Major Overview

Description

Criminology is an inter-disciplinary subject area that has emerged from the attention distinct disciplines have paid to offenders and offending. As such, the Criminology major draws on knowledge and perspectives from a range of disciplines including Law, Psychology, History, Anthropology and Geography. The combination of core and optional units in this major structure will expose students to the breadth of issues being addressed by contemporary Criminology. Included in this will be understanding of the practical role Criminology plays in advising governments on issues relating to criminality, crime prevention, policing, corrective services, sentencing, and offender treatment.

Students will learn to critique both crime and the criminal law, being encouraged to question why there is such variation across time and space about the types of acts we define as crime and the ways that we respond to criminality. The Criminology major will require students to develop a broad range of employment-relevant skills, including the capacity to think critically, integrate theory and research to practice, and communicate effectively in written and oral forms.

Outcomes

Students are able to:

  1. apply criminological theoretical frameworks to analyse contemporary challenges relating to crime, victimisation, crime prevention, and the criminal justice system
  2. generate evidence-based empirical and theoretical knowledge in the examination of historical and contemporary crime and justice issues, using the broad range of disciplines that underpin criminology
  3. recognise, interpret, and critique contemporary trends in crime
  4. develop and use appropriate cognitive and technical skills to engage with ongoing theoretical debates in criminology through critical analysis of information and data from relevant criminal justice sources
  5. develop and use appropriate communication skills to facilitate effective dissemination of evidence-based knowledge in a clear and articulate manner.
Broadening guidelines

All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.

Incompatibilities

MJD-CRMDM Criminology and Criminal Justice

Courses

Criminology can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

Example Study Plan

See study plans for more information.

Units

Key to availability of units:
S1
Semester 1
S2
Semester 2
N/A
not available in 2026 – may be available in 2027 or 2028

Level 1

Students taking this major in conjunction with the Law and Society major [MJD-LWSOC] must select their units such that no more than 18 points, comprising 12 points at level one and 6 points at level two, of units are shared between the two majors. No level three units may be shared between the majors. Students encountering any difficulties reflecting this requirement in their study plan should seek guidance from their allocated advising office.

Degree-specific major units

Take the following unit:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 LAWS1110 Crime and Society None
Degree-specific major units

Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 LAWS1111 Law in Context None
S2 PSYC1102 Psychology: Behaviour in Context None

Level 2

Students taking this major in conjunction with the Law and Society major [MJD-LWSOC] must select their units such that no more than 18 points, comprising 12 points at level one and 6 points at level two, of units are shared between the two majors. No level three units may be shared between the majors. Students encountering any difficulties reflecting this requirement in their study plan should seek guidance from their allocated advising office.

Degree-specific major units

Take all units (12 points):

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS1110 Crime and Society
S1 LAWS2230 Working with People in the Justice System I
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS1110 Crime and Society
Degree-specific major units

Take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 HIST2215 Australian Underbelly: A Criminal History
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
two level 1 6 points Unit(s)
S1 HIST2224 American Outlaws: Crime and Punishment in the United States
Prerequisites
Completion of 12 points
S2 LAWS2220 Birth, Life and Death: Health and Medical Law
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
any one LAWS1104 Introduction to Law
or LAWX1104 Introduction to Law
or LAWS1110 Crime and Society
or LAWS1111 Law in Context
or LAWS1112 Law for Everyday Lives
or GEND1901 Beyond 'Gender Wars'
or ANHB1101 Human Biology I: Becoming Human
or ANHB1102 Human Biology II: Being Human
or IMED1001 Form and Function
or IMED1002 The Facts of Life
or IMED1108 Issues in Women's Health Across the Lifespan
or PUBH1101 Health and Illness in Human Populations
or PUBH1102 Foundations of Global Health
or HUMR1001 Human Rights in Global Perspective
or NEUR1001 Neuroscience in Society
or PHAR1101 Drugs that Changed the World
or PHYL1001 Physiology - How your body works
or PHIL1001 Ethics for the Digital Age: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy
S1 LAWS2225 Indigenous Peoples and the Law
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS1104 Introduction to Law
or LAWX1104 Introduction to Law
or LAWS1111 Law in Context
or LAWS1120 Australian Legal Principles and Institutions
or LAWS1112 Law for Everyday Lives
or LAWS2220 Birth, Life and Death: Health and Medical Law
or LAWS2224 Human Rights: Law and Context
or INDG1150 Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard
or INDG1160 Boodjar Moort Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge
S1 LAWS2231 Transnational and Organised Crime
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS1110 Crime and Society
S1 LAWS2232 Research and Methodological Skills for Criminology
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS1110 Crime and Society

Level 3

Students taking this major in conjunction with the Law and Society major [MJD-LWSOC] must select their units such that no more than 18 points, comprising 12 points at level one and 6 points at level two, of units are shared between the two majors. No level three units may be shared between the majors. Students encountering any difficulties reflecting this requirement in their study plan should seek guidance from their allocated advising office.

Degree-specific major units

Option A—take unit(s) to the value of 6 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 LAWS3374 Crime, Justice and Public Policy
Prerequisites
Successful completion of LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
or
LAWS2227 Law in Action and two Unit(s) from the MJD-LWSOC Law and Society major
S2 LAWS3401 Emerging Trends in Crime and Criminology
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
Degree-specific major units

Option B—take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 HIST3007 Crime and Punishment in Britain 1600–1900
Prerequisites
Completion of 12 points of Humanities units
or permission of the unit coordinator.
or any one of: EURO2201 European Civilisation.
GEND2902 Men and Masculinities in History.
LAWS1110 Crime and Society.
or LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
Incompatibility
HIST2248 Crime and Punishment in Britain 1700–1900
N/A LAWS3212 Working with People in the Justice System 2
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
S1 LAWS3213 Preventing Contemporary Crime Problems
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
and LAWS2230 Working with Offenders 1
S1 LAWS3214 International Law and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Prerequisites
Successful completion of
72 points in an undergraduate degree.
S2 LAWS3316 Law and Social Change
Prerequisites
Successful completion of 66 points in your chosen degree and
LAWS2227 Law in Action
or LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
S1 LAWS3344 Law and Power
Prerequisites
Successful completion of 66 points in your chosen degree and
LAWS2227 Law in Action
or LAWS2223 Criminal Justice Systems
or LAWS2224 Human Rights: Law and Context