MA Criminal Justice

Institution Liverpool John Moores University, Faculty of Business and Law
Method At the institution
Location Liverpool
Type Masters
Course fee By request

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MA Criminal Justice

Objectives The course is a professionally and vocationally orientated, 21st century degree linking criminal justice theory, research and policy. This flexible programme allows skills development for those continuing academic study, as well as those returning to it after time away. Another key feature of the course allows students to undertake a piece of research in a particular area of interest relating to crime or criminal justice. This allows for specialist knowledge and skills to be developed. The course includes management courses for those students who want to develop their criminal justice careers at managerial level.
Entry requirements A recognised first degree in Criminal Justice, Criminology or Law, or a degree with substantial criminal justice, law or related subject content, of at least a good Second Class Honours Standard. These requirements may be waived, however, when it can be shown that an applicant has achieved comparable academic standard through past studies, or that previous work experience has made the applicant suitable for this Masters programme.
Academic title MA Criminal Justice
Course description The course is a mixture of compulsory and optional modules. Year-long modules are worth 30 credits, and semester-long modules are worth 15 credits. 60 credits are required for the Postgraduate Certificate award (completion of all of the Year 1 taught modules); 120 credits are required for the Postgraduate Diploma award (completion of all of the Years 1 and 2 taught modules); and 180 credits (completion of all taught modules, plus the dissertation) are required for the full MA Criminal Justice award.

Compulsory modules are:

Year 1 – Criminal Justice: Process, Policy and Practice (30 credits)
Year 1 – Researching Crime and Criminal Justice (30 credits)
Year 2 – Diversity in the Criminal Justice Process (30 credits)
In Year 2, you must select 30 optional credits from the following choices:

Crimes of the Powerful (30 credits)
Drugs, Alcohol and Criminal Justice (15 credits)
Sex, Crime and Society (15 credits)
Effective People Management (15 credits)
Project Management (15 credits)
Please note that the course team reserves the right to amend the list of options offered.

Dissertation of 60 credits: you select a crime or criminal justice-related topic of interest, which is then approved as being suitable by the course team. We will then appoint you a supervisor to help with the dissertation on a one-to-one basis. The work must be 20,000 words long, and must be either an original investigation or an ordered and critical exposition of existing knowledge in your topic area.

Career Prospects
Graduates typically progress to posts within agencies such as probation service, the prison service, social service departments and the police