Sociology and Criminal Justice (SOC) - Bachelor of Arts

Students apply a sociological perspective to deepen their knowledge about social forces, cultural norms, and how patterns of interaction shape human behavior and institutions. Focus on social status, identity, and ordinary social situations as well as broader issues including race, gender, religion, social networks, families, deviant behavior, social class, and poverty. Emphasis on applying social science principles to people's experiences in everyday life. GT-SS3

Students develop familiarity with sociological understandings of social problems, community decline, and community vitality by examining case studies in urban and rural contexts, primarily in the U.S. Students explore the importance of social capital, social conflict and crises, and collaborative action for creating more equitable access to socioeconomic opportunities and human flourishing. Students sharpen critical thinking skills and gain practical insights into processes of community building and social transformation.

The sociological perspective is utilized to examine a variety of issues addressing the human-environment interface. In particular, this course examines how social organization and culture both shape and are shaped by the natural environment. The course focuses on issues of sustainability, the rights of the natural world, and environmental justice. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 recommended.

Students deepen their familiarity with quantitative social science, casual reasoning, and research design. Emphasis on creating rationales for choosing methods such as field experiments and survey questionnaires, with opportunities for practical experience in assessing and creating research design and instruments for gathering quantitative data. Students enhance their fluency in interpreting descriptive and inferential statistics and the logic of hypothesis testing. Prerequisites: MATH 113 or MATH 140, and SOC 110; or instructor permission.

An examination of how the discipline of sociology approaches micro-level phenomenon. Emphasis is on the formation of the self, the socialization process, and the importance of language to social interaction. Beginning with the premise that social reality is a social construction which has been created through our interactions with others, the implications of this premise for the version of reality each of us experiences is explored. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 recommended.

An exploration of the social contexts, patterns, and consequences of lethal violence. Students use sociological explanations of homicide, examine demographic and geographic variations in homicide rates, and focus on how social institutions respond to and attempt to prevent these crimes. Emphasis on developing familiarity with research methods to understand homicide as both an individual act and a socially patterned phenomenon. Students evaluate policies and interventions aimed at reducing lethal violence while considering the broader implications for community safety and social justice. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120; or instructor permission.

An introduction to the history and contemporary issues of the criminal justice system (law enforcement, courts, and corrections) in the United States. Topics surveyed include the system's history, constitutional limitations, philosophical background, and the system's process. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 recommended.

An introduction to the field of criminology with special emphasis on theories of crime, types of criminals, victimology, and the criminal justice system. Special topics examined include gangs, white collar crimes, property crimes, victimless crimes, and organized crime. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 recommended.

Students enhance their understanding of sociological perspectives that arose from the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century, primarily in European and North American sociology. The course emphasizes constructing social scientific arguments, ways of evaluating them, and understanding the relevance of theory in social science. Students learn the importance and uses of historical materialism, functionalism, critical theories, symbolic interactionism, and social reproduction theory. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Students deepen their understanding of perspectives that arose from the mid-twentieth century to present day, primarily in European and North American sociology. The course emphasizes construction social scientific arguments, ways of evaluating them, and understanding the relevance of theory for social science. Students learn the importance and uses of neo-Marxism, world systems theory, queer theory, critical symbolic interactionism, sociology of emotions, and identity theory. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An examination of qualitative approaches to understanding social life. In particular, the course covers selecting a topic suitable for qualitative investigation, participant observation 220 Sociology and in depth interviewing techniques, the ethics and politics associated with doing qualitative research, writing up field notes, formulating topics, reviewing the literature around the topic, the analysis of field notes, and the writing of research reports. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An exploration of family forms, intimate relationships, and the symbolic environments that families provide for identity development over the life course. Emphasis on the family as a social organization and as an institution. Students consider how families become embedded in demographic changes and how family life relates to shifts in other social institutions such as religion, the economy, and education. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An examination of the United States Health Care System and comparison of various components of this system with that of others. The allopathic (Western) medical model is also examined. The course emphasizes the mortality and morbidity trends and patterns which exist in the U.S., the problems facing our health care system (high costs, unequal access), and alternative models of health and disease. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

A foundation in the sociology of culture as well as extensive analysis of selected regional, national and/or global (sub) cultures and their environments. Issues covered include the social organization of culture, institutions and narratives, material and non-material culture, and cultural identity and the self. Prerequisite: SOC 110 with a minimum grade of C; or instructor permission.

With focus on healthcare settings in the U.S., students explore the healing potential in ordinary encounters such as difficult healthcare conversations and encounters among nurses and patients, family members, co-workers, etc. Students develop interpersonal skills that enhance healthcare practitioners’ effectiveness and personal well-being. Drawing from medical sociology, social psychology, and care theory, the students investigate concepts such as "connective labor" in clinical encounters among healthcare workers and patients and the therapeutic value of emotional connection among near-strangers in healthcare settings. Prerequisites: Minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission. SOC 110 or SOC 322 recommended.

Students examine victimization as both an individual experience and a socially patterned phenomenon, with emphasis on how crime affects victims' experiences within the family and intimate relationships, the workplace, friendships, and in the criminal justice system. Focus on criminological explanations of victimization patterns, the social construction of victim identities, and evaluation of community responses including in the criminal justice system, victim services, and community-based interventions. Students engage with empirical research methods to understand trauma and resilience, and they develop skills for victim advocacy and community-based prevention efforts. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 259, and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Explores the overlaps of criminal justice involvement with mental illness and health, particularly in rural communities. Students learn how mental health and illness are relevant in various stages of criminal justice processes, from law enforcement encounters to diversion, probation, incarceration, community re-entry, and healing and recovery. Emphasis on evidence-based practices for law enforcement, social workers, counselors and evaluators, corrections agencies, and improving outcomes among justice-involved individuals with unmet mental health needs. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 259, and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An introduction to the study of social movements with two goals in mind. First, is to expose students to the beliefs, practices, and consequences of a number of important historical, and contemporary movements. Second, the course familiarizes students with the theoretical perspectives, conceptual issues, focal questions, and empirical research that animate the study of social movements. This includes such issues as movement emergence, movement participation, mobilization dynamics, movement strategies and tactics, and movement outcomes. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An examination of issues affecting American law enforcement. Students are exposed to the historical underpinnings of the American policing experience, police operations and applications at the local, state, federal, and international levels, law enforcement subculture, police structure and organization, ethics, selection and training, and career opportunities. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Students examine various forms of nonconformity-criminal and otherwise. To do so, they study the major theoretical perspectives addressing deviance and its control. Students explore how ordinary rituals, agents of social control, and ideology interact to maintain the existing social order. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Biological, psychological, and sociological factors in juvenile delinquency are examined, as are modern trends in prevention and treatment. The course also addresses the procedural and substantive aspects of the juvenile justice system. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An examination of trends and patterns in American drug use, drug classification schemes, the relationship between drugs and crime, and drug education and prevention strategies. The use of hallucinogenic plants in other cultures is also explored. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An in-depth look at corrections in the United States. Topics include history of corrections, jails, prisons, community corrections, offenders and inmates, women in corrections, juvenile corrections, correctional officers and treatment professionals, and special inmate populations. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

An examination of major theories and concepts associated with social inequality as well as the causes and consequence of social inequality. The historical and contemporary aspects of social inequality in the United States are explored. Forms of resistance to social inequality are also considered. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Students develop their understanding of how ethic and racial categories get created and reproduced, including the diverse religious ethnic groups and racial identities that arose over the past three centuries in North America. Emphasis on how racial and ethnic categories operate as durable hierarchies. Topics include Blackness/Whiteness dichotomies, the meanings of indigeneity, varieties of Asian-American and Latina/o identities, in-group belonging, and the social forces that enable feelings of ethnic and racial belonging. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Explores gender and sexuality as aspects of socialization, identity development, and relationships. Students develop their understanding of how ideas about gender and sexuality get reproduced, with focus on options for gender and sexuality that have arisen since the mid-twentieth century. Topics include the reproduction of masculinity and femininity in everyday life, and how these relate to stereotypes, in-group bias, discrimination, and the group affiliations that deepen people's feelings of belonging and solidarity. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Sociology internships provide Sociology majors of junior and senior status with opportunities to work on sites off campus in the areas of law enforcement and social services. The experience must meet standards set by the College and by the sociology faculty. Up to three hours of internship credit may be counted toward the major. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only. Prerequisites: SOC 110 or SOC 120 and minimum sophomore standing; or instructor permission.

Independent studies are available to seniors as a Capstone option. Enrollment is contingent upon developing a proposal with a faculty sponsor and requires a variable credit form. Prerequisites: Minimum junior standing and SOC 110 or SOC 120; or instructor permission.

Sociology & Criminal Justice majors work to integrate certain elements of their previous coursework toward a social issue of their choosing. Emphasis on seminar discussion, methodological discernment, demonstrating high-level application of sociological perspectives to real world events, preparing for future careers, and considering graduate-level education. Prerequisites: Minimum junior standing and SOC 110; or instructor permission.