CRI-30062 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Criminal Justice: Process, Policy, Practice CRI-10013
Contemporary Challenges and Issues in Criminal Justice CRI-20036
Research Methods in Criminology CRI-20020

Barred Combinations

Students registered for this module cannot also take CRI-30046 Dissertation for Criminology.

Description for 2026/27

This double module runs over both semesters and provides an opportunity for students to work on a substantial piece of independent research related work of their own choosing in consultation with a supervisor. This generally involves students either conducting a review of the literature on a particular criminal justice topic that interests them or carrying out a small piece of criminal justice related research (such as interviewing criminal justice professionals, or analysing criminal justice policy, practice or performance). It is intended to provide a hands-on research training opportunity that enables the student to put into practice the knowledge obtained in the first and second years of study. Projects are supervised using a mixture of collective workshops and individual supervision. Students are able to conduct a piece of research in collaboration with an external partner organisation in Criminal Justice or a related partner agency. If students do this they will also be required to prepare a non-assessed project report and presentation for the external organisation. Student may also (by prior arrangement and agreement with the module leader and outside partners) conduct their research collaboratively as part of a team of students working as a group with an external partner. This will depend on whether or not an external partner identifies a topic that would be best conducted as a group project. If students are involved in a group project, the group will be required to produce and submit to the external partner a non-assessed research findings report and a presentation. Students will be allocated an aspect of the group project work and will be required to produce and submit an individual 8000 word project report on their individual contribution to the project.
Students considering these options are welcome to speak to the module leader about their ideas prior to the start of their third year.

This research project aims to allow students to identify and explore a challenge or emerging issue in criminal justice policy and/or practice in a systematic and evidence based manner, and develop a set of critically informed proposals for evidence based policy and/or practice in the topic area they have explored. Students will produce a substantial piece of independent research, carried out under the supervision of an academic supervisor. This project may also involve collaboration with an external partner, and MAY (subject to discussion and agreement with the module leader and external partner) involve a collaborative research element involving several students, their individual supervisors and an external partner to produce a co-designed and co-produced overall output for the external partner.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Recognise and describe the relationships between crime, responses to it and social divisions and diversity: 1
Recognise and illustrate the impact of social change on crime and ways of responding to it through the operation of criminal justice systems, policies and practices and a range of related policy and procedural responses: 1
Recognise the relevance and limits of criminological knowledge in explaining the consequences of rapid social change and the responses of criminal justice processes: 1
Recognise different approaches to social scientific research and their use in investigating crime and responses to it, including evidence-based practice, academic/practitioner collaborations and knowledge exchange collaborations.: 1
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the theories and concepts underpinning a chosen area of study: 1
Critically assess the research literature in a specific area of criminological and criminal justice interest: 1
Recognise, interpret and evaluate theories, concepts and research in defined areas at the forefront of criminology and criminal justice: 1
Apply established criminological theories and methods of inquiry to understanding and resolving new and unfamiliar criminological problems in areas of current research activity in criminology and criminal justice: 1
Identify possible directions in which further empirical research and theoretical development might take place in areas of criminology and criminal justice at the forefront of the discipline: 1
Undertake further study at the forefront of the undergraduate study of criminology and criminal justice: 1
Formulate research questions and identify appropriate research strategies to address them: 1
Describe and make critical judgements about developments in current areas of research in criminal justice: 1

Study hours

The module will be comprised of a number of skills and issues workshops (10 hours - 10 x 1 hour workshops)
8 hours contact with supervisors
141 hours of independent research
141 hours assessment preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment