Programme Lead

Peter Harris

Peter Harris

Dr Pete Harris is Senior Lecturer for Criminology and Programme Lead for the MA. Pete spent 18 years as a youth worker and then as a senior manager for a children’s charity before joining Newman in 2010. He holds a BA in Social Policy, a Dip.H.E. in Youth and Community Work and an M.A. in Education Studies. He was Presidents Doctoral Scholar at Manchester University where he completed an ESRC funded PhD in Criminology. Pete brings this cross disciplinary perspective to his research activity. In 2012 he co-led a multinational research project examining youth work responses to youth violence, the findings of which became a book entitled “Responding to Youth Violence through Youth Work” in September 2016. He has since presented at the British and European Societies for Criminology and Outreach Youth Work conferences in the UK, Malta and Scandinavia on the issue of youth violence and masculinity and has produced several published works in the area of youth work and youth crime. His current research interests include how psychosocial criminology can inform relationships between youth practitioners and young people involved in violence, the impact of trauma inflicted on soldiers in training, and how critical pedagogues can produce transformative learning in Higher Education.

You can contact Pete with any questions you may have about studying the Criminology and Social Justice MA: p.harris@newman.ac.uk

The MA Criminology and Social Justice Criminology subject area is small, friendly, and focused on providing you with a personalised, transformative student experience with a high level of individual support. The course is uniquely designed to offer you a foundation of critical criminological knowledge through which we can examine concerns relating to matters of social justice, equality and diversity. We believe the course provides a broader perspective than other Criminology courses by exploring the relationship between criminal and social justice, in both a local and global context. You can study full-time (1 year) or part-time (over 2 years) electing to progress at you own pace. After completion you will be ideally placed, to continue to advance your studies to gain a PhD through a further programme of Doctoral study.

This programme is designed to support your learning needs as postgraduate students, with both face to face lectures on campus and on line materials that can be studied at your own pace. On campus sessions are currently timetabled for one day each week.

26/9/22 -16/12/22 Wednesday 10am-5pm

You will have opportunities for students to negotiate the content of modules with staff.

In semester 1 you will study 2 30 credit modules:

CRM 701 Justice

This module is designed to enable you to develop a critical understanding of how both criminal justice and social justice is distributed in contemporary society.

CRM 702 Criminological Theory & Research Methods

This module is designed to enable you to engage with a range of theories within the field of criminology and to relate them to potential methodological approaches to social research.

And in semester 2 you will study 2 more 30 credit modules:

CRM 704 Crime and Place

This module focuses on the relationship between justice and place, exploring how justice, both criminal and social, is distributed in different geographic locations.

CRM 705 Applied Psychosocial Criminology

This module will introduce you to the interdisciplinary framework of psychosocial studies and explore how this generates new perspectives on criminal behaviour.

Throughout the year you will also be supported to produce your

Criminology & Social Justice Dissertation (CRU703) 60 Credits

This module provides you with the opportunity to explore a topic of your own choosing through autonomously undertaking empirical research supported by a member of staff from the subject area with appropriate specialist knowledge.

The programme draws on a range of assessment methods which provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate a range of academic skills including:

  • Essays on negotiated topics and with negotiated titles
  • Presentations
  • Presentation of seminar papers
  • Research proposals
  • Practical research projects
  • Dissertation
  • Text books – we recommend you do not purchase textbooks for your personal use to support your study. Copies of key texts will be available online and on loan from the library at no cost.
  • Printing costs – lecture materials and journal articles for seminar preparation can be accessed in digital format. There is a small charge per sheet for printing on campus and printing credit can be obtained through the Newman e-store.
  • Field trips – additional field trips may be organised to enhance your student experience. You may be asked to make a contribution.