Why study this course?
This degree will develop your skills to work with young people and practise youth work. You’ll take an in-depth look at evolving identities, media representations, social policy, community development and the history of government approach to youth policy.
This degree encompasses cultural studies, criminology, sociology and psychology to provide insights into everything from youth work, to urban gang life and young people’s social welfare.
More about this course
The transition into adulthood is often viewed as challenging and complex, but it’s also a time of fresh opportunities and new discoveries. Young people are represented in a number of social concerns, ranging from unemployment to social relationships and youth protests. At the same time, young people have a pulsating presence in the media and in creative arts.
You’ll explore the phenomenon of youth culture, gaining an understanding of youth in a social, cultural and political context. On top of this, you’ll examine local, national and global issues, plus developments that shape young people’s lives and life experiences.
This Youth Studies BSc will help you develop practical and transferable skills such as computing, video production, plus quantitative and qualitative analysis. These skills will be beneficial to your employment, further education or research.
Our lecturers are qualified and experienced practitioners in youth-centred research. On this course, you’ll also be able to take part in debates with expert external speakers.
The modules are designed to represent different aspects of youth culture and current social issues impacting young people. These include subjects relating and prompting analysis of youth, resistance and social control, as well as exploring and critiquing the notion of self, identity and gender. You can choose to study modules that focus on areas of interest to you.
You’ll be able to examine trending social topics, including the relationship between the media and young people’s cultural experiences and expressions, anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, plus mental health in young people.
In your second year, you’ll also have the opportunity to choose our Principles and Practice of Youth Work module, which is co-created by our own Youth Studies students. This module encourages you to think critically about issues affecting young people in contemporary contexts, and introduces applied principles and practice of youth work, as well as theoretical tools for understanding young people.
Accreditation of Prior Learning
Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course.
Modular structure
The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.
Year 1 modules include:
Introduction to Working with Young People (core, 30 credits)
Introduction to social problems (core, 30 credits)
Managing Self (core, 60 credits)
The anti-oppressive practitioner (core, 30 credits)
Year 2 modules include:
Principles and Practice of Youth Work (core, 30 credits)
Researching Youth and Community Issues (core, 15 credits)
Sociological Perspectives on Youth Transitions (core, 15 credits)
The reflexive and reflective practitioner (core, 15 credits)
Youth Resistance and Social Control (core, 15 credits)
Counselling in youth and community settings (option, 15 credits)
Creative, critical reflective approaches to practice (option, 15 credits)
Crime and the Media (option, 15 credits)
Decolonisation and globalisation (option, 15 credits)
Disability and Inclusion (option, 15 credits)
Resistance, Creativity and Joy in the Capital (option, 15 credits)
Sustainability and Environmental Justice (option, 15 credits)
Transnational communities (option, 15 credits)
Youth Culture and the Media (option, 15 credits)
Youth, Crime and Violence (option, 15 credits)
Year 3 modules include:
Community and youth dissertation (core, 45 credits)
Management and Supervision in Youth and Community Work Settings (core, 30 credits)
Community activism and digital campaigning (option, 15 credits)
Counselling in groups (option, 15 credits)
Diverse London (option, 15 credits)
Homelessness and Housing Policy (option, 15 credits)
Housing Issues and Housing Solutions (option, 15 credits)
International relationship-based practice for social change (option, 15 credits)
Social Control, Drugs and Organised Crime (option, 30 credits)
Work Placement for professional development (option, 45 credits)
Where this course can take you
Graduates have a wide choice of careers within a rapidly expanding array of commercial, public and voluntary sector bodies; fields of particular relevance include social research, community work, counselling, teaching, youth justice, trainee probation, housing, health, education, welfare rights and drugs services. Previous graduates are now in roles as student support mentors and family case workers for schools, and as caseworkers for housing services for young people.
