Law with 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.

In this module, you’ll get to grips with the European Union (EU) and its foundations. You’ll dig into key areas of law, central to the EU system. And you’ll explore the political and social implications of EU Law. 

You’ll examine the history of EU Law, and its key institutions:

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

You’ll then focus on Union Law, and how it relates to national law. You’ll also consider the role of the Court of Justice of the EU. You’ll explore substantive law, as you understand the internal market of the EU, including:

• free movement of people
• citizenship.

Land law is a fascinating attempt to solve people’s conflicting interests in land. You’ll get to grips with the English Land Law and its key concerns. You’ll explore:

• the nature of law, property and land
• the division of estates and interests (into legal and equitable)
• land registration.

You’ll gain a detailed knowledge of freehold and leasehold estates. And you’ll explore co-ownership and trusts of: 

• land leases
• licences
• mortgages

You’ll also consider the rising importance of the Human Rights Act 1998 to Land Law. 

In this module, you’ll get to grips with tort law (law which deals with civil loss or harm). You’ll explore:

• the tort of negligence 
• employers’ liability
• trespass to land
• public nuisance
• the Rylands-v-Fletcher case
• trespass to the person
• defamation
• privacy
• vicarious liability (when you’re liable for acts you didn’t commit).

You’ll also investigate the rising importance of human rights law. 

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. 

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. You won’t engage directly with clients or service users, but you’ll gain a strong knowledge of how organisations identify and fight crime. 

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.

In this module, you’ll dive into capitalism, and its key relationship with crime. You’ll use a political economy approach, meaning you’ll look at the economy and its relationship with law and government. You’ll explore free-market capitalism, as well as capitalism on a global scale. And you’ll gain critical skills, as you consider the:

• individual
• moral
• cultural
• social

elements of the economy, and how these relate to 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.

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.
   

In this module, you’ll examine border criminology, which is the study of the intersection of border control and criminal justice.  You’ll get to grips with key issues around:

• migration
• punishment
• citizenship and belonging.

You’ll investigate core developments of border criminology, including:

• immigration removal centres
• foreign national prisons
• policing of borders.

You’ll gain key critical skills, as you explore debates surrounding immigration, punishment and national identity. You’ll examine the institutions concerned with border control, and the increasing use of punishment and force around immigration control in the UK and abroad.

In this module, you’ll explore Equity (fairness in the law). You’ll also investigate trusts, which exist to regulate situations where someone cares for another person’s affairs. 

You’ll engage with Equity, and equitable remedies. You’ll also dive into trusts in all their forms. You’ll gain key critical skills as you analyse private trusts, and how they generate equitable interests. You’ll then consider the key features of charitable trusts. You’ll explore:

• the administration of trusts
• the powers and duties of trustees
• breach of trust 
• the law of tracing.

In this module, you’ll study images of crime, including:

• the world’s most troubling mugshots
• early crime-scene photographs
• bloody and brutal paintings
• criminal courtroom artworks.

Seeing and picturing is a key way of understanding crime. You’ll get to grips with the fast-growing field of visual criminology. You’ll discover the importance of images at the birth of criminology, and how they perpetuate stereotypes about race and gender. You’ll also consider why, because of this, criminologists have been sceptical about working with images. 

You’ll have the rare chance to go behind the scenes, and visit Western-Europe’s most unique visual arts and social scientific-imaging collections, held in Oxford at:

• the Pitt Rivers Museum
• the Ashmolean Museum.

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. 

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.

The internet rules society. In a vastly digital age, lawyers really need to understand technology and the legal challenges it presents. In this module, you’ll examine the legal issues of current internet technologies and hardware. You’ll gain key technical knowledge, as you evaluate the regulatory systems of these technologies, and how they affect society. You’ll explore how digital technologies challenge copyright law. And you’ll be introduced to some of the legal issues relating to the use of artificial intelligence. 

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.

How do we prevent discrimination against race and sexual orientation in the law? In this module, you’ll focus on the Equality Act 2010, and other legislation on:

• sex
• race
• sexual orientation
• religion
• disability discrimination
• equal pay. 

You’ll explore how courts interpret the Equality Act, and how it impacts the workplace. You’ll look at how it interacts with the law of the European Commission (EC), and how we might extend equality law. You’ll gain valuable critical skills for your career, as you ask:

• what difference the Equality Act has made
• who benefits (and does not benefit) from the act
• what we can do in the future to improve protection.

This module gives you the chance to do research on a topic that fascinates you. You’ll work independently, with the support of our expert academic team, and will carry out work on a specific project of your choosing. You’ll gain core skills for work, including in:

• enquiry
• research 
• analysis 
• evaluation.

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.

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

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 practicing it in the real world.

In this module, you’ll get to grips with the structure of the NHS. You’ll explore topics such as:

• access to health care
• autonomy and consent
• responsibility
• accountability and negligence
• birth and its regulation
• death, dying and the incurably ill patient.
   

In this module, you’ll get to grips with nationality and immigration law, and what it reveals about British society. 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. You’ll also consider current UK law, and the historical, social and political factors that have shaped it. 

How does the law deal with child abduction, and 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 dive into law reports, as you 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. 
 

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.