This five-year degree offers a comprehensive and flexible combined degree program that qualifies you as an accredited social worker, while also allowing you to enhance your qualification with majors and minors that complement the Bachelor of Social Work. While this combined degree requires a major or minor in Sociology, or a minor in Social Policy, you can choose another major or minor in various interest areas such as diversity studies, gender studies, Aboriginal Studies, or philosophy. You'll undertake integrated studies in social sciences, social policy and social work theory and practice, with a strong emphasis on Australian and comparative social welfare studies. In the last two years of the degree all students undertake the professional social work program, which includes two fieldwork placements supervised by highly skilled and experienced practitioners in a variety of settings. We develop field education learning expectations across the program and aim to develop values, skills and knowledge for levels from beginner to a practitioner capable of meeting the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Practice Standards.
Criminology is a rich discipline that draws on sociology, psychology, science, law, philosophy, culture studies and history to draw attention to the social dimensions of crime and deviancy and assess the effectiveness and implications of crime control measures. You will gain an advanced understanding of crime, criminal justice practices, deviance, causes of crime, victimisation, social control, juvenile justice, indigenous justice, crime prevention, prison and other alternatives to punishment, as well as medico-legal forensic practices.
The first-year units lay the foundation to the study of crime, social harm and the criminal justice system. Second year units will deepen your understanding of criminology theories and concepts, as well as the criminal justice institutions and practices. You will analyse key debates around crime in relation to topics such as youth, race, gender, ethnicity and Indigeneity. In addition, you will critically examine how society responds to crime through social control and the criminal justice institutions and practices.
A key focus will be placed on features of policing, sentencing, punishment, prisons and alternatives to punishment, such as restorative justice. In third-year units you will consolidate your critical analytical skills in criminology as you delve into complex relationship between crime, law, medicine and science. In addition, you will critically analyse the development and nature of criminal justice in relation to the complex interface of “law and order politics’, the media, culture, crime and society. Finally, you will be able to apply your advanced knowledge to a piece of criminological research of your choice.
