Bachelor of Arts
Criminology - unit set code MJ-A000045
Criminology is an interdisciplinary field that draws upon law, sociology, history, psychology and other disciplines to address the substantive issues of crime, security, policing, and punishment. Criminology is also concerned with the social processes that shape criminalisation, control and security; the institutions of criminal justice; and the various theories used to explain crime, criminalisation and criminal justice practices. In this way criminology combines critical theory with an applied focus on the analysis of the policies, the practices of criminal justice professions, and other participants (for instance victims), and the shifting role of the state in the government of crime. Major issues addressed include the principles and practices of the criminal justice system, historical and contemporary shifts in the nature, organisation and practices of policing at local, state, national and transnational levels, the impact of and responses to terrorism and transnational crime, how deviant identities are formed and regulated, the role of law in the control of behaviour, and different practices for conducting criminological research.
On successful completion of the Criminology major sequence, students should have the following skills:
- an understanding of the key theoretical traditions and debates within criminology
- an ability to analyse key theoretical debates
- an ability to apply theoretical knowledge to the substantive issues of crime, criminal justice, deviance, security and policing
- an ability to analyse contemporary issues of terrorism, transnational crime drugs and policing in a theoretical informed manner
- the capacity to identify the appropriateness, strengths and weaknesses of the different research methods applied to the study of a specific criminological issue
- an ability to present criminological ideas and analyses before fellow students
- knowledge of the range of sources of criminological ideas information, including electronic information from government and non-government sources.
Select 8 credit points, including at least 2 credit points at each level from the following:
Level 1
Trimester 1
| ASL113 | Understanding Crime (G, X) |
Trimester 2
| ASL111 | Understanding Criminal Justice (G, X) |
Levels 2 and 3
Select 6 credit points, including compulsory core units ASL209/309 and ASL214, and at least 2 credit points from each level from the following:
Trimester 1
| ASL204/ASL304 | Issues and Ethics in the Criminal Justice System (G, X) |
| ASL209/ASL309 | Criminology (G, X) |
| ASL221/ASL321 | Crime Prevention and Security (G, X) |
Trimester 2
| ASC304 | Culture and Control: Boundaries and Identities (B, G, X) |
| ASL208/ASL308 | Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Security (G, X, ONLINE) |
| ASL214 | Designing and Conducting Criminological Research (G, X) |
| ASL219/ASL319 | Drugs, Crime and Society (G, X) |
| ASL222/ASL322 | International and Comparative Criminal Justice (G, X) |
Trimester 3
| ASC270/ASC370 | Sociology and the Law (X) |
The following units may be taken in addition to the major sequence:
Trimester 1
| MLP233 | Criminal Law and Procedure (G, X) |
Trimester 2
| MLP103 | Police and the Law (G, X) |
