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Study undergraduate online with Griffith University through Open Universities Australia. Explore all degrees, subjects and short courses now.

Griffith University’s Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, offered through Open Universities Australia, is a broad-based social science degree examining crime, the criminal justice system and related social issues. All the specialised knowledge and skills necessary for a career in the highly demanding criminal justice system are taught in this degree. This degree focuses on the causes of crime and society&#39;s response to crime. It will give you a well-rounded perspective on the various arms of the justice system and the relationships between them. You will graduate with a professional qualification in the field of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Examine crime and its causes, society’s response and related social issues. Qualify for a career in the demanding criminal justice system in policing, corrections, security, regulatory law enforcement, crime prevention and customs

Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Want to know how to stop crime before it even happens? What motivates people to break the law and what deters them?This new double degree will combine the study of what makes criminals tick with an understanding of the justice system and policy making processes. With a better understanding of how policy is created and applied, plus an understanding of crime and criminal behavior, you will be equipped to influence the policy underpinning the justice system to ultimately deter crime rather than simply responding to criminal behavior.This degree will give you a better understanding of the causes and consequences of complex crime and criminal justice issues and just how it is currently dealt with by government at local, national and global levels. Could you make a difference?

Learn the workings of governments for broad career options in private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Explore political structures and processes across the world. Think about the changing nature of crime. Compare economies and democracies.

Bachelor of Political Science and International Relations/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Crime and Mental Health

Understanding Victims and Offenders

Fraud and Cybercrime

Crime and Criminal Justice

Gender, Crime and Justice

The Criminal Justice System

Introduction to Criminology

Psychological Contributions to Understanding Crime

Critical Issues in Criminology

Mental Disorder and Crime

This subject offers a focused exploration into the realm of environmental criminology, a branch of criminology that examines the role of the immediate physical environment in influencing the potential for criminal activity. Environmental criminology operates on the principle that the environment can shape, facilitate, or hinder criminal behaviour, thus playing a crucial role in understanding and preventing crime. Unlike traditional schools of criminology that may concentrate on the sociological or psychological aspects of criminal behaviour, environmental criminology places a significant emphasis on the spatial and temporal distribution of criminal events in relation to the environment. The subject will be particularly beneficial for students aspiring to operational or policy positions in crime prevention and control. It provides a practical approach to these ends, equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively address and mitigate crime through environmental strategies. By understanding the intricate relationship between the environment and criminal behaviour, students will gain valuable insights applicable to real-world scenarios in crime prevention and policy formulation.

Environmental Criminology

This subject is intended as an introduction to research in criminal justice and criminology. Some of the students taking this subject will likely enter professions in criminal justice and some may move into more research-oriented professions in criminology. Therefore, emphasis is placed on the research methodologies used in the criminal justice and criminological literature. Students begin by learning the logic of research methodology in the social sciences and then learn how researchers in criminology carry out research projects.This subject is designed to expose students to the key issues, concepts, and topics related to research methods in criminal justice and criminological research. A wide range of topics will be covered, including, the research process, data, variables, research designs, data analysis, and the connection between policy and research. Emphasis will be placed on pitfalls associated with each part of research methods, as well as the key ethical issues that are encountered throughout the research process. After completing this course, students will be able to demonstrate a foundational understanding of the main issues that are directly relevant to research methods as it applies to criminal justice and criminological research.Assessment details will be advised at the beginning of the subject offering.

Doing Criminology

Previously named &quot;Psychology of Crime&quot;, this subject is designed to complement Crime, Society and Justice. The subject focuses on individual-level explanations of criminal behaviour. The contributions of evolutionary, genetic, bio-behavioural and trait theories, social learning, developmental and social psychological theories are examined. Implications of these theories for the criminal justice system and crime prevention are examined.This subject addresses the question &quot;What is it about individuals and their experiences that produce criminal behaviour?&quot;. Psychologists are concerned with how an individual’s biological make-up, personality, upbringing, current circumstances and so forth produce criminal behaviour. The unit examines criminal behaviour in terms of nine theoretical perspectives: evolutionary theories, genetic theories, biobehavioural theories, psychodynamic theories, trait theories, behavioural theories, social learning theories, development theories, and environmental theories. The subject also examines the implications of these theories for three areas criminology: the functioning of the criminal justice system, crime prevention, and the rehabilitation of offenders.

Delve into scientific theories that explain why people become criminals. You’ll explore links between criminal behaviour and personality, upbringing, and more. Use this knowledge in crime prevention and offender rehabilitation.

Psychological Explanations of Criminal Behaviour

Domestic and family violence is a pressing social issue with significant implications for individuals, couples, families, and communities. It makes up a large portion of cases in justice, health, and social systems in Australia and around the world. This course provides students with a critical understanding of the dynamics, distribution, outcomes, and responses to domestic and family violence. Students will learn about key topics such as coercive control, how children are involved in domestic and family violence, the role of technology in abuse, and domestic violence homicide using real-world examples. Students will gain critical research literacy skills to interpret key data sources on domestic and family violence. Students will practice skills to effectively and accurately communicate complex information about domestic and family violence.

Understanding Domestic and Family Violence

Developing Professionally is a core subject designed to assist students to understand their future professional context and employment. This course focuses on professional skills in the workplace, linking theory and practice and reflective thinking skills. Obtaining a 5 in Developing Professionally is one pre-requisite for Griffith University criminology students planning on enrolling in 3008CCJ Professional Practice.Prerequisites: CCJ102 Developing Professionally 1; 1002CCJ Developing Professionally 1 OR CCJ101 Criminology Skills; 1001CCJ Criminology SkillsStudents should not enrol in the subject if they have completed: CCJ307 Developing Professionally; 3007CCJ Developing Professionally

Continue on your pathway to a real career in criminology or the criminal justice system. You’ll delve into the employment process as you keep exploring your personal strengths and ethos. The professional workplace is just around the corner—so get ready!

Developing Professionally 2

Developing professionally 1 is a core subject designed to assist students to self-reflect on themselves, envisage future career options as well as use this knowledge to develop a plan to best position themselves for employment after graduation. Throughout the subject, students will articulate a vision of themselves and organisations of interest in the criminal justice system. Students will also gain a thorough understanding of who they are, their personal strengths and values and what this means professionally. Lastly, students will be introduced to a step-by-step process for career planning in which they will reflect on themselves, explore career possibilities, and make decisions and set goals as part of a personal development plan to clarify their career pathway and position themselves on the market for employment after graduation. This course takes students through their own personal journey for a professional purpose. Students that have completed CCJ101, as part of their program structure, do not need to complete CCJ102, however if they wish to take this subject it can be added as a free choice elective.Students should not enrol in the subject if they have completed: 2019CCJ, COM15 or CCJ16

Start thinking about your future career in the criminal justice system. Get planning now so that after you graduate your pathway is clear. Think about your strengths, your strategy, and your vision. Find and explore organisations that share your ethos.

Developing Professionally 1

This subject was previously known as Sociology of Crime and Crime, Society and Culture.This subject introduces foundational and contemporary social theories of crime and justice. Theories are examined in their socio-historical context, with attention given to the role of theory in knowledge production about crime causation, criminal justice policy, and social views of justice.Criminology is the social scientific study of crime – its causes, its effects, and how societies respond to crime. Yet these questions are rarely straightforward. Historically, all societies have sought to control crime or deviance, and all cultures have explanations as to why and how people do bad or wicked things. But how crime is defined varies significantly between cultures and societies, and often within them. Criminology in this regard is a fairly new historical invention, its origins dating fewer than two hundred years. Yet even within this time, the social sciences have developed diverse and sometimes conflicting explanations, theories and approaches to understanding, explaining, and redressing crime. Anthropology, economics, psychology, political science, socio-legal studies, and sociology all evidence distinct epistemological and methodological approaches to questions of what causes crime, how crime is defined, and how we should respond to crime.How we define crime is also intrinsically tied to how we collectively and individually define justice. This question is essential in understanding how societies formally and informally define and respond to crime. Formal responses include criminal and civil justice mechanisms tasked with several overlapping and sometimes competing aims such as retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and public safety. Informal responses include social norms and values, social movements, and collective social actions. In some cases there is strong alignment between formal and informal definitions and justice values in society, for example in the case of drink-driving which was once more widely tolerated but over time has become seen by the majority of the public and thus dealt with by policymakers as a serious offence. In other cases there is less alignment between formal and informal definitions and responses to crime, for example in current debates about how to best respond to illicit drug use – through a criminal justice approach, or through a public health approach that decriminalises or legalises use and distribution of some types of illicit drugs?In this regard, theories of crime and justice are not abstracted from the daily experiences and problems in people’s lives. On the contrary, we all “theorise,” every day, in our own lives. When a friend is arrested for drink driving, we theorise how we should respond to them. Do we agree they should lose their license as a result? Do we think they should be required to undergo treatment? What should they have to do in order to take responsibility for this offence and be allowed to drive again? We theorise when we are victimised – why did someone harm us, and what should be done about it? We theorise when bad things happen to people and nothing is done about it.All of this is “theorising,” where we draw from what we know or believe about “what works” and we compare or contrast that against what we know about the situation we are examining. One problem of subject is that we are sometimes wrong – individually and collectively – and part of the role of the social sciences is to investigate and challenge “common sense” notions of crime and justice. This does not mean that the social sciences are above reproach, or that social science itself is infallible. On the contrary, as we will see, the social sciences have offered explanations of crime ranging from the plausible to the absurd. What the social sciences provide, however, is a set of rules or guidelines for how to make knowledge claims about crime beyond that of our own experiences or common sense, and how to test and retest these claims until they are more widely accepted or rejected in lieu of other explanations.Another issue, however, is that people often have very different perspectives on what counts as justice. Social science can measure these attitudes and beliefs, but it is a relatively poor vehicle for making moral statements. Justice and injustice are subjective concepts, which often depend on people’s individual and collective social experiences. What social science does offer, however, is the possibility for us to transcend our own experiences and look at ourselves and our beliefs from the perspective of how others define and experience injustice. For more than a century these have been primary goals of sociology, anthropology, and other social sciences that seek to understand how people experience and make sense of the world, beyond testing hypotheses or measuring social phenomenon.This class explores and investigates these big questions through the lens of social scientific theories and research on crime, justice, and society. As criminology is a multidisciplinary field of study, emphasis is given to sociological, socio-legal, social-psychological, philosophical, and other approaches. Emphasis is also given to exploring and understanding “the social construction of knowledge” – how knowledge about these questions is produced, what type of knowledge are privileged (or silenced) and why, and how such knowledge shapes people’s symbolic and material realities in concrete ways.Students should not enrol in this subject if they have completed CCJ27 Sociology of Crime or CCJ207 Crime, Society and Culture.

Crime, Society and Justice

This subject covers a range of technology-enabled crimes, including attacks on computer hardware (i.e., viruses, ransomware attacks, etc.) and those crimes in which computers are used as the primary facilitator of the crime (i.e., online fraud, cyber terrorism, cyber stalking, cyber bullying, online child exploitation, etc.).Fraud and cybercrime are evolving and contemporary crime categories. These crimes have significant impact on the financial and emotional wellbeing of victims, along with broader societal impact. Current approaches to preventing, detecting and punishing these crimes have proven to be challenging as governments, law enforcement and regulatory agencies attempt to combat their growing prevalence and sophistication of offender methodologies.Part 1 introduces students to the history of studying crime and technology, broad concepts of cybercrime, and the theories and research methods used by cybercrime researchers.Part 2 covers a particular fraud/cybercrime issue in depth each week (e.g. hacks, scams, online illicit markets, technology-facilitated abuse) and the current debates in regulating/preventing cybercrimes and digital harms.Part 3 explores the broader realm of &#39;digital criminology&#39; by discussing topics related to digital technologies, social harms, and future challenges in society with the evolution of technologies (e.g. surveillance and facial recognition technologies, extremist communities online, environmental harms from technologies, AI bias).

Study the fast-moving world of tech-enabled crime. Cover viruses, ransomware attacks, online fraud and child exploitation, cyber terrorism, stalking and bullying. Consider current approaches to combatting these crimes. 

The term social problem is usually taken to refer to social conditions that affect a significant number of people within society in a negative way. Social problems are seen as being disruptive or damaging to society, as social injustices that we should be striving to solve. For example, crime and safety, violence, alcohol, and drug use are often constructed as significant social problems for many people in Australia while others are more concerned with inequality and discrimination. In fact, social problems like crime are often the consequence of factors extending beyond the individual&#39;s control, such as inequality, discrimination, prejudice, oppression, and concomitant social injustice. Sociology provides us with the critical thinking skills to understand the connection between social problems and the social structure including how social problems come to be &#39;problems&#39; in the first place. In this course, you will develop frameworks for critical sociological thought by exploring multiple intersectional axes of power, oppression, inequality, and social injustice including classism, racism and colonialism, sexism, heterosexism and transmisia, ableism, adultism, and ageism. You will learn how oppression and power within these spheres (and the intersections between them) are vital to understanding the social problems of most concern to the discipline of criminology and reflect on how (in)justice might be mitigated. The knowledge gained will equip you with the tools to do criminology in a socially just way.

Learn about different forms of power and oppression—and how they’re linked to social problems like crime. You’ll explore sociology and practice critical thinking. Approach criminology in a socially fair way.

Social Problems - (In)equality and (In)justice

Despite the public&#39;s obsession with crime, victimisation and criminal justice, despite the morbid fear that crime and victimisation arouses, despite the endless volumes written to account for offending, victimisation and criminal justice processing, gender, the most powerful social factor of all has been virtually ignored by criminologists.&quot; (Leonard, 1982). This course explores the persistent and profound differences women and men&#39;s experiences of crime. The course considers how gender intersects with other social categories such as race, class, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity to shape crime and responses to it.

Seek to explain the profound differences between genders in crime rates, patterns, victimisation, and criminal justice system experiences and responses. Then consider intersections between gender, Indigeneity, class and sexual orientation.

Griffith University Undergraduate Criminology Courses & Degrees | Open Universities Australia

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