Over the last decade the Department of Social Policy and Criminology has developed as a site of distinctive expertise and innovation in the study of criminology and social policy. Its highly successful undergraduate teaching programme is supplemented by taught postgraduate studies leading to such qualifications as MA in Social Policy and Criminology, Postgraduate Diploma in Criminal Justice and Postgraduate Certificate in Social Sciences. The Department's research work and its publications have been influential in the processes of rethinking criminology and social policy, creating a significant reputation for the Open University in these fields.

The Department of Social Policy and Criminology is recognized nationally and internationally for its distinctive approach to teaching and research. It uses interdisciplinary methods and theories to examine those rapidly changing policies, practices and processes that affect the social, economic and cultural welfare of individuals, families, communities and nations in Britain, Europe and wider global contexts. There is a strong emphasis on the production of innovative undergraduate and postgraduate courses in social policy and criminology, and the exceptionality of our teaching has been acknowledged by the award of an 'Excellent' rating in the last Teaching Quality Assessment. A vibrant research culture is sustained through our commitment to producing scholarship and research publications of national and international significance that can act as a catalyst for and inform public dialogue on critical issues in social policy and criminology. The interdisciplinary character of the Department's research underpins the involvement of most of the members of staff 's research in the Faculty's Sociology (UoA 43) submission in the 2007 Research Assessment Exercise.

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