Bachelor of Arts in Criminalistics

Vaal University of Technology

Purpose and Rationale of the Qualification

This qualification is designed for students who are interested in pursuing a career as a Scenes of Crime Officer. It
focuses on the scientific and analytical investigations undertaken at the crime scene and in the laboratory, in the
endeavour to solve criminal cases. It encompasses the study of the theory and skills required to examine and
process a crime scene fully, to understand the legal and investigative process, the science behind the forensic
analysis performed on recovered exhibits and their evidential value. The work based learning takes place as a
simulated crime scene for students to process. Laboratory work is in a dedicated forensically clean suite, will give
students both the scientific and practical skills needed to collect and record forensic evidence and present it in a
court of law.

Core Curriculum

First Year Second Year Third Year

Introduction to Forensic
Science
This module gives an introduction and
overview to what forensic science is and
what forensic scientists do, along with
how their work interfaces with that of
the police and the legal system in
resolution of both criminal and civil legal
disputes. The module outlines the roles
and duties of the forensic scientist and
scenes-of-crime officer, and sets their
work in context, illustrating the
important points by examination of case
studies. The basic principles of crime-
scene investigation are introduced, and
the practical considerations of crime
scene protection, documentation,
search, recovery and packaging of
physical evidence are discussed. The
module also introduces the key
concepts of chain of custody, continuity
of evidence and quality assurance.
Applied Chemical and Physical Evidence and Procedure
Sciences for Crime Scene
Students are introduced to the
Practitioners gathering, collation and classification of
evidence and the procedures by which
This module provides information on legal cases are conducted in civil and
materials, marks and impressions
criminal courts.
commonly found at scenes of crime and The module covers Human Rights, the
the instruments/equipment employed
civil and criminal court structure in SA,
to process, analyse and characterise the judiciary and the legal profession:
these. Students will develop electronic
advocates, lawyers, the role of the
and non-electronic recording skills of a expert witness, criminal and civil
forensic practitioner using a variety of
procedures.
media. We learn about Magistrates Court, High
The course will describe the principles
Court, Court of Appeal, penalties,
and analysis of crime scene materials, elements of the law of evidence.
marks and impressions evidence and
In lectures we introduce you to the legal
questioned documents, using a range of concepts. Legal principles, learned in the
forensic instrumentation/equipment,
lectures are then evaluated and critically
including comparison and polarising assessed in the tutorial, developing your
microscopy, chromatography,
perception, powers of legal reasoning
spectroscopy and chemical and articulation of the above principles.
instrumentation/techniques.
Students will develop the knowledge
and skills to identify and process a
number of examples of chemical
materials evidence found at the crime
scene.
Anatomy and Physiology for
Crime Scene Practitioners
This module is designed to develop the
study of the anatomy and physiology of
forensically interesting organ systems
and provides essential information on
anatomy and physiology for forensic
practitioners. The course will describe
the fundamental science underpinning
anatomy and physiology. It will support
students understanding of applied
processes in crime scene investigation
and forensic science.
Methods of Crime Detection
This module examines the individuality
of fingerprints, impressions, etc. the
methods of classification and
comparison as well as the basic
principles of visualisation, enhancement
and recovery of these at the crime
Crime Scene Survey,
Documentation and
Photography
This module focuses on the survey and
documentation of crime scenes, which is
a vitally important aspect of crime scene
investigation. Features of this course
include: note taking; instruction on the
preparation of basic crime scene
diagrams; review of equipment required
to provide these services; overview of
tools and equipment available to aid in
the documentation of the scene; the
four basic methods used to survey and
document crime scenes; crime scene
math; how to read and use an
architectural scale; and how to prepare
a rough sketch and subsequent finished
"scale" drawing of a crime scene. This
course includes practical exercises for
each student.
Students learn how to apply the
necessary skills for crime scene
photography around conventional
methods, digital imagery and video
recording simulated crime scenes and
associated incidents.
They gain the knowledge and
appropriate skills to visually record a
crime scene and identify and apply the
appropriate techniques to record and
support all aspects of crime scene
investigation
This module examines the theory of
light, exposure control, photography of
property and computers, fingerprint
photography, use of filters, ultra violet,
vehicle, scene, night time, injury, and
post-mortem photography. We also
look at using video and digital imagery.
Applied Forensic Biology for
Crime Scene Practitioners
This course provides information on
applied biology for crime scene and
forensic practitioners. The forensic
biology course describes the principles
and practices, collection and analysis of
Numeracy, Maths & IT for
Crime Scene Practitioners
This course will develop key skills in
numeracy and basic mathematics and
ICT based employability skills in the
second year of the Foundation Degree.
The topics taught will be:
• Fractions, Decimals, Four Rules,
Significant Figures, Approximations &
Estimates, Percentages. Solving
problems using ratio and proportion.
Brackets and order of operations.
• Mass, Length, Time, SI units and
derived units. Areas of plane figures
and volumes of solids. Problem
solving in contexts involving distance,
speed, mass, area, volumes and
concentration of solutions.
• Evaluate scientific formulae by
substitution, calculations involving
squares, roots and reciprocals.
• Geometry of circles, triangles and
quadrilaterals, Pythagoras,
trigonometric ratios, application to
right angled triangles, basic 3D
geometry, scale drawing, models and
maps.
• Graphs of formulae, conversion
graphs, bar and pie charts, histograms
and simple distributions, tabulated
data, mean, median, mode and
standard deviation.
• Probability and chance, combined
probabilities of mutually exclusive and
independent events, simple Bayesian
probability, application to the analysis
of evidence, and statistical
significance.
• Excel: Sorting, Formulae, Statistical
Functions, graphs and Charts.
Use of email and Internet based
resources.
Crime Scene to Court
As the name suggests the module will
follow the trail from the crime scene to
the court. The collection of forensic
evidence from the scene, carry out
forensic analysis of these samples and
present findings in court.
scene. Also covered is the impressions
made by footwear, bare feet, ears, etc,
along with their usefulness discussed in
relation to solving crimes. The forensic
examination of hairs and fibres,
principally by microscopic, spectroscopic
and chemical analyses, is introduced
and its relevance to solving crimes is
discussed. Analysis of paints and glass is
also covered. An introduction is given to
the analysis of questioned documents,
including examination of paper, writing
implements and inks, banknotes, credit
cards, cheques and wills, typewritten,
printed and photocopied documents,
handwritten and indented writing,
fingerprint and DNA traces. The
handling of questioned documents and
the techniques for destructive and non-
destructive testing is also discussed.
Forensic Evidence and Law
This course provides information on
forensic evidence and its application to
law. The course will describe the role of
the forensic practitioner at the crime
scene. Students will develop the
qualities and ethics of a forensic
practitioner and will demonstrate the
skills of an expert forensic practitioner
witness. Students will learn correct
crime scene procedures and processing
and how to record correctly and
document a crime scene.
Physics for Forensic
Applications
common biological types of evidence
found at the crime scene using a
number of forensic techniques. Students
will develop the knowledge and skills to
identify and process a range of
biological examples of evidence from
the crime scene and at post mortem.
The module is laboratory based, where
the underlying theory of biological crime
scene and forensic investigation is learnt
and practiced before being applied to
the crime scene in the work based
learning module. The lessons are a
combination of lecture-based theory
and practical classes.
Forensic science
laboratory
In addition to a strong
foundation in the natural
sciences, forensic science
professionals are expected to
recognize concepts integral to
forensic science, such as
individualization,
reconstruction, association,
and chain of custody of
evidence. Because the work
product of a forensic scientist
is used by the justice system, it
is expected to meet legal as
well as scientific standards.
The following courses are
designed to give the student
an understanding of the
application of scientific
analysis to the legal system:
Forensic chemistry and lab
Forensic biology and lab
Physical methods in forensic science and
lab
Criminal Law
In this module you cover the general
principles of criminal liability, the
The module covers handwriting analysis,
document analysis, computer
investigations, criminal intelligence,
blood pattern analysis and statistics.
Students will learn how to interpret and
evaluate scientific evidence, examine
crime scenes, and undertake forensic
laboratory examinations encompassing
a variety of analytical approaches and
blood pattern interpretation.
The module provides an integrated
approach to criminal investigations.
Theoretical aspects encompass
procedures used in the workplace.
Practical sessions give you experience of
formulating a plan of action, analysing,
interpreting and evaluating data and
evidence used in the detection of crime.
Work Integrated Learning
This module provides students with an
opportunity to practice techniques
taught in laboratory-based lectures in a
simulated or recreated crime scene
setting to an advanced level. Students
will apply taught forensic practitioner
skills and techniques to different crime
scene case studies, learning to evaluate
their ability to apply procedures and
develop an understanding of the entire
process from first officer on the scene to
delivery of evidence to the police
station / laboratory. Students will also
have the opportunity to conduct a
literature based forensic research
project and to design, plan, conduct and
report on a practical forensic
investigation.

This module looks at selected areas of
basic physical science that apply to
forensic science. Students will develop
an understanding of fundamental
physical concepts and appreciate their
relevance in forensic science.
Total credits for qualification
classification of crimes and some of the
main criminal offences and defences.
The aim is to enable you to gain a
working understanding of black letter
criminal law and how; in particular, the
courts arrive at their decisions.
We examine general principles of
criminal liability, classification of law;
legislation and judicial precedent,
classification of crimes, general
principles of responsibility, offences
against the person – murder
manslaughter, rape, assaults,
aggravated assaults, offences against
property – theft, criminal deception,
false accounting, handling stolen goods,
forgery and criminal damage.
We discuss general and specific
defences – intoxication, mistake, duress,
automatism, insanity and self-defence.
360
NQF level 5 – 96
NQF level 6 – 144
NQF level 7 – 120