BSc (Hons)Criminal Investigation with Psychology

Core modules

Criminal Justice Process

This module introduces you to how the Criminal Justice System works in practice and the key organisations that make it function, such as the police, courts, prisons, and the Crown Prosecution Service. It follows the journey of a suspect from the point of arrest through to conviction and sentencing, showing how each stage of the process fits together.

Police and Social Control

This module introduces and explores how the police operate in England and Wales and the sometimes complicated relationship between society and their police. You will develop an understanding of the historical development of the police, and how British society has shaped this, and formulate an evidence-based appreciation of the organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness.

The Criminal Mind: Understanding and Applying Theory

The 'Criminal Mind’ attempts to unravel the complexities of why criminal offending happens, by exploring the many varied and fascinating perspectives by which criminologists have explained crime and deviance. As a central topic to criminology, an understanding of why crime occurs can help policymakers and those working in the criminal and social justice sectors reduce its occurrence.

Behaviour and the Brain

This module will develop your understanding of how the brain supports perception, memory, thinking, emotion, and behaviour, and how dysfunction in these systems reveals the cognitive processes we rely on in everyday life. By the end of the module, you will be able to discuss key biological and cognitive concepts, evaluate research evidence, solve applied problems creatively, and communicate your own research with clarity and attention to detail.

Core modules

Criminological Fieldwork: Methods and Practice

Drawing on real-world case studies and scenarios, this module examines approaches to research and methods of analysis in greater depth, with specific attention given to their applicability in different research settings.

Crime Scene Investigation

In this module, you will discover the development of forensic techniques over time, varied roles involved in a crime scene, how to gather crime scene evidence, gain a critical understanding of the varied common forensic techniques involved, consider the appropriate application of such evidence, and appreciate the necessity for procedural rules in practice.

Diversity in the Social World

This module aims to provide an engaging exploration to the study of social psychology, and individual differences and studying advanced qualitative research methods to investigate social influence and diversity.

Optional modules

Please note: Not all optional modules are guaranteed to run each year.

Punishment, Resistance and Desistance

This module aims to develop an understanding of the key concepts of punishment, resistance and desistance with specific reference to comparative criminal justice responses (Britain, Scandinavia and South-East Asia) to offending and research on desistance from crime following the introduction of the 2012 Transforming Rehabilitation Programme in England and Wales.

True Crime in the Information Age

This module provides an analytical understanding of true crime as a cultural, sociological, and digital phenomenon. You will examine and interpret the ethical complexities of representing trauma and the impact of "citizen detective" culture on the criminal justice system.

Core modules

Investigation of Serious Crime

This module will acquaint you with the knowledge of not only the “how” of a serious crime investigation but also the “why”. Why is it done differently? Why are the roles so individual yet so cohesive? Why is there a need for uniformity in all processes in England and Wales? Why is there a need to formulate multiple hypotheses when a serious crime occurs?

Dangerous Offenders

In this module, you will critically examine, and engage in discussions covering, a range of current controversies surrounding dangerousness, risk, and offences committed by those offenders deemed to be dangerous to the public.

Applied Criminology: Final Project

This final module encourages you to bring together all the learning and skills you have acquired and developed over the previous two years and use them to solve a challenge in Criminal Justice, Policing, Investigation, or Social Justice.

CHIP

This module seeks to highlight how the discipline of psychology has wielded power and influence, and how this has led to controversies within the discipline and real-world impact beyond the academic pursuit of the discipline.