Understand human nature – then change people’s lives

The truth behind your decision making

We think of ourselves as the masters of our own fate. But our decisions and our opportunities in life are often shaped by the society and the institutions we all operate within.

Factors such as socioeconomic status and class, upbringing, race, gender, geographic location, the expectations of your community – and even things like appearance – shape who you become and the experiences you have.

This not only affects how you make decisions (or whether you even get to make a decision) – it can influence everything from your health and mental wellbeing to your career path.

Understand society

Understanding how these factors interplay, how society functions, how the criminal justice system functions, and why people may act the way they do allows us to see the source of social problems and address them – rather than just reacting to the symptoms of these problems.

Studying Sociology or Criminology for your degree will give you this understanding, opening doors into new worlds. It will give you the opportunity to help people and make a positive impact on society.

Shape society

Analysis of our society is needed for it to function properly – every piece of legislation or social initiative is based in part on sociological principles.

Sociology students don’t need to have studied the subject before – they just need to be interested and engaged with the world, and be committed to making it a better place.

Crime, justice and rehabilitation

Many Criminology students come with a view of crime and investigation shaped from TV and film. Finding out how it actually works is an eye-opening experience – and even more interesting as it’s real!

You’ll learn the theory behind why crime happens, how the justice system responds and evolves, and how offenders can be rehabilitated and victims supported to recover. Vitally you’ll also learn how to apply this theory to the person sitting in front of you when you’re doing the job for real.

You can change lives even before you graduate, as you’ll be getting hands-on experience on placements. For example, one of our Applied Criminal Justice Studies students had a placement with a youth offending team. She worked with a child with selective mutism, who had refused to speak for years. Over the 11-week period, our student built a rapport with the child, playing with her, reading to her, braiding her hair. Eventually, the child began to trust her and started talking to her. It was a life-changing experience for both parties.

Be a changemaker

As a Sociology or Criminology graduate, you’ll have so many fulfilling career paths open to you. You could:

• Work in government or policy think tanks
• Work at the sharp end, helping vulnerable people in areas like victim support or youth offending
• Enter the criminal justice system, in a whole range of roles
• Transfer your knowledge to another area, through a law or teaching conversion course
• Build a career in academia, starting with your PhD

There will always be social trends and social problems to understand and address. There will always be marginalised groups and problems with crime. And there are so many ways you can be part of the solution as a Sociology or Criminology practitioner.

Start in Bradford

If this all sounds exciting to you, you should look at studying here at the University of Bradford.

You can find a living example of every aspect of Sociology in Bradford. Sociological moments are woven into the fabric of the city – from the architecture to our diverse range of communities. We’ve been delivering Sociology courses for many years, and will give you the very latest theory and best practice.

Our Criminology courses are designed to give you plenty of work based experience – it’s what sets us apart from other universities. As an example, our Applied Criminal Justice course gives you a unique 11 week placement where you’ll get involved with everything – not just a few hours shadowing someone.

Find out more about our Sociology and Criminology courses or see our other courses in Clearing.