School of Chemical and Physical Sciences brochures Forensic Science brochure 2019 | Page 14

14 | FORENSIC SCIENCE
BSc Forensic Science and Criminology (Single Honours)
UCAS Code F4L6
This single honours degree programme is designed to develop an understanding of why
crimes are committed and how we use science to investigate these. This programme will
provide you with a firm understanding of both Forensic Science and Criminology and
how they are used together to investigate crime.
Year 2
Year 1
The aim of the first year is to bring all
students, from a variety of different
backgrounds, to the same level of
understanding in core chemistry, practical
laboratory skills and to introduce some of
the core areas of forensic science. In the
autumn semester you will study the two
“principles” modules which will cover the
core Chemistry required for the course
and provide an introduction to Forensic
Science and Criminology.
Alongside these you will also study the
Understanding Crime and Cybercrime
modules. The former of these will
provide a context for crime from different
perspectives and highlight different
approaches used to measure crime.
The Cybercrime module will provide
you with an understanding of digital
infrastructures, such as the internet,
and how these are used to facilitate
crime. This module will also introduce
the techniques that are used to collect
digital evidence. In the spring semester
you will study two core forensic modules
and two core Criminology modules.
The two forensic modules in this
semester are Forensic Analysis and
Forensic Identification. The Forensic
Analysis module focuses on the key
spectroscopic techniques used by
the forensic scientist in the analysis
of chemical substances and the basic
statistical methods needed for data
analysis and interpretation of results.
keele.ac.uk/forensic
The Forensic Identification module is
more biological in nature and includes
the study of protein biology, DNA,
genetic markers and an introduction
into biological sample preparation and
analysis. The Criminology modules in this
semester are Criminal Justice: Process,
Policy and Practice and Investigating
Crime. The Criminal Justice module
looks at the organisations and individuals
who attempt to deliver criminal justice
and provides an overview of the various
agencies involved in the justice system.
Investigating Crime focuses on the
development and consequences of
modern investigative techniques and
how criminal investigations are conducted
and managed.
In the second year the focus is to develop
the core themes within the forensic
and Criminology disciplines which are
directly relevant to professional practice
and related evidence types. In the
autumn semester you will expand your
understanding of chemical separation
techniques and spectroscopic analysis
such as Gas Chromatography –
Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in the
Spectroscopy and Advanced Analysis
module. You will also learn how we obtain
and interpret DNA profiles from biological
material in the Forensic Genetics module.
From a Criminology perspective you
will take look at how globalisation has
affected crime and the justice system in
the Crime and Justice in a Global Context
module and look at the ways mental
health issues are classified and dealt
within the justice system in the Mental
Health and Offending module.
In the spring semester you will study the
chemistry of illicit drugs and their effect
on the body as well as how these are
identified in the Drugs of Abuse module.
In the Criminalistic Methods module you
will investigate marks and impressions
left at the crime scene such as blood
spatter patterns and fingerprints and how
these are analysed and imaged for use
as evidence. You will learn about how
policing is organised and how the people
and institutions involved in policing relate
to each other in the Policing and the
Police module. In the Research methods
in Criminology module you will discover
how social science research skills are
applied to the study of crime and the
Criminal Justice system.