SC204-5-SP-CO:
New Directions in Criminology

The details
2025/26
Sociology and Criminology
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Monday 12 January 2026
Friday 20 March 2026
15
14 April 2025

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

SC304

Key module for

BA M900 Criminology,
BA M901 Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
BA M903 Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA M904 Criminology (Including Placement Year),
BA MT26 Criminology and American Studies (UK Study),
BA MT27 Criminology and American Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA MT28 Criminology and American Studies (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA MT2R Criminology and American Studies,
BA MT3R Criminology and American Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA MT62 Criminology and American Studies (UK Study) (Including Placement Year),
BA L3C8 Criminology with Social Psychology,
BA L3H8 Criminology with Social Psychology (Including Placement Year),
BA LHC8 Criminology with Social Psychology (Including Year Abroad),
BA MV91 History and Criminology,
BA MV92 History and Criminology (Including Placement Year),
BA MV98 History and Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA MV9C History and Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
BA LM38 Sociology and Criminology (Including Placement Year),
BA LM39 Sociology and Criminology,
BA LMH9 Sociology and Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
BA LMHX Sociology and Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA P550 Journalism and Criminology,
BA P551 Journalism and Criminology (Including Placement Year),
BA P552 Journalism and Criminology (Including Year Abroad),
BA L333 Criminology with Counselling Skills,
BA L334 Criminology with Counselling Skills (Including Year Abroad),
BA L335 Criminology with Counselling Skills (Including Placement Year),
BA LM11 Criminology with Criminal Law,
BA LM12 Criminology with Criminal Law (Including Year Abroad),
BA LM13 Criminology with Criminal Law (Including Placement Year)

Module description

This module is a compulsory second year component for all criminology students and it is available as an option to other second and third year sociology students and as an outside option if space allows. New Directions in Criminology offers students an opportunity to explore some of the contemporary issues that criminologists are confronting and considers their significance within broader social concerns about crime and deviance.


The module examines key theories and trends in criminological thought, including the latest developments in the field: from crimmigration to zemiology, through to dark tourism and the greening of criminology. These developments are considered alongside some specific examples of criminal activity and organisation. Such examples range from the individually-experienced through the structural inequalities relevant to understanding gender, ethnicity and crime, and global dimensions of crime and control.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To help students develop a contemporary understanding of how ideas about criminology, social control, crime, and criminal justice agencies, have shifted over time, and with a focus on the Western world.

  • To enable students to grasp some of the key ways of thinking about crime through an analysis of various discourses and narratives that have developed as explanations.

  • To link these discourses to the several key sociological and criminological areas of theoretical development.

  • To enable students to become aware of some of the key contemporary debates and theoretical perspectives surrounding the politics and images of crime and control.

  • To help students understand the social processes involved in making sense of social phenomena such as crime, social problems and deviance, and in the construction of knowledge about crime and criminality.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be expected to be able to:



  1. Understand key social ways of thinking critically about crime, deviance and control.

  2. Demonstrate a good understanding of some of the major criminological studies.

  3. Scrutinise broader criminological ‘texts’ (such as film, TV, press, internet) and make sense of them through the theories discussed.

  4. Be a confident and critical user of academic research tools such as specialist journals, the internet and secondary data.

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

  • 1-hour Lecture per week
  • 1-hour Class per week

Bibliography*

(none)

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Exam  Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during Summer (Main Period) 
Exam  Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 24hr during September (Reassessment Period) 

Additional coursework information

Coursework (50%)
Assignment: 50% - Critical book review (2,000 words).

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
50% 50%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
50% 50%
Module supervisor and teaching staff

 

Availability
Yes
Yes
Yes

External examiner

Dr Emily Gray
University of Warwick
Assistant Professor of Criminology
Resources
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.

 

Further information
Sociology and Criminology

* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.

Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements, industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.

The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.