Degrees of difference? A preliminary study of criminology degrees at Australian universities
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865814523437 |
| Published date | 01 March 2015 |
| Date | 01 March 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
2015, Vol. 48(1) 119–146
Degrees of difference?
! The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865814523437
criminology degrees at
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Australian universities
Lorana Bartels
School of Law and Justice, University of Canberra, Australia
Alyce McGovern
School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia
Kelly Richards
School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Abstract
While the discipline of ‘criminology’ has existed within Australian universities for more than
half a century, the introduction of discrete ‘criminology’ and justice programmes is much
more recent. Little is known, however, about the current state of play when it comes to what
a degree in ‘criminology’ actually entails. With growing student enrolments in such pro-
grammes, reflecting on the status of these programmes is important in the context of student
and employer requirements and expectations. Drawing on the findings of a preliminary study,
this paper will explore what it means to study for an undergraduate degree in ‘criminology’ in
Australia. Specifically, we will focus on the content, availability and range of ‘criminology’
and justice degrees available in Australia, in order to gain a better understanding of the
convergences and divergences across degree programmes, and make some recommendations
for future research.
Keywords
Criminology education, degrees, universities, criminal justice education, Australia
Introduction*
In this article, we examine the current educational landscape of criminology in Australia.
Finnane (2012) recently described the early evolution of criminology education in
*A shorter version of this paper was delivered at the 26th annual conference of the Australian and
New Zealand Society of Criminology, Brisbane, on 3 October 2013.
Corresponding author:
Lorana Bartels, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
Email: lorana.bartels@canberra.edu.au
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Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 48(1)
Australia, with the first visiting lectureship in criminology being established at the
University of Melbourne in 1938. The formation of a criminology department followed
in the 1950s, and there was an agreement to establish the Institute of Criminology at the
University of Sydney in 1959. Notably, whereas criminology education in the United
States developed in sociology departments, Australia followed the British and European
tradition, with its initial criminology courses located in law faculties.
The emerging discipline soon found a foothold, and
[b]y the 1970s the criminological enterprise in Australia included two academic departments
as well as other important academic sub-units in a number of other universities, a national
institute, one state-based crime research centre, a professional society [the Australian and
New Zealand Society of Criminology, established in 1967] and an associated journal [the
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, which was first published in 1968].
This was a culture of significant size. . . (Finnane, 2012, pp. 169–170)
Nevertheless, as Wimshurst (2011) has noted, criminology remains a relatively new dis-
cipline. In fact, it was only in 2006 that ‘criminology and criminal justice’ was recognised
by the United States National Research Council as an ‘emerging discipline’ (see Maddan
& Hartley, 2011, for a discussion). While in Australia, most criminology and criminal
justice degrees did not emerge until the 1990s, in recent years we have witnessed a
substantial growth in the number of courses offered within the broad criminology/crim-
inal justice/justice sphere, especially at the ‘newer’ universities (Wimshurst, 2011;
Wortley & Wimshurst, 2000). As Wimshurst (2011, p. 301) has argued, however, the
‘curriculum and parameters’ of criminology and criminal justice degrees ‘remain
unsettled’. Indeed, ‘[t]here may be limited agreement even among academics teaching
in the field about what graduates should know’ (Wimshurst, 2011, p. 302).
Through the authors’ roles in the criminology sphere in Australia (at universities in
three states), it has become apparent that Australian universities are producing large
numbers of graduates in the area of criminology, but that there is, at least in name, very
little consistency in how these qualifications are articulated, with degree titles varying
from Bachelor of Arts (Criminology), to Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology),
Bachelor of Criminology and/or Criminal Justice, and Bachelor of Justice/Justice
Studies. Further, it has become apparent that institutionally there is some variation in
where criminology degrees are located within schools and faculties, with programmes
situated within Arts, Social Sciences, Justice Studies and/or Law schools/faculties,
among others. While the historical reasons for such titles and placements are beyond
the scope of this particular study, what is of interest for this paper are the convergences
and divergences in Australian criminology degrees in their current form, and the poten-
tial implications of these outwardly disparate classifications.
Aside from the potential difficulties such disparities may create for students wishing to
undertake studies in criminology, this apparent lack of uniformity also makes it difficult
for prospective employers to know what skills, knowledge and other attributes graduates
of criminology degrees can be expected to possess. For example, can employers expect all
graduates to have an understanding of criminological theory? What about legal or social
science research methods? Is it the case that graduates with Social Science degrees could
be expected to have a better grasp on statistics than those with Arts-based degrees?
Bartels et al.
121
Or do criminology degree programmes in Australian universities have largely the same
content despite their varied titles? In other words, are criminology degrees in Australia
different in name or nature? Are there mere degrees of difference, or are they different
degrees?
Using these considerations as a starting point, this preliminary research study sought
to address the following interrelated questions:
1. What are the core components of undergraduate criminology or justice degrees in
Australian universities?
2. How do these components vary across universities?
3. Is there any uniformity evident in the core components of criminology or justice
degrees in Australian universities?
In order to address these questions, this article is divided into four parts. Firstly, we
outline the methods used to gain insight into the constitution of criminology degrees in
Australian universities. Secondly, we provide a detailed breakdown of the representation
of criminology or justice degrees in Australia, and the core components that make up
these degrees, comparing degree locations and core content for convergences and diver-
gences. Thirdly, we analyse how the composition of criminology or justice degrees varies
across the country. Finally, we discuss our findings in relation to the core skills and
knowledge that such degrees may deliver for students and employers, and make some
suggestions for future research directions. It should be noted that it is beyond the scope
of this article to consider whether criminology is – or should be – a discipline distinct
from sociology (for a discussion, see Maddan & Hartley, 2011; Wellford, 2007; Wrede &
Featherstone, 2012). Instead, we are interested in the representation of criminology in
tertiary education courses across Australia. In addition, we note but do not consider in
detail the demarcation between criminology, which has in the past been seen as largely
theoretical in nature, and criminal justice, which has traditionally been considered more
vocational (see Wimshurst, 2011; Wimshurst & Allard, 2007, for a discussion).
Methodology
The methodology for this preliminary study was modelled on that of Prenzler, Martin,
and Sarre (2010), who similarly mapped the field of policing and security studies across
Australian universities and technical colleges. Following their lead, the first step in our
study was to obtain a list of Australian universities from the Universities Australia
website (Universities Australia, 2013). We then accessed the official websites for each
of the 39 universities across Australia in order to obtain information about their
degree programmes. This involved conducting searches on college/school/faculty/
university webpages for information about ‘crim*’ and/or justice studies, followed by
a search of the institutions’ 2013 and 2014 online handbooks, where details of ‘crim*’-
and justice-related programmes and courses were also sought. As Prenzler et al. (2010,
pp. 4–5) explained, ‘university handbooks list ‘‘courses’’ (‘‘subjects’’ or ‘‘units’’) and
‘‘programs’’ (sets of courses resulting in qualifications such as certificates, diplomas and
degrees)’ and are the official source of all study-related information for Australian
universities.
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Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 48(1)
Given that this study aimed to provide a preliminary examination of the discipline, we
kept a relatively narrow focus of analysis, choosing only to examine degrees with crim*
(i.e. criminology or criminal justice) or justice in the title. In addition, only undergradu-
ate Bachelor degrees that were the equivalent of 3 years’ duration were under...
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