HBS Criminology

Course Overview

Not all types of crime are alike. Are you interested in the different types of crime that take place in our society? Are criminals born, or made? How do we decide what behaviour is criminal? What are the different roles of everyone involved when a crime is detected?

Criminology is the study of the reasons why individuals commit crime. By understanding why a person commits a crime, we can develop ways to control crime or rehabilitate the criminal. This course will enable you to use theories of criminality to analyse criminal situations and suggest ways of reducing crime. You will also develop the knowledge and skills to research policy in practice, assess campaigns for changes in awareness and examine information to review verdicts in criminal cases.

Course Content

1. Changing Awareness of Crime

You will understand how crime reporting affects the public perception of criminality. You will then go on to realise how campaigns are used to elicit change and then plan a campaign for change relating to crime.  This mandatory unit will be internally assessed through controlled assessments.

2. Criminological Theories

You will understand social constructions, theories and causes of criminality.  This will then lead to knowledge of the causes of policy change.  This mandatory unit will be externally assessed with a 90 minute examination.

3. Crime Scene to Courtroom 

You will gain an understanding of the process of criminal investigations. You will then go onto the prosecution of suspects and be able to review criminal cases.  This is a mandatory unit and will be internally assessed through controlled assessments.

4. Crime and Punishment

You will learn about the different processes of the criminal justice system and the role of punishment and social control measures in England & Wales.  This mandatory unit will be externally assessed with a 90 minute examination.

After successful completion of this course you could progress onto higher education to study a number of subjects including law, sociology, applied science, criminology, psychology, history, politics and public services.  Possible career options included the police force, forensic services, prison service, probation officer, lawyer and criminalist.

Course Entry Requirements

Standard entry requirements apply

Course Specification

WJEC Level 3 Applied Diploma

https://www.wjec.co.uk/media/21xjkr24/wjec-applied-diploma-in-criminology-spec-e-03-06-2020.pdf

Homework

At A Level, students are expected to complete a minimum of  5 hours of study a week on top of their allocated lesson time.