WIT set to offer first degree in criminal justice

IRELAND’S first undergraduate degree programme in criminal justice is to be offered at Waterford Institute of Technology from September.

The innovative three-year degree programme was launched at the Institute’s first annual policing conference, which was addressed by Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Hugh Orde and board member and former chairperson of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) Breda Allen.

The conference was chaired by Donncha O’Connell of NUI Galway.

Led by the Department of Applied Arts within the Waterford Institute’s School of Humanities, the BA (Hons) in Criminal Justice Studies will be both multi and inter-disciplinary and include law, sociology, psychology, social policy, criminal justice research and business studies modules, along with a specific module on forensic science.

The first of its kind in Ireland, the degree will appeal to students with an interest in pursuing careers in the criminal justice system.

It is also intended to offer the programme on a flexible basis to professionals already working in this area.

Launching the degree, Waterford Institute of Technology director Prof Kieran R Byrne said that while comment on criminal behaviour, the causes of crime and the effectiveness of criminal justice systems has been a feature of public debate for centuries, it is only in recent decades that criminal justice studies has been given the status it merits as an important area of research and study in human behaviour.

“Ireland’s print and broadcast media are routinely dominated by coverage of violent crime - perhaps never more so than in recent weeks - and specific instances of wrongdoing attract considerable public attention and comment; often with heat rather than light dominating discussion. Yet, it is only in recent times that we have begun to see an increased focus in Irish academia on the scientific study of crime.

“I am confident that, over time, we will develop taught and research-led programmes in the whole criminal justice area at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.”