Bachelor of Psychological Science and Criminology (1906)

  • Western Sydney University Program Code: 1906
  • AQF Level: 7

This program applies to students who commenced in 2022 or later. 

Psychology develops students’ scientific knowledge and skills to understand and explain human behaviour and experience. Students will comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology. Areas of study include: history and philosophy of psychology, individual differences in behaviour and personality, psychological health and well-being, psychological disorders and intervention, learning and memory, cognition, language and perception, motivation and emotion, neuroscience and the biological bases of behaviour, lifespan developmental psychology, social psychology, research methods and statistics.

The criminology major offers students the opportunity to study crime and criminal justice in a critical way that particularly stresses social and cultural definitions of criminality and the reactions to it. Areas of focus include criminal justice institutions and practices; the development of criminology as a discipline and its various strands; forms and patterns of victimisation; crime prevention strategies and debates; aspects of juvenile justice; First Peoples and criminal justice; the evolution of prisons and different forms of punishment; law enforcement and surveillance; violence, gender and crime; cultural depictions of crime and contemporary debates in criminology.

Study Mode

Three years full-time or six years part-time.

Program Advice

WSU Online

Prospective students should visit the following websites for general enquiries about this program.

Enquire about this program| Local Admission | International Admission |

Location

Campus Attendance Mode Advice
WSU Online* Full Time Online WSU Online Advice
WSU Online* Part Time Online WSU Online Advice
*

Programs delivered through an agreement with another party

Accreditation

This course is accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) on the basis that it meets all the APAC Accreditation Standards.

Admission

Students apply for admission to this program directly through WSU Online. Eligibility will be assessed on the basis of a competitive ATAR or equivalent rank (using non-proximate indicators of success) for school leavers and non-recent school leavers.

Recommended Sequence

Qualification for this award requires the successful completion of 240 credit points as per the recommended sequence below.

All students must enrol in and complete:

  • 140 credit points of Psychology core subjects,
  • 20 credit points of Psychology alternate subjects as listed below, and
  • 80 credit points of Criminology and Criminal Justice major subjects.

Psychology Alternate Subjects 

Subject Title Credit Points
BEHV 2020Introduction to Digital Mental Health10
BEHV 1010Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness, Resilience, and Wellbeing10
BEHV 3018Psychology and the Online World10
BEHV 1025Usable Design10

Full-time

Plan of Study Grid
Year 1Credit Points
Trimester 1  
BEHV 1016 Psychology: Behavioural Science 10
CULT 1005 Crime, Deviance and Society 10
BEHV 1003 Introduction to Research Methods 10
One Psychology alternate subject 10
Trimester 2  
BEHV 1018 Psychology: Human Behaviour 10
BEHV 2018 Personality 10
CULT 1024 Introduction to Criminal Justice 10
One Psychology alternate subject 10
Trimester 3  
CULT 2018 Crime Prevention and Drugs 10
BEHV 2010 Perception 10
BEHV 2002 Brain and Behaviour 10
BEHV 3007 Cognitive Processes 10
 Credit Points120
Year 2
Trimester 4  
BEHV 2005 Human Learning 10
CULT 2017 Youth Justice and Practice 10
BEHV 3002 Abnormal Psychology 10
MATH 2006 Experimental Design and Analysis 10
Trimester 5  
BEHV 3009 Developmental Psychology 10
CULT 3018 Perspectives in Criminology 10
CULT 3013 Gender, Crime and Violence 10
Select one of the following: 10
First Peoples and Criminal Justice  
Prisons, Punishment and Criminal Justice  
Trimester 6  
BEHV 3004 Advanced Research Methods 10
BEHV 3023 Social Psychology 10
BEHV 3014 Motivation and Emotion 10
CULT 3024 Crime, Media, Culture 10
 Credit Points120
 Total Credit Points240

Part-time

Plan of Study Grid
Year 1Credit Points
Trimester 1  
BEHV 1016 Psychology: Behavioural Science 10
CULT 1005 Crime, Deviance and Society 10
Trimester 2  
BEHV 1018 Psychology: Human Behaviour 10
CULT 1024 Introduction to Criminal Justice 10
Trimester 3  
BEHV 1003 Introduction to Research Methods 10
One Psychology alternate subject 10
 Credit Points60
Year 2
Trimester 4  
BEHV 2002 Brain and Behaviour 10
BEHV 2010 Perception 10
Trimester 5  
BEHV 2018 Personality 10
One Psychology alternate subject 10
Trimester 6  
BEHV 2005 Human Learning 10
MATH 2006 Experimental Design and Analysis 10
 Credit Points60
Year 3
Trimester 7  
CULT 2018 Crime Prevention and Drugs 10
BEHV 3007 Cognitive Processes 10
Trimester 8  
CULT 2017 Youth Justice and Practice 10
BEHV 3002 Abnormal Psychology 10
Trimester 9  
BEHV 3009 Developmental Psychology 10
Select one of the following: 10
First Peoples and Criminal Justice  
Prisons, Punishment and Criminal Justice  
 Credit Points60
Year 4
Trimester 10  
BEHV 3004 Advanced Research Methods 10
BEHV 3014 Motivation and Emotion 10
Trimester 11  
CULT 3018 Perspectives in Criminology 10
CULT 3013 Gender, Crime and Violence 10
Trimester 12  
CULT 3024 Crime, Media, Culture 10
BEHV 3023 Social Psychology 10
 Credit Points60
 Total Credit Points240

Equivalent Subject

The subject listed below counts towards completion of the program for students who may have passed the subject in 2022 or earlier.

CULT 2019 First Peoples and Criminal Justice, replaced by HUMN 2070 First Peoples and Criminal Justice