Criminology and Criminal Justice MSc

University of Oxford

A stimulating and demanding programme, involving intensive learning in small groups, the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice will equip you with an advanced understanding of crime and criminal justice, comprising courses in criminological theory, the study of criminal justice, and training in research design and methodology.

The MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice is offered on both a full-time (one-year) and part-time (two-year) basis. The degree and expectations for both modes of study are equally rigorous. Part-time students take their classes with the full-time students, but spread over two years to accommodate work and personal circumstances.

The MSc is comprised of compulsory courses, option subjects and a dissertation.

Full-time students will be expected to spend around 40 hours studying each week during term, and to undertake some further study during vacations. During the first two terms you will be advised to divide your time between the core course and your other courses as follows:

At least ten hours per week preparation for the core course

At least eight hours per week preparation for each option/compulsory course

Four and a half to six hours per week in seminars (90 minutes for each course).

Part-time students will be expected to commit to a proportional workload.

The part-time student has the following schedule:

Year 1:

Michaelmas Term: Core Course (compulsory), Research Design and Data Collection (compulsory),

Hilary Term: Core Course (compulsory), one Option Course

Trinity Term: Academic Skills course (compulsory)

Year 2:

Michaelmas Term: two Option Courses

Hilary Term: two Option Courses

Trinity Term: Dissertation (compulsory), Academic Skills Course (recommended).

Please see the part-time MSc webpage for further details of the part-time course.

Compulsory courses

Compulsory courses run weekly during the first two terms: Criminological Theories and Criminal Justice in Michaelmas and Hilary terms and Research Design and Data Collection in Michaelmas Term. A further compulsory (but non-examined) course is run weekly in the third term.

Criminological Theories and Criminal Justice

The course begins by exploring the key cross-cutting themes of race, gender, and global approaches in criminology. This course develops understanding of the organising categories and central claims of a range of modern criminological perspectives of crime and social control. It will equip you to recognise the main problems, questions, dichotomies and ideas that have shaped modern criminological thought, to understand the nature of ‘theory’ and ‘explanation’ within criminology, and to both appreciate and critique the history and development of criminological thought.

The course explores criminological and global understanding of criminal justice/penal institutions and processes. The course introduces you to research on these processes, their underlying competing theoretical perspectives, and contemporary issues and controversies in criminal justice and punishment. The course encourages you to think about the role of the state/criminal law in the regulation of human behaviour and the place and limitations of criminal justice interventions in producing safe societies.