Bachelor of Criminology

2024 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2024 course information
Award granted	Bachelor of Criminology
Deakin course code	A329
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
Online	Yes
Duration	3 years full-time or part-time equivalent
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2024 This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2024 This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 3 2024 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
CRICOS course code	057849B Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong)
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Discover why crime occurs, how it is perceived and how we can address it – and graduate with the skills to make a real difference in the criminal justice system.

Gain a deep understanding of the causes and impacts of a range of individual and organised criminal activities, from environmental crime to illicit digital surveillance. Learn how to use this knowledge to develop effective responses to harmful behaviours.

Deakin’s Bachelor of Criminology course is the most established in Australia. Our curriculum has been developed and designed in conjunction with professional bodies including Victoria Police, the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria and the Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers, ensuring your study experience closely reflects the needs of the industry. If you like to learn by doing, work-integrated learning opportunities challenge you to apply your skills in real-world contexts and provide a preview to your future role.

Do you want to help ensure fairer outcomes and a better criminal justice system?

Our criminology experts will take you behind the thinking and research surrounding a breadth of criminology topics, while you build a portfolio that showcases your critical thinking and ability to meet complex questions of criminal justice with empathy and confidence.

Discover how justice and criminality is defined and by whom, how our courts and correctional processes operate, and the desirable outcomes of criminal justice processes. You will also get hands-on experience through our work-integrated learning opportunities, which allow you to bridge theory with practice and gain insight into how the study of criminology applies across different industries and sectors. You may even take your learning overseas and gain a global perspective on how other countries approach criminology.

Need more flexibility in your studies? You can choose to study part-time or full-time, on campus or 100% online. You can also take advantage of Deakin’s trimester system to fast-track your degree and complete your Bachelor of Criminology in just two years.

Complement your studies by pairing the Bachelor of Criminology with another degree. From arts to cyber security, you will graduate with a unique course combination valued by employers that will further expand your career opportunities.

Career opportunities

Graduates from this course can look forward to a diverse and challenging career, in roles such as:

corrections officers
crime prevention advisers
crime researchers and analysts
crime trends analysts
criminologists
federal and state police officers (requires further training)
forensic psychologists (requires further study)
intelligence analysts
parole officers
policy advisors.

For more information go to DeakinTALENT.

Participation requirements

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.

Mandatory student checks

Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.

Pathways

Don’t quite meet the entry requirements for this course? The Associate Degree of Arts (A250) can be used as a guaranteed entry pathway into the Bachelor of Criminology and counts as credit towards your first year of study*. You’ll gain a solid foundation of relevant knowledge and be ready to transition seamlessly into your goal degree.

*Specific units of study must be completed within A250 for full credit to be granted. We recommend speaking with one of our student advisers before selecting your units.

Alternative exits

Diploma of Arts (A215)

Transition to University study

The faculty offers two units that are specifically designed to ease the transition into university study:

AIX160

Introduction to University Study

AIX117

Professional Writing for Work

New students are encouraged to enrol in one or both of these units in their first year.

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Review and analyse major social science theories and key criminological concepts, theories and technical knowledge relating to crime and criminal justice issues, including the causes and consequences of crime, ways of responding to crime, media representations of crime, core debates in policing, security and surveillance, as well as broader issues of policy and politics, inclusion and exclusion, governing and governance, security, social justice, citizenship and human rights.
Communication	Effectively communicate the findings and analyses of criminological concepts, theories and technical knowledge, in a selection of written, digital and oral formats, to a range of audiences.
Digital literacy	Employ a range of generic and specialist criminal justice-specific digital communication technologies to apply criminological knowledge and conduct social and criminological research and deliver reports and presentations to a diverse range of audiences within and outside the field.
Critical thinking	Analyse and critically evaluate theoretical approaches to crime problems and current policies and practices of governments and criminal justice practitioners and professions in the context of broad social change, new crimes, new responses and an increasing responsibility for preventing and controlling individual and complex crimes at local, state, national and international levels.
Problem solving	Employ initiative and creativity in conjunction with accepted evidence-based criminological methods to generate innovative and pragmatic approaches and solutions to complex problems in the areas of individual crime, complex and organised crime, the criminal justice process, questions of justice and injustice, local, national and international policing, surveillance, privacy and technology, and domestic and international crime and security issues.
Self-management	Demonstrate autonomy, responsibility, accountability and a continued commitment to learning and skill development, as a reflective practitioner, while working in the criminological field.
Teamwork	Work and learn collaboratively with others in the criminology field and from different disciplines and backgrounds while still maintaining responsibility for their own learning.
Global citizenship	Analyse and address criminological issues in the domestic and global context as a reflective scholar and practitioner, taking into consideration cultural and socio-economic diversity, social and environmental responsibility and the application of the highest ethical standards.
Approved by Faculty Board 2014

Course rules

To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Criminology, students must complete 24-credit points as follows:

At least 12-credit points of Criminology units, including the compulsory core units of ACR101, ACR102, ACR201, ACR202, ACR301 and ACR302;
Up to 12-credit points can be non-ACR coded units;
No more than 10-credit points at level 1 including ACR101 and ACR102;
At least 14-credit points at level 2 or above including ACR201 and ACR202;
At least 6-credit points at level 3 including ACR301 and ACR302;
No more than 8-credit points taken outside the Faculty of Arts and Education.
DAI001 Academic Integrity Module (0-credit-point compulsory unit)

Students must ensure they select appropriate Level 2 and Level 3 units to fulfil course requirements.

Students are encouraged to consider completing a second major sequence and therefore may wish to select elective units in accordance with that major sequence. Please refer to A310 Bachelor of Arts for a list of Faculty of Arts and Education major sequences.

Course structure

Core Units

ACR101

Introducing Crime and Criminology

ACR102

Introducing Crime and Criminal Justice

ACR201

Issues in Criminal Justice

ACR202

Explaining Crime

ACR301

International and Comparative Criminal Justice

ACR302

Criminology Research

Criminology units

Plus at least six credit points from the list below:

ACR203

Crime, Victims and Justice

ACR204

Crime, Media and Justice

ACR206

Criminology in Action

ACR211

Crime Prevention and Security

ACR214

Inequality, Power and Justice

ACR304

Surveillance and Social Justice

ACR305

Crime, Terrorism and Security

ACR306

Careers in Criminal Justice

MAE266

Black Market Economics: Exploring the Underworld of Illicit Trade

Elective Units

Up to 12-credit points can be non-ACR coded units.

No more than 8-credit points taken outside the Faculty of Arts and Education.

Students must ensure they select appropriate Level 2 and Level 3 units to fulfil course requirements.

Work experience

Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.

Other course information

Assessment

Assessment within the award of Bachelor of Criminology varies from written assignments and/or examination to practical and technical exercises and performance. In some units assessment may also include class participation, online exercises, seminar exercises and tests.

Students commencing prior to 2014

Continuing Criminology students who commenced prior to 2014 to contact Student Services Office for re-enrolment advice and to review Course Plans. From 2014, most Criminology ASL coded units have been replaced with Criminology ACR coded units.

Students applying with prior study or recognition for prior learning will need to contact the student services office to review their enrolment plans.

Course duration

Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

Contact Student Central

Other learning experiences

There are options for WIL and study tours across many of the SHSS courses.

Research and research-related study

Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.