Criminal Justice (Certificate)

The Criminal Justice certificate, which is administered through the Department of Sociology, introduces students to the institutions involved in society's handling of crime. It is also designed to heighten awareness of the theoretical and philosophical issues involved in defining, explaining, and deterring crime; and to introduce students to some of the social-science research on the nature and extent of crime. In addition, the certificate provides students with the appropriate entry-level qualifications for many professional positions in criminal justice fields.

Required Courses:

Students wishing to earn a certificate in Criminal Justice must complete three core courses, one law elective, and one general course elective from the list below for a minimum of 16 credit hours. At least 7 hours must be at the 300-400 level.

1. Required core courses:
   • SOC 250 Introduction to Criminology
   • SOC 344 U.S. Criminal Justice Systems
   • SWK 240 Administration of Justice
2. Law electives:
   • PSC 310 Constitutional Law
   • PSC 311 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
   • SOC 342 Sociology of Law
   • SWK 259 The Child, the Family, and the Law
   • SWK 375 Criminal Law
3. Elective Courses: (A course taken as a law elective cannot also be counted as a general elective)
   • SOC 311 Individual and Society
   • SOC 341 Juvenile Delinquency
   • SOC 342 Sociology of Law
   • SOC 344 U.S. Criminal Justice System
   • SOC 345 Social Control
   • SOC 346 Corporate and Governmental Deviance
   • SOC 347 Sociology of Policing
   • SOC 348 Sociology of Corrections
   • SOC 349 Women and Crime
   • SOC 360 Sociology of Interpersonal Violence
   • SOC 394 Special Topics: Sociology of Prisons
   • SWK 259 The Child, the Family, and the Law
   • SWK 341 Corrections: Institutional and Community Based
   • SWK 371 Constitutional Criminal Procedure
   • SWK 374 Law Enforcement in Society
   • SWK 375 Criminal Law
   • SWK 470 Problems and Issues in Criminal Justice
   • PSC 310 Constitutional Law
   • PSC 311 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
   • PSY 345 Abnormal Psychology
   • PHL 341 Philosophy of Law
   • PHL 453 Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy
   • ECN 350 Economics of Crime and Punishment
   • ECN 450 Economics of Law

No more than 4 hours of internship credit may be applied toward this program.

For additional information, contact the chairperson of the Department of Sociology at 687-4500.

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