Criminology & Criminal Justice

Overview
This exciting, stimulating and topical postgraduate degree programme in Criminology and Criminal Justice is taught by internationally-recognised scholars and researchers who offer students a wide introduction to the study of crime and criminal justice in contemporary society. The programme is also unique insofar as it draws upon Northern Ireland’s experiment in overhauling its criminal justice system (police, prisons and restorative justice) as part of the political settlement reached in 1998. As such students are introduced to ‘what works’ in criminal justice reform with police reform in particular becoming a burning issue in many jurisdictions currently.

Key research strengths of the teaching staff lie in the following areas:
- Community Safety and Crime Prevention
- Policing
- Prisoner Reintegration
- Restorative Justice
- Sex Offending
- Victimology
- Anti-Social Behaviour
- Crime and the Life Course

The LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice is designed to appeal to prospective students with an academic or professional interest in criminology or criminal justice. It enables students to understand the motivations for offending as well as the practical operation of criminal justice and how the state responds to criminality and victimisation. This degree will be of considerable relevance and interest to those who are already employed in criminal justice-related work in fields such as legal practice, government, non-governmental organisations, as well as equipping those who have just completed undergraduate degrees to develop the knowledge and skills to pursue criminal justice-related careers or undertake advanced level study.

Course Details
The LLM Criminal Justice Programme takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of crime and justice and draws on original staff research. Modules are rooted in relevant theoretical frameworks with a strong criminological focus and provide students with methodological training in addition to supporting the development of critical analysis and other transferable skills. Through the dissertation, students can explore a wide variety of criminological and criminal justice topics. Students are encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the criminal justice process and the practical operation of criminal law in a domestic and comparative context, and are given the opportunity to explore in-depth a particular criminal justice-related issue through the submission of a dissertation.

The information below is intended as an example only, featuring module details for the current year of study (2023/24). Modules are reviewed on an annual basis and may be subject to future changes – revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year.

Year 1
Core Modules
Approaches to Legal Research (10 credits)
Key Debates in Criminology (20 credits)
Criminal Justice Processes (20 credits)
Theoretical Criminology (20 credits)
Criminology and Criminal Justice Methods 2 (5 credits)
Criminology and Criminal Justice Methods 1 (5 credits)

Optional Modules
Restorative Justice: Principles, Issues and Debates (20 credits)
Youth Justice: Theory, Law and Practice (20 credits)
Prisons, Punishment and the Legacy of Conflict in NI (20 credits)
Policing and Crime Prevention (20 credits)
Crimes of the Powerful (20 credits)
Dissertation in Practice (60 credits)
Dissertation (Criminology & Criminal Justice) (60 credits)

Graduate
Normally a 2.1 Honours degree or above or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in Law, Social Sciences, Humanities or a cognate discipline.

Exemption from these requirements may be considered for those applicants who hold a Master's degree (or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) OR for those applicants with a 2.2 Honours degree (or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University) along with a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience.

Admission under Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) may be considered for this course. The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning. Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 16th August 2024 for courses which commence in late September. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.

Assessed coursework
Dissertation

1 year (Full Time), 2 years (Part Time)

Entry Year: 2024/25

Career Prospects
Some Criminal Justice graduates use this degree as a base for further study towards a research degree such as a PhD, which may in turn lead to an academic career. Others pursue criminal justice-related or legal careers in the public, private or voluntary sectors. Furthermore, this Masters provides an excellent base for further study towards a research degree such as a PhD, which in turn may lead on to an academic career. http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/