Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology

Today we face critical problems that pose challenges for the health and wellbeing of our society, such as persistent poverty, food insecurity, forced migration and climate change.

There may be other social issues that you are concerned about, such as access to social care or the long NHS waiting lists. This is because social policy affects us all. Therefore, whether you are returning to education or leaving school or college, this is the course for you!

The Social Policy and Social Change programme is built on a foundation of teaching social policy for a number of years. However, this exciting new programme focuses on the role of social policy in bringing about social change. It will ask how can we create solutions that tackle these problems – and why have policy makers not done so already? 

Events such as COVID 19 and climate change, and social movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter, have shown us how citizen involvement can be crucial in highlighting social problems. Sometimes interactions between the state and its citizens leads to social change – and policy change.  However, sometimes we may want to bring about change, but we may feel powerless, why is this?

How citizens engage – and are enabled to engage - with policy makers is critical to a healthy society. However, some citizens - namely white, wealthy and male citizens - have a greater influence on the design and implementation of the policies that shape all of our lives.

Why study these topics?

• Our teaching team are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse course, drawing on students’ lived experience and expertise.
• We will look at the role communities can play in generating solutions to social problems, drawing on the expertise of the social policy team who are engaged in community-based research.
• Through case studies, we examine social policy and social change in our communities: in relation to age, class, gender, disability, locality, religion and sexuality.
• Our module diet covers a wide range of issues, from health care and housing to levelling up and sustainability: contemporary issues that policy-makers are having to address.
• We will support you, as learners, to engage with community-based learning, whether that is a school, a voluntary sector organisation, or the local council. These opportunities to gain experience in the ‘real’ world will not only embed your learning, through engaging with the lived experiences of people living with disadvantage and discrimination, but it will also support you to develop skills for the workplace.

Potential Career Paths

• Project worker (voluntary or public sector) 
• Support worker 
• Social Researcher 
• Support roles within a University 
• Policy officer, for example in the Civil Service 
• Health and social care professional 
• Welfare rights advisor  
• Welfare Officer  
• Teacher (after post graduate study) 
• Social Worker ( after post graduate study) 

What our students say….

“Since being at University of Wolverhampton, and completing my undergraduate degree, receiving a 2.1 overall, I have embarked on a Research Masters degree. My time at Wolverhampton has stuck with me, I have used the experience and knowledge I gained during my studies to pursue my career aspirations. My current research is a continuation of a project I had completed whilst studying in Social Policy, an overview of how Universal Credit has affected families within a localised region of the UK. I now work for a local authority and a youth mental health charity, as well as volunteering as an Equalities and Youth Officer for a local political party and as a mentor. The Social Policy part of my degree created a foundation for me to become the person that I am today, for that I will always be grateful and I will always look back in fondness of my time in the University” - Amy Redsull, BA Politics and Social Policy

“The Social Policy degree at the University of Wolverhampton offered a wide range of modules that are relevant to society today.  I particularly enjoyed the modules which looked at the world of work and those looking at policy responses to poverty and social exclusion.  Lectures were always interesting and engaging, and my lecturers offered support and guidance regularly” – Lucy Wright, BA Social Policy

Within Criminology, you will not only study who commits crime and why, how they are punished, and how crime is controlled, but you will also be able to study a range of cutting-edge research-focused specialist modules that particularly interest you or may assist in your future career. These include, for example, working in the criminal justice system, police and society, rehabilitation of offenders, victimology, environmental crime, modern punishment, and youth justice and youth crime.

Why study these topics?

• Our teaching team are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse course, drawing on students’ lived experience and expertise.
• We will support you, as learners, to engage with community-based learning, whether that is a school, a voluntary sector organisation, or the local council. These opportunities to gain experience in the ‘real’ world will not only embed your learning, through engaging with the lived experiences of people living with disadvantage and discrimination, but it will also support you to develop skills for the workplace.

Potential Career Paths

Our students choose a wide variety of career paths, including working within the criminal justice system (as a Probation or Prison Officer for example), the police, the legal profession, or the civil service. Others go into social or youth work, or the charity sector.