Bachelor's degree in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies

Duration

Four academic years

Fee

€1.202,32 (Approximate price for EU students. Other types)

Places

Admissions

Access to programme

Branch of knowledge

Social and legal sciences

Schedule

Morning, possibly with a few lectures or seminars in the afternoon

Academic year

From September to June

Credits

240 ECTS credits
Basic subjects: 60; compulsory subjects: 140; optional subjects: 20; external internship: 10; bachelor's degree final project: 10

Languages

Catalan, Spanish and English (depending on the subject). Three subjects are taught in English in the third year.

Venue

Ciutadella Campus

Organizer

Faculty of Law

Why UPF?

You will understand society and criminal phenomena, criminal law and the penal system, and programmes for tackling crime.
You will be able to analyse social problems with a view to identifying fair, effective solutions to them.
You will learn to use quantitative and qualitative research methods to study criminological phenomena.
You will be able to undertake an external internship in a court, a prison, a police force, a victim centre, a town or city hall or a private company.
You will acquire public prevention policy planning skills.

Objectives

Criminology is a discipline that studies criminal behaviour and social reactions thereto. It consequently encompasses a wide variety of figures, such as the police, courts of justice, prisons, criminals, the victims of crime.

UPF's bachelor's degree programme in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies is geared to students acquiring wide-ranging knowledge encompassing law, political and social sciences, biology and psychology, and being able to apply it to the specific field of crime.

Criminological research methods and an understanding of society and its laws are of particular relevance in that regard, as is training in biology and psychology that offers an insight into some forms of antisocial behaviour and makes it possible to establish prevention programmes.

The objective is to equip students with the skills they need to advise public authorities, the justice system and the private sector on crime and security.

The programme's education for future criminologists aims to emphasize:

Criminological research. As debates and policies are nowadays expected to be based on empirical data, the programme provides intensive training that enables students to plan and carry out criminological research.
An understanding of societies affected by crime and their mechanisms for responding thereto.
Training in biology and psychology that offers an insight into the biological and psychological bases of some forms of antisocial behaviour, and makes it possible to design programmes for preventing and dealing with such behaviour.

Competences to be acquired

The programme's graduates can develop the following competences:

Interconnecting general knowledge and knowledge from different disciplines, and putting it into practice to tackle the problem of crime.
Managing information.
Presenting ideas in a structured fashion, both orally and in writing.
Working in a team.
Using initiative to come up with proposals.
Analysing social problems with a view to identifying fair, effective solutions to them.

Syllabus

Internships

For students who started in the 2017-2018 academic year to those who started in the 2023-2024 academic year, external internships are mandatroy in the 4th year.

For students who start from the 2024-2025 academic year, external internships will be optional.

Periods abroad

Study periods abroad are optional and may be undertaken in the fourth year.

Career prospects

Advising local public bodies on security, crime prevention in their area and coexistence in society.
Designing, implementing and evaluating public policies on security and crime prevention in relation to the police, prisons and alternative punishments.
Advising judges and public prosecutors on penalty enforcement.
Implementing and evaluating programmes for tackling crime and victim support initiatives.
Teaching at different levels, and planning and carrying out the multiple empirical research projects required for the development of public policies related to crime.
Meeting the private sector's growing demand for consultancy services on security and crime prevention.

About the programme

UPF's Criminology and Public Prevention Policies graduates have interdisciplinary knowledge of society and the legal framework for dealing with criminal behaviour.

The programme's curriculum offers three tracks, namely Crime and the Criminal Justice System; Criminological Research; and Criminal Psychology and Biology.

It is recommended that students undertake external internships in the final year of the programme, in courts, prisons, police forces, victim centres, town or city halls or private companies. Those who take up this option will benefit from the guidance of an academic tutor and the supervision of a professional from their host organization.

Additionally, students must carry out a bachelor's degree final project, with the assistance of a tutor, to prove that they have acquired the necessary competences.

As criminology is a highly international discipline, the Faculty of Law promotes student and lecturer mobility through academic exchanges with other European universities. To ensure that students are as well equipped as possible to deal with the challenges of such exchanges, the final two years of the programme include a course on English specifically for criminologists and various other subjects taught in the language.