MA Criminology and Criminal Justice

This course is designed for all those who want to acquire a thorough understanding of the more recent and often complex trends and developments in crime, criminal justice, and governance more broadly. Combining theoretical reflection and practical application, the course aims to provide you with an opportunity to specialise in the latest developments in criminology, criminal justice and governance studies.

AIMS OF THE COURSE

• To introduce students to recent and contemporary theorising in criminology and governance studies
• To show students how recent and contemporary theorising in criminology and governance studies has attempted to describe, analyse and interpret contemporary developments in criminal justice, transnational justice, international justice, and governance more broadly
• To enable students to think through methodological problems and choose appropriate methods for the study of crime, criminal justice, and governance
• To enable students to critically assess research in a number of fields within criminology, criminal justice, and governance studies more broadly
• To enable students to design and complete a research project and understand the importance of the research process in the social sciences

TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

Each of the taught modules is assessed by written, summative coursework assignments of up to 5,000 words (essay, case-study, research proposal, and empirical research report). The pass mark is 50% and students must pass each of the modules in order to progress to the dissertation, which involves researching and writing a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words. There are no exams.

CAREERS

Graduates from our course have found employment in a variety of occupations including: the accelerated police and prison graduate training programmes; the probation service; in other criminal justice agencies; in the voluntary sector with organisations such as Victim Support and NACRO; and in a variety of other graduate level jobs. In addition, a number of graduates have gone on to take postgraduate courses at Keele and elsewhere. You will also gain PGCert and PGDip awards in this course.