Institute of Criminal Justice Studies

Criminology at the University of Portsmouth

Criminology is a vast field covering how much crime there is and how it is distributed, why crime happens, and the implications of crime for our communities. It also looks at the responses to crime, how it is solved and how society as a whole can deal with it.

The fascinating debates surrounding the causes of crime have moved on considerably since the nineteenth century, when Cesare Lombroso began measuring the skulls, limbs and eyes of offenders to determine their criminality. Contemporary criminologists draw on a wealth of factors in their studies, including the sociological, psychological, geographical, environmental and political.

The University of Portsmouth houses the largest criminology department in Britain, which employs more than 50 academics and offers an unrivalled range of expertise. Our students benefit from this through the huge breadth of our curriculum and our extremely attractive package of optional units.

We offer a range of courses at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at every level and through full-time or part-time delivery.  The Criminology courses are:

Full-time 3 year undergraduate degree

Part-time undergraduate degree by distance learning

Full-time postgraduate degree

Part-time postgraduate degree by distance learning

Students with a master's qualification can also progress to a professional doctorate:

The Institute of Criminal Justice Studies contributes to the following courses: