BSc (Hons) Sociology and Criminology
Welcome to Applied Sociology and Criminology!
Applied Sociology will take you through a wide variety of theories about how social institutions form, what functions they perform, and how they shape the people who become part of them. Criminology looks at those institutions that form part of the Criminal Justice System – police, courts, prisons etc. It will also consider factors behind the formation of criminal gangs, how individuals turn to a life of crime and what can be done to rehabilitate them.
Each module consists of meetings over twelve weeks – these will be a combination of lectures, seminar discussions, some practical activities (such as conducting research), student assessments, and in some cases guest speakers and field trips.
Our lecturers have many years of experience in teach sociology, criminology, psychology, and other topics. They organise a variety of public seminars which students are able to attend.
Recommended Course Reading List
FOR FIRST SEMESTER MODULES (THE KEY TEXTS ARE THE ONES WORTH LOOKING AT OVER SUMMER) –
Introduction to the Sociological Imagination:
Key Text
Giddens, A. (2018), Introduction to Sociology (11th edition). London: W. W. Norton & Company
Books
Adler, P. (2015), Constructions of Deviance: social power, context and interaction (8th edition). USA: Cengage Learning
Anderson, M. & Collins, P. H. (2017), Race, Class, and Gender: intersections and inequalities (10th edition). USA: Cengage Learning
Cohen, P. (2018), The Family: diversity, inequality, and social change (2nd edition). London: W. W. Norton & Company
Dillon, M. (2020), Introduction to Sociological Theory (3rd edition). UK: Wiley-Blackwell
Ferguson, S. J. (2017), Mapping the Social Landscape (8th edition).UK: SAGE Publications Inc.
Ferris, K. & Stein, J. (2020), The Real World (7th edition). London: W. W. Norton & Company
Massey, G. (2019), Readings for Sociology (9th edition). London: W. W. Norton & Company
Seidman, S. (2016), Contested Knowledge: social theory today (6th edition). UK: Wiley-Blackwell
Steger, M. B. (2017), Globalisation: a very short introduction (4th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press
Stones, R. (2017). Key Sociological Thinkers (3rd edition). USA: Red Globe Press
Introduction to Qualitative Methods:
Key Text
Flick, U. (2015), Introducing Research Methodology (2nd edition). London: SAGE Publishing
Books
Bryman, A. (2015), Social Research Methods (5th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press
Creswell, J. & Plano-Clark, V. (2017), Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (3rd edition). London: SAGE Publications Inc.
Dawson, C. (2019), Introduction to Research Methods (5th edition). USA: Robinson
Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (2017), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (5th edition). London: SAGE Publishing
Flick, U. (2018), Doing Grounded Theory. London: SAGE Publications Inc.
Fujii, L. (2017), Interviewing in Social Science Research. USA; Routledge
Harding, J. (2018), Qualitative Data Analysis. UK: SAGE Publications Inc.
Kara, H. (2018), Research Ethics in the Real World. UK: Policy Press
Nigel, G. & Stoneman, P. (2015), Researching Social Life (4th edition). UK: SAGE Publications Inc.
Saldana, J. (2015), The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (3rd edition). SUK: AGE Publications Inc.
Zimmer, M. & Kinda-Kurlanda, K. (2017), Internet Research Ethics for the Social Age. USA: Peter Lang US
Key Thinkers in Criminology:
Key Text
Newburn, T. (2017) Criminology. 3rd edn. Cullompton: Willan.
Books
Carrabine, E., Cox, A., Cox, P., Crowhurst, I., Di Ronco, A., Fussey, P., Sergi, A., South, N., Thiel, D., and Turton, J. (2020) Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. 4th edn. London: Routledge.
Chamberlain, J. (2015) Criminological theory in context. London: Sage.
Hayward, K. (2009) Fifty Key Thinkers in Criminology. London: Routledge.
Hopkins Burke, R. (2019) An introduction to criminological theory. 5th edn. London: Routledge.
Liebling, A., Maruna, S. and Reiner, R. (2017) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. 6th edn. Oxford: OUP.
MacDonald, J. (2017) Measuring Crime and Criminality. London: Routledge.
Mclaughlin, E. and Muncie, J. (eds) (2019) The SAGE dictionary of criminology. 4th edn. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Mclaughlin, E. and Newburn, T. (2013) The Sage Handbook of Criminological Theory. London: Sage.
Newburn, T. (2009) Key Readings in Criminology. Cullompton: Willan.
Tibbetts, S. and Hemmens, C. (2018) Criminological Theory. 3rd edn. Atlanta: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Tierney, J., (2010) Criminology: theory and context. 3rd edn. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
Walklate, S., (2007) Understanding Criminology: Current Theoretical Debates. 3rd edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
One of the key skills that we aim to develop in students over the first year is the ability to engage in tolerant, open debate where people listen to other views as well as expressing their own. The willingness to listen to views that you may disagree with, along with the willingness to discover why people think what they do, is a rare skill to have and a valuable antidote to the bombastic and overheated world of social media!