Undergraduate - Area of study Criminology

Crime is an issue that all citizens and governments confront on a daily basis. The causes of crime, the crime problem and how it should be dealt with, are the subject of intense debate. The criminology major, which is offered on the Caulfield and Clayton campuses, provides students with the skills to understand the complexities of crime, to learn about the various stages of the criminal justice system, to critically analyse its workings and tensions, and to explore alternative strategies. Criminology students can combine an interest in areas such as policing, courts, punishment and prisons, transnational crime and international justice, criminological theory, crime and the media, crime and politics, crime prevention and victims of crime, in order to broaden their career options in criminal justice and allied areas.

Students learn to critically analyse issues of crime at the local, state, national, and global level. The first-year gateway units introduce students to various facets of crime and how it is dealt with by the criminal justice system. Second and third-year units build on this knowledge and offer students the opportunity to critically analyse and evaluate crime-related issues in greater depth.

Graduates with a major or minor in criminology may find employment in a wide range of fields, including police, courts, corrections, human services, attorney-general departments, departments of justice, law reform commissions, ombudsman offices, anti-corruption commissions, local government and the private sector.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the major, students will be able to:

• critically analyse and compare key local, national and international trends in crime and vicitimisation across a range of jurisdictions, informed by advanced theoretical concepts
• apply critical frameworks to the analysis of the state and non-state responses to contemporary challenges of crime control and justice
• identify and explain crime and crime control under conditions of globalisation
• demonstrate the capacity to formulate and develop their own research questions within key areas of criminology and translate these into a viable research project
• work independently and collaboratively to prepare and justify creative solutions to address a range of local, national and international challenges around crime and justice in oral and written form.