessed through a combination of coursework and end of semester examinations. Details of how each module is assessed are shown in the Student Handbook which is provided to all students during their first year induction. Following each element of assessed coursework, students are provided with detailed feedback on the quality of their written work and how they can improve future assignments.

Feedback

As you progress through your course you will receive general and specific feedback about your work from a variety of sources including lecturers, module co-ordinators, placement supervisors, personal tutors, advisers of study and your peers. As a university student, you will be expected to take a greater role in reflecting on this and taking the initiative in continuously improving the quality of your work. Feedback may be provided in a variety of forms including:

  • Feedback provided via formal written comment and marks relating to work that you, as an individual or as part of a group, have submitted.
  • Face-to-face comment. This may include occasions when you make use of the lecturers’ advertised “office hours” to help you to address a specific query.
  • Placement employer comments or references.
  • Online or email comment.
  • General comments or question and answer opportunities at the end of a lecture, seminar or tutorial.
  • Pre-submission advice regarding the standards you should aim for and common pitfalls to avoid. In some instances, this may be provided in the form of model answers or exemplars which you can review in your own time.
  • Feedback and outcomes from practical classes.
  • Comment and guidance provided by staff from specialist support services such as Careers, Employability and Skills or the Learning Development Service.
  • Once you have reviewed your feedback, you will be encouraged to identify and implement further improvements to the quality of your work.

Facilities

The School is located within a recently renovated building, with state of the art teaching and learning facilities, together with dedicated student space including a large student common room. The teaching facilities enable an interactive learning environment.

Entrance requirements

A level requirements
ABB
Irish leaving certificate requirements
H3H3H3H3H3H3/H2H3H3H3H3
Access Course
Successful completion of Access Course with an average of 70%.
International Baccalaureate Diploma
33 points overall, including 6,5,5 at Higher Level. If not offered at Higher Level/GCSE then Standard Level grade 4 in English would be accepted.
BTEC Level 3 Extended/National Extended Diploma
QCF Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma (180 credits), with 120 credits at Distinction grade and 60 credits at Merit grade.

RQF Level 3 BTEC National Extended Diploma (1080 Guided Learning Hours (GLH)), with at least 660 GLH at Distinction grade (minimum 240 GLH to be externally assessed) and 420 GLH at Merit grade.
Graduate
A minimum of a 2:2 Honours Degree
All applicants
There are no specific subject requirements to study Criminology and Sociology.

Selection Criteria

In addition, to the entrance requirements above, it is essential that you read our guidance below on ‘How we choose our students’ prior to submitting your UCAS application.

Applications are dealt with centrally by the Admissions and Access Service rather than by individual University Schools. Once your on-line form has been processed by UCAS and forwarded to Queen’s, an acknowledgement is normally sent within two weeks of its receipt at the University.

Selection is on the basis of the information provided on your UCAS form. Decisions are made on an ongoing basis and will be notified to you via UCAS.

Demand for places differs from course to course and for this degree, past performance at GCSE is taken into account when deciding whether or not to make conditional offers. For entry last year, we started making offers to applicants offering A-Level/BTEC Level 3 qualifications, who have achieved 6 grade B/6 (or averaged to 6 grade B/6) at GCSE. This threshold may be lowered as the cycle progresses depending upon the number and quality of applications. The final threshold is not usually determined until late in the admissions cycle, so there may be a delay in processing applicants who do not meet the initial threshold. GCSE English Language grade C is also required

Offers are normally made on the basis of 3 A-levels. The offer for repeat applicants is set in terms of 3 A-Levels only and is normally the same as that asked from the first time applicants. Grades may be held from the previous year.
Applicants offering two A-levels and one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent qualification), or one A-level and a BTEC Diploma/National Diploma (or equivalent qualification) will also be considered. Offers will be made in terms of performance in individual BTEC units rather than the overall BTEC grade(s) awarded. Please note that a maximum of one BTEC Subsidiary Diploma/National Extended Certificate (or equivalent) will be counted as part of an applicant’s portfolio of qualifications. The normal GCSE profile will be expected.


For applicants offering a HNC, the current requirements are successful completion of the HNC with 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits.
For those offering a HND, to be eligible for an offer, a minimum of 4 Merits and remainder of units at pass grade is necessary in the year 1 performance. Applicants must successfully complete the HND with 2 Distinctions and remainder Merits in all units assessed in the final year. Any consideration would be for stage 1 entry only.
For those offering an HNC or HND , some flexibility may be allowed in terms of GCSE profile.


For applicants offering the Irish Leaving Certificate, please note that performance at Junior Certificate is taken into account and at the end of last year’s application cycle, the Junior Cert profile was a minimum of 6 B grades.

The information provided in the personal statement section and the academic reference together with predicted grades are noted however, these are not the final deciding factors as to whether or not a conditional offer can be made. However, they may be reconsidered in a tie break situation in August.

A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking would not normally be considered as part of a three A-level offer and, although they may be excluded where an applicant is taking 4 A-level subjects, the grade achieved could be taken into account if necessary in August/September.
Applicants are not normally asked to attend for interview, though there are some exceptions and specific information is provided with the relevant subject areas.

If you are made an offer then you may be invited to a Faculty/School Open Day, which is usually held in the second semester. This will allow you the opportunity to visit the University and to find out more about the degree programme of your choice and the facilities on offer. It also gives you a flavour of the academic and social life at Queen’s.

If you cannot find the information you need here, please contact the University Admissions Service ([email protected]), giving full details of your qualifications and educational background.

International Students

For information on international qualification equivalents, please check the specific information for your country.

English Language Requirements

An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs

If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this degree programme, INTO Queen’s University Belfast offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for admission to this degree.

  • Academic English: an intensive English language and study skills course for successful university study at degree level
  • Pre-sessional English: a short intensive academic English course for students starting a degree programme at Queen’s University Belfast and who need to improve their English.

International Students – Foundation and International Year One Programmes

INTO Queen’s offers a range of academic and English language programmes to help prepare international students for undergraduate study at Queen’s University. You will learn from experienced teachers in a dedicated international study centre on campus, and will have full access to the University’s world-class facilities.

These programmes are designed for international students who do not meet the required academic and English language requirements for direct entry.

Career Prospects

Introduction
Criminology and Sociology graduates work in a wide range of occupations, including the media, civil service, police, research, teaching, business, commerce, marketing and management. Some graduates build on the degree by undertaking postgraduate training in fields such as social work, law, social science research and teaching. Tailored careers advice and study guidance is available to all students throughout their time at Queen’s.

Studying for a Joint Honours Degree in Criminology and Sociology at Queen’s will assist you in developing the core skills and employment-related experiences that are valued by employers, professional organisations and academic institutions. Graduates from this degree at Queen’s are well regarded by many employers (local, national and international) and over half of all graduate jobs are now open to graduates of any discipline.

The diversity of interests and topics covered in the discipline, plus the wide range of skills it equips you with, means that our students enter a wide range of careers on graduation. These include the public sector (e.g. social services, education, criminal justice, social work), private sector (e.g. market research, policy analysis, human resources), and third sector (e.g. policy analyst, researcher, youth support worker, charity fundraiser). A number of our students also go on to postgraduate study, on a full or part-time basis.

The following is a list of the major career sectors (and indicative starting salaries) that have attracted our graduates in recent years:

Fast Stream Civil Service: £25,000
Diversity Manager: £22,800
Public Policy Analyst: £19,000
Public Relations Officer: £16,000-25,000
Volunteer Coordinator: £20,000-£26,500
Social Researcher: £22,000
Social Worker (after relevant graduate track degree): £23,500
Public Administrator: £22,300
Charity Fundraiser: £15,000-£24,000
Police Officer: £22,300
Teacher (after relevant graduate track degree): £21,500

Further study is also an option open to Criminology/Sociology graduates. Students can choose from a wide range of Master’s programmes as well as a comprehensive list of research topics.
http://www.prospects.ac.uk

Employment Links
Graduate employers include:

Northern Ireland Civil Service
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
National Health Service
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
PWC
Ulster Bank
Santander
Belfast City Council
Ipsos Mori
Commission for Victims and Survivors NI

Professional Opportunities
Utilising Q-Step resources Joint Honours Criminology/ Sociology students can apply (on a competitive basis) for placement opportunities. Recent placements have been with the NI Assembly, and Praxis Care.

“I had a summer placement working in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I believe that it was these CV extras that set me apart from other graduates, and landed me a job in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency only weeks after graduating.“
Lauren Kinnear, NISRA

Additional Awards Gained

There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.

Prizes and Awards

In the Undergraduate Awards (2019), a social policy student essay from Questions for an Ageing World was ‘highly commended’.

The highest achieving students are regularly awarded prizes and scholarships, such as the SWAN prizes for best pieces of work on gender, the Lockheed Prize and the Foundation Scholarships.

Top performing students are regularly awarded prizes and scholarships. One of our BA students was a Global Winner of the Undergraduate Awards (2017), the world’s leading undergraduate awards programme which recognises top undergraduate work.

Degree plus award for extra-curricular skills

In addition to your degree programme, at Queen’s you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you’ll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Degree Plus. It’s what makes studying at Queen’s University Belfast special.

Tuition Fees

Northern Ireland (NI) 1£4,530
Republic of Ireland (ROI) 2£4,530
England, Scotland or Wales (GB) 1£9,250
EU Other 3£17,400
International£17,400

1 EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled or pre-settled status, are expected to be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly Student Fees Regulations. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB are expected to be charged the GB fee, however this is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

2 It is expected that EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI will be eligible for NI tuition fees, in line with the Common Travel Agreement arrangements. The tuition fee set out above is provisional and subject to the publication of the Northern Ireland Assembly student fees Regulations.

3 EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.

All tuition fees quoted are for the academic year 2021-22, and relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Tuition fee rates are calculated based on a student’s tuition fee status and generally increase annually by inflation. How tuition fees are determined is set out in the Student Finance Framework.

Additional course costs

All Students

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.

Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen’s library.

If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. A programme may have up to 6 modules per year, each with a recommended text.  

Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.  

Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.

If a final year includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.

Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.

There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.

Criminology and Sociology costs

There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.

How do I fund my study?

There are different tuition fee and student financial support arrangements for students from Northern Ireland, those from England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain), and those from the rest of the European Union.

Information on funding options and financial assistance for undergraduate students is available at http://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/Undergraduate/Fees-and-scholarships/.

Scholarships

Each year, we offer a range of scholarships and prizes for new students. Information on scholarships available.

International Scholarships

Information on scholarships for international students, is available at http://www.qub.ac.uk/International/International-students/International-scholarships/.

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