Overview
Explore impactful legal and social issues and solve real problems in the community with a Bachelor of Criminology at Victoria University (VU).
In this criminology degree, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills needed to critique and understand the causes and politics of crime. You’ll develop an understanding of the roles of police, legal and social welfare organisations within the system.
By studying our program based in cutting-edge criminology, you’ll gain a basis of the socio-political and individual factors that lead to criminal activity and its complex interactions with the criminal legal system.
You'll study areas including:
- crime and inequality
- policing and offending
- digital criminology
- victimology
- transnational crime
- international crime
- crime prevention
- corporate crime.
You’ll study specialist criminology subjects as well as law subjects to give you a strong foundation. Plus, you’ll apply your learning to case studies and practical scenarios, preparing you for the workforce.
As a Bachelor of Criminology graduate, you’ll have a wide-ranging understanding of the complex criminal legal system and the interconnectedness of social welfare, law, correctional institutions, community and policing. Your tertiary education will put you in high demand in this sector, which recognises the need for a more educated workforce.
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Integrate conceptual understanding of criminology research, theory and practice with advanced specialist bodies of knowledge such as law and criminology;
- Exhibit expertise and professional judgement in the application of criminological concepts to issues of law, security and justice in contemporary society;
- Adapt theoretical knowledge applicable to the discipline by critically analysing and applying information with initiative and judgement in order to both anticipate and creatively solve problems and promote justice in authentic/contemporary professional, community settings; (including those that require cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills)
- Communicate effectively to present clear and coherent independent expositions of knowledge and ideas to a variety of audiences;
- Demonstrate personal and interpersonal competencies including organisational and collaborative skills necessary to operate within successfully in a team;
- Exemplify professional ethics and accountabilities in their practice and a commit to ongoing professional development;
Take advantage of VU’s criminology staff members’ strong ties to the Department of Justice, Victorian Police Department, Applied Security Science Partnership and many more.
Both your criminology and law studies have a strong focus on practical learning, covering case studies and real-world scenarios.
As a Bachelor of Criminology student, you also have the opportunity to participate in Department of Justice volunteer opportunities in Victoria’s legal and prison systems.
In the third year of your criminology degree, you’ll apply all the skills and knowledge you’ve developed to a significant research project, known as a ‘capstone’ unit.
Working in small teams, you’ll collaborate on a research project relating to real cases and scenarios. At present, the final research project will focus on public opinions on bail within Victorian and Australia more broadly. You’ll collect, analyse and interpret data and write a final report – practising your skills and preparing to enter the workforce.
