Law with Criminology

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Digital Crime and Criminology

  How does the digital world affect our understanding of key criminal law and criminological concepts? In this module, you’ll explore key concepts in the rapidly growing field of digital law and criminology and you’ll investigate how law and criminology meet and merge in the digital age. You’ll be introduced to the key theoretical frameworks of interest to digital criminologists and digital lawyers and you’ll work on applying these frameworks to specific topics of contemporary interest such as cyberhate, sexting and pornography.

  Students will be introduced to the key theoretical frameworks of interest to digital criminologists and digital lawyers including the ‘digital’, intersectional digitalities and key themes in internet regulation. Students will then be applying these frameworks to specific topics of contemporary interest such as cyberhate, sexting and pornography, for example.

• European Union Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with the European Union (EU) and its foundations. 
  
  You’ll examine the history of EU Law and its key institutions such as

  • the European Parliament
  • the Council of the European Union
  • the European Commission.

  You’ll then focus on Union Law, how it relates to national law, and the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union. You’ll explore substantive law, including that relating to free movement of goods and people.
   

• Land Law

  In this module you’ll get to grips with English Land Law and its key concerns. You’ll explore:

  • the nature of property and land
  • legal and equitable interests in land
  • freeholld and leasehold interests
  • land registration
  • co ownership and trusts

  You’ll also consider the significance of the Human Rights Act 1998 for Land Law. 

• Tort Law

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with the law relating to civil wrongs or torts. You’ll explore:

  • the tort of negligence 
  • employers’ liability
  • trespass to land
  • public nuisance
  • trespass to the person
  • defamation
  • privacy
  • vicarious liability.

  You’ll also investigate the significance of human rights law in this area.

• The Prison and Imprisonment

  Should we punish prisoners, or support them to re-enter society? In this module, you’ll dive into the key issues of prisons. You’ll consider modern prisons, globally and historically. And you’ll examine prisons through:

  • prisoners
  • prison staff
  • wider society. 

  You'll trace the evolution of the prison - from the rehabilitative ideal of the post-war period, to the greater focus on punishment today. You’ll look at how political parties use prison policies to win votes, rather than reduce crime. 

  You’ll dive into the inner workings of prisons, from governance to administration. You’ll look at the routines of prison life, and how prisoners cope with, and give meaning to them. You’ll consider sentence progression for different types of prisoners. And you’ll explore how well prisons prepare inmates for life after release. 

• Young People, Crime, and Justice

Optional modules

• Public Criminology

  In this module, you’ll dive into real world problems of crime and criminal justice. You’ll apply your criminology knowledge to:

  • find solutions to key questions of crime and justice
  • find solutions to problems in current practice
  • explore how these solutions can inform future research. 

  You’ll examine case studies from current policy and practice. You’ll apply the insights of:

  • practitioners
  • policy-makers
  • politicians

  currently working in criminal justice. You’ll gain a strong understanding of how criminology works in real life. And you’ll explore why there is a disconnect between the classroom, and criminology in practice. 

• Criminology Work Based Learning

  In this module, you’ll kick-start your career, and gain key work experience in organisations related to crime. You’ll do a placement, or work-based learning activity in:

  • a public sector organisation
  • a non-governmental organisation (NGO)
  • a voluntary organisation.

  Whether working with the police, prison services, schools or charities, you’ll gain invaluable skills for your future career and a strong knowledge of how organisations identify and fight crime. 

• Crime and Intersectionality

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with intersectionality - a way of understanding someone’s identity as made of characteristics such as race, gender and class. Intersectionality offers you a unique way to study crime. You’ll discover how criminal justice institutions, such as the police and criminal courts, respond to and discriminate against different social groups.

• Globalisation and Crime

  In this module, you’ll explore and examine areas of crime and crime control across different regions of the world through the lens of 'globalisation', or the increased interconnectedness of social relations across the globe

  You’ll use a combination of theoretical concepts and case studies to interrogate and understand the interconnectedness of crime and responses to crime in the contemporary world.

   

• Researching Crime: Methods, Approaches and Ethics

  In this module, you’ll explore the key research methods of Criminology. You’ll gain invaluable critical skills, as you look at:

  • research methods
  • design 
  • processes
  • outcomes

  You’ll also understand the ethics of research, including:

  • the requirements of conducting research with vulnerable populations.
  • how your identity can help or hinder research relationships.
     

• Green Criminology

  You'll engage with the emerging field of Green Criminology. You'll learn the key theoretical concepts of green criminology and environmental justice. 
  
  You'll focus on understanding Green Criminology as a transnational field. Including the social issues impacting individuals on a global scale. 

Optional year abroad

Optional modules

• Optional Year Abroad

  This module provides you with the opportunity to apply and test your subject knowledge, skills and competencies in a new context.

  The opportunity can be approached in 2 different ways:

  Study Abroad

  Attend a non-UK higher education institution for a full academic year. You can choose modules in your own subject or in a subject you consider would benefit your overall course of study. You may choose to deepen your knowledge of your degree subject, or enhance it by developing complementary skills.

  Work-based Learning

  Undertake a work placement or work-related project based on your interests and existing skills. You will produce a Study Abroad Plan that shows clearly how your proposed placement or project links with your academic and/or professional aims.

  Choosing this module will allow you to exhibit the development of self-management and working or studying in unfamiliar contexts, alongside practising cross-cultural communication and interpersonal skills.

Year 3

Compulsory modules

• Equity and Trusts

  In this module, you'll consider the historical foundations of equity before moving on to explore the law of trusts. You'll engage with the following areas:

  • Private trusts and private purpose trusts
  • Charitable trusts and cy-pres
  • Resulting and constructive trusts
  • Trustees' duties and powers
  • Breach of trustee and fiduciary duties
  • Tracing and following trust assets to establish proprietary remedies
  • Personal claims against strangers to a trust.

Optional modules

• The Carnival and Pleasures of Crime

  Why do people enjoy committing crimes? How might crime offer identity and purpose? In this module, you’ll explore the role of:

  • pleasures
  • performance
  • identity 
  • meaning

  in criminal acts. You’ll think about the multiple meanings and actions that crime holds for different people across time. You’ll consider the social benefits of crimes and resistance to the law. And you’ll explore how different interpretations of crime might affect crime control and criminal justice.

• Computer Law and Artificial Intelligence

  Technology features in many aspects of our lives. Through technology, we connect, we learn, and we're entertained. In a digital age, lawyers need to understand technology and associated legal challenges. In this module, you'll evaluate the techniques used to regulate digital technologies. You'll scrutinise strategies for combating online harms. You'll consider how memes are created and shared. And you'll examine how artificial intelligence is set to transform society.

   

• Dealing with Drugs

  In this module, you’ll bust some key assumptions around psychoactive drugs. You’ll look at why we use them and how we control them in society. You’ll investigate:

  • criminological
  • sociological
  • historical 

  and policy insights, to explore the relationship between drug use, individuals and public morality. You’ll gain key critical skills as you debate drug policies, and how we can lessen the harm of substance abuse. You’ll look at alternative ways to regulate drugs than our current ‘war on drugs’ mentality. And you’ll explore the future of synthetic drugs.

• Equality Law

  In this module, you will focus on the Equality Act 2010, and other legislation. In particular,
  how the Equality Act 2010 aims to protect individuals from direct discrimination, indirect
  discrimination, harassment, and victimisation with reference to their protected
  characteristics, including (but not limited to):

  • age
  • disability discrimination
  • race
  • religion & belief
  • sex
  • sexual orientation

  You will explore how courts interpret the Equality Act, and how it impacts services, schools,
  and in particular, the workplace. You will look at how it interacts with the law of the European
  Union, and how we might extend equality law.

• International Human Rights Law

  How can we effectively protect human rights? In this module, you’ll get to grips with international human rights law. You’ll gain key critical skills as you analyse arguments and ideas about human rights, and the ideas behind them. You’ll also consider their current legal and political meaning through examining: 

  • relevant laws
  • current debates
  • case studies.

• Law Dissertation

  This module gives you the chance to do research on a topic that fascinates you. Over the course of your final year, you’ll work independently on a research project, with the help of an expert academic supervisor. Your dissertation will grow out of your specific passion, and you’ll gain excellent self-discipline and organisational skills for work. You’ll gain core skills for your career, including:

  • research
  • critical analysis
  • time-management 
  • planned and focused writing.

  If you’re a combined honours student, you’ll be able to write a dissertation on both of your chosen subject areas

• Law in Action

  In this module, you’ll gain core practical experience in law, as you apply your knowledge and skills to a practical legal activity. You’ll gain fantastic skills for work and boost your legal career, as you do a placement in an environment related to legal work. You’ll understand how to transfer your law studies from an academic discipline, to practising it in the real world. 

• Medical Law

  In this module, you’ll engage with a range of key legal and ethical issues in medicine and healthcare. As well as learning the law, you will also draw on a range of ethical ideas and frameworks to discuss and evaluate it. You’ll explore topics such as:

  • access to health care and rationing
  • ownership of body parts
  • autonomy and consent
  • medical negligence
  • birth and its regulation
  • death and assisted suicide.

• Nationality, Immigration and Asylum

  In this module, you’ll get to grips with nationality and immigration and asylum law and the historical, social and political factors that have shaped it. You’ll examine the key issues and policies around nationality, national identity and migration. You’ll gain a firm understanding of migration in the UK and abroad, as you debate critical issues of today. 

• Parents, Children and the State

  How does the law deal with disputes over children? How can the state protect children who may be victims of abuse within their own families? In this module, you’ll get to grips with law relating to parents, children and the state. You’ll look critically at the legal concepts around:

  • relationships between parents and children
  • the relevance of the state to parents and children.

   You’ll consider:

  • parental responsibility
  • resolution of disputes over children
  • child protection
  • child abduction
  • adoption.

  You’ll gain vital skills in legal reasoning as you learn legal analysis techniques, and how to answer problem questions.     

• Independent Study Module

  In this module, you'll work with a research-active tutor who will guide you through an in-depth analysis of their research area. You'll undertake your own independent study in this area, researching complex legal subjects. You'll get to grips with conducting your own high-level legal research, and you’ll pursue specialised topics which interest you.

Work Experience/ International Study Exchange

Optional modules

• Work Experience

  In Year 2 and 3 you’ll have the opportunity to participate in the CLOCK scheme (Community Legal Outreach Collaboration Keele). Where you'll gain firsthand experience of the legal world. You’ll be interviewing and advising clients, in legal cases and courtroom settings. You'll join a commitment to provide wider access to justice in the local area and gain useful legal expertise for your CV.

• International Study Exchange

  If you take this module you will study Law in a university outside the UK for an academic year, experiencing different educational and legal cultures. This will help you develop your knowledge, skills and understanding. After the *International Study Exchange year you will complete your final year with Oxford Brookes and then graduate. The International Study Exchange year is not credit-bearing.

  *To go on this exchange you must have completed all your Level 5 studies, and your exchange is dependent on the appropriate partner university's availability.