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Overview

The Master of Criminology provides students with the opportunity to explore why certain behaviours are defined as criminal, how the nature and extent of crime are measured and why crime occurs. The program explores a wide range of criminological problems and exposes students to cutting edge developments in criminologists’ efforts to map, understand and theorise crime and harm in its local, national and global forms.

Traditionally, criminology has had a strong practical focus: its role was to advise governments on issues such as policing, the management of prisons, sentencing and offender treatment. Concern with policy and practice remains, but criminologists now work in a much wider range of fields including crime prevention, corporate and white-collar crime, business regulation, drug policy and consumer and environmental protection.

Criminology doesn’t take crime and criminal law for granted. As an academic discipline it continually questions why different societies define and respond to crime in different ways, and why approaches to punishment and other forms of social control have varied so much from era to era. Increasingly criminologists also study the ways cultures tend to depict crime: whether in newspapers, television and other mass media or in films, novels and art.

This course does not necessarily lead to higher degree study, however high achieving students may qualify for entry to a masters by research or PhD.

• Develop a comprehensive knowledge of theories of crime, deviance and social control.
• Acquire advanced skills in research including ability to summarise and critically assess relevant theory and to collect and analyse relevant data.
• Exhibit a capacity to plan and execute original research, and to present sophisticated arguments and ideas in systematic and coherent ways.
• Emerge with a thorough understanding of relevant policy and political issues.
• Have the capacity to engage in further higher degree research.