Sociology and Criminology
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the study of society: our society and other societies. It has as its focus social relations between individuals and groups.
What we do, think, and feel is influenced by the type of society in which we live: the way in which society is organised. Sociology can help us better understand who we are, what we do, and why we do it, by situating individuality in a social context. In this way it can increase our self-knowledge and cultural awareness. Put another way, sociology explains how the world in which we live came about, providing a means in which to assess our lives and the world in which we live. What is it that makes our lives unique and distinct from the lives of our forebears?
What are the limits of our social world and what are the possibilities for the future? In asking these questions, sociology simultaneously reinforces and challenges ‘commonsense’ beliefs. It challenges the way in which we look at the world and allows us to talk about the world in new ways and see things which were previously unnoticed. Sociology reveals both the enormous variation and degrees of consistency in social organisation and human behavior.
Sociologists study social life in all its forms, their interests range from everyday social practices, such as shopping, to social institutions, such as the family. Health and medicine, consumer society, the family, gender and sexuality, media, deviance and crime, the State, race and ethnicity, ethnomethodology, social class, globalisation and culture are some of the specialisations of sociologists at UNE.’
What distinguishes sociological thinking on these issues? Sociologists are committed to the primacy of social life. Sociologists use systematic methods of investigation to analyse data collected from the social world. Sociologists, it has been observed, attempt to ‘see the general in the particular’ and the ‘strange in the familiar’. Sociologists seek to be objective in their research. Sociologists attempt to cast aside moral prejudices, and speak about social life in a fair and balanced manner.
Sociological research informs and shapes everyday thinking and public policy. Sociological researchers gather data on both social patterns and individual experiences. Sociologists gather this information by using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, including: questionnaires; case studies; interviews; observation; and focus groups.
To find out how sociology skills and thinking can be utilised and applied professionally please look to our Careers page.
A Brief History
The Sociology Department at UNE was established in 1962 within the Faculty of Agricultural Economics, and the original intention was that it be called ‘Rural Sociology’. It was the second Sociology Department in Australia, after the establishment of a department at La Trobe University. Sociology at UNE grew quickly, and then changed and consolidated, so that by around 1970 it had become what could be called a mainstream sociology venture operating within a conventional Faculty of Arts. In 1998 the Sociology Department at UNE became part of the newly formed School of Social Science. For an expanded version of this history please download (PDF file 43Kb) this file.
What is Criminology?
Crime is a problem for contemporary societies that can have wide and lasting impacts on victims, their families and communities. Criminology is the study of crime, violence, crime control, crime policy and prevention. As an intellectual project criminology questions the way crimes are presented in the media and political speech. It also questions the shifting historical definitions of crime and the changing policy responses to crime control.
Students will study criminal law, criminology, forensic science, forensic anthropology and the sociology of deviance. They will also undertake training in research methods, crime prevention, and social policy analysis to equip them with the necessary skills for employment in the criminal justice sector.
The degree is taught by award winning academics widely recognized for their excellence in teaching and research.
Here you can find more information about the Bachelor of Criminology