Why I chose Criminology
Date 3 December 2025
3.12.2025Katie advsies why she chose Criminology as her degree and what makes it so interesting.
Why study Criminology?
Why did I choose Criminology as my degree? Since my early teens I have always been fascinated with crime and criminal behaviour, with hope that when I was older, I would be able to work within the crime system.
I chose to study here at Northampton because they have been running the Criminology course for 25 years!
To me, as an upcoming student this made me feel comfortable and at ease as it proves the lecturers know the industry well.
Additionally, visiting an Open Day sold it for me. I was introduced to all the support around the Criminology degree, what the degree included, and each individual module and how it is taught. After attending the Open Day, I knew that I wanted to study Criminology here with the University of Northampton.
Furthermore . . .
In addition to this, personally, I wanted to study Criminology as a degree because I believed it would help me understand the world better and why people might behave a certain way.
Criminology explores why people commit these crimes, how society responds, and what justice really means.
Future Careers
When picking your degree, an important thing to consider is what you will do with this degree, and what type of career path you’d like to explore. Not only is the degree interesting within itself, but it also opens up various career options. For example, with Criminology, there is the opportunity to work within criminal justice, prisons, government research, social work such as victim support or even research and analysis. Furthermore, the criminology degree is also known as a ‘springboard degree’ meaning it would allow you to delve into several different careers and opportunities that may not be related to crime, for example, law and psychology.
Both Sides . . .
Alongside everything else, studying a degree in Criminology allows you to have an open opportunity to see both perspectives as a member of the public but also as someone who understands why crime is committed. Criminology itself will leave you open minded and make you look at the world differently.
This social science degree will leave you questioning everything and always thinking creatively, which is why I chose to study Criminology.
Find out more about studying Criminology at UON by visiting an Open Day.
Katie Williams is a first-year student studying BA Criminology, which she loves studying because she has a fascination with studying criminal activity, as well as what leads people to commit crime. She also enjoys spending her spare time drawing and creating art for other people.