Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Psychology or Criminolgy?

Hi,
I'm stuck on what course to study at uni PSYCHOLOGY or CRIMINOLOGY ?
Any suggestions or advice on which i should do?
thanks.

Reply 1

futbol

You could do a course of both? Otherwise criminology sounds like more banter.

Reply 2

lightbulbflash

You should research more what you want to do in the long term. I have done a psychology degree (which had some elements of forensic psychology). I think that there might be more options after you have finished a psychology degree that criminology (because psychology is quite broad in comparison).

Reply 3

CMELN

Original post by lightbulbflash

Thanks for the advice.
Yeah I was thinking of criminology until I was advised to study psy instead as there's more variety of jobs to do with psychology.

Reply 4

iammichealjackson

Original post by CMELN

Thanks for the advice.
Yeah I was thinking of criminology until I was advised to study psy instead as there's more variety of jobs to do with psychology.

I disagree with the person above. I did both at university; and criminology is clearly the broader discipline if you want to study a greater "variety" of things. It covers everything from philosophy of punishment, social policy, development of criminality (involving psychology, but not solely), to your basic sociological/political issues such as gender and racial equality. Psychology does have more "job" related to psychology (i.e. clinical, educational) however people who get these jobs make up a very small percentage of psychology graduates- and most simply to graduate jobs which dont require a specific degree.

The downsides of doing criminolgy are that: its less "respected" and you may not do much statistics (although many courses do offer stats modules) which are very useful if your applying for jobs later in life or want to do research. Another issue is that some question whether criminology is a useful academic degree studied by itself, since its like a jack-of-all trades since you don't cover a huge amount of the individual disciplines that make up criminological research so that, if you were interested in doing research on the ethics/philosophy of punishment, a philosophy degree might be more useful, and if you want to study the development of criminal behaviour, a psychology degree (or a degree with a substantial psychology part) would be more useful. Either way, this is only going to be an issue if you want to do post-graduate study, and you can always do a masters to increase your knowledge of something your particularly interested in before doing a PhD or a research/social policy job.

I would personally decide on whether (a) you definately want to be some sort of psychologist when you graduate (then you should do a psychology degree) and (b) which one you find more interesting. I would read/flick through some books on each topics to see which you think is best. I made a list of psychology books here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=48602478#post48602478 . Since i only studied criminology in third year, I dont have many good "easy" books to read recomendations. I can give you the reading list i was given before starting my course (some of them are directed at academics, others general public):

Criminology, Sentencing and the Penal System: General
• The Penal Landscape. The Howard League Guide to Criminal Justice in England and
Wales; eds. A. Dockley & I. Loader (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013)
• The Penal System: an introduction, M. Cavadino, J. Dignan & G. Mair (London: Sage 2013; 5th
edition)
• Out of Sight, Out of Mind: why Britain’s prisons are failing, J. Podmore (London: Biteback,
2012)
• The Culture of Control: crime and social order in contemporary society, David
Garland (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001 (Chapter 1). [Available online. The
quickest way to find the title is by searching from the UL's ebooks page:
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/ebooks. The search terms Garland Culture will do the
trick.]
• ‘Sentencing: theory, principle, and practice’ A. Ashworth & J. Roberts, (2012) in M.
Maguire, R. Morgan & R. Reiner (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Fifth
ed., pp. 866-894). Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Punishment, Thom Brooks (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012)
Biographical and autobiographical accounts:
• All God's Children (1996) Fox Butterfield
• From the Inside: Life in a Women's Prison (2003) Ruth Wyner
• The Damage Done (2008) Peter Woolf
• Prisonomics (2013) Vicky Price
• In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance (2010) Walter Rideau

Reply 5

CMELN

Thank you for taking the time to reply in great detail to my question. I found this really interesting and useful in helping me to make my decision going forward.
I'll have a look at those books you've recommended. Thank you so much I really appreciate the help !!!

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Reply 6

Purple~Dolphin

I am applying to do joint honours (sending off my application next week!). I was firstly looking at just criminology and was advised how it's 'less respected' etc. like mention above. But I'd been looking at it as I want to join the police, who don't require a degree, and so it was my choice. But then I didn't want to limit myself too much so looked into psychology (which I enjoy at a-level). This can then be my backup if the police aren't recruiting when I'm looking for work, whilst also combinding two subjects that I enjoy and go well together. So I am applying for joint honours psychology and criminology which are accredited by the BPS :smile:

Plus I was thinking last week how I'd probably not enjoy just doing one subject all the time compared to the variation of two, I mean I enjoy both the subjects, but it'd be nicer to have two I think compared to doing four A-levels and then suddenly focusing on one :smile:

Reply 7

CMELN

Yeah that's a good idea doing both.
I'm in the same position sending mine off next week too. I too enjoy psychology at A level and am interested in criminology. I was considering the joint honours like you but no university I've looked around which I like do it.
After researching and thanks to all the helpful information from the person above, I've now decided to do psychology and perhaps focus on criminology or forensic psychology in my third year :smile:

Good luck with your application!

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