Criminology Major

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences – Department of Sociology

The Bachelor of Arts with major in Criminology is an interdisciplinary baccalaureate program grounded in a strong liberal arts curriculum. This program introduces students to three important dimensions of criminology: 1) the role of law and legal systems; 2) social/structural dimensions of crime; 3) individual/behavioral dimensions of crime. While this program will undoubtedly attract students interested in criminal justice careers, it is intended to offer students access to a broader array of career opportunities than that provided by training in Criminal Justice. Students studying criminology at Framingham State University will learn to approach the issue of crime in society from a theoretically informed and research-based perspective in a program that places great emphasis on the underlying causes of crime and on the role of policy- making and policy implementation in crime prevention and crime control.

The General Education Requirement

All students must satisfy a general education requirement consisting of ten (10) courses outside of the major department. The General Education Domain II-A (Analysis, Modeling, and Problem Solving) requirement is satisfied through the completion of the Criminology or Sociology major.

Course Prerequisites

Courses may have specified conditions for enrollment, such as prior completion of less advanced courses, permission of the instructor, or appropriate placement test scores. Students should refer to course descriptions in the department listings for prerequisite requirements.

Major Requirements

Six (6) core courses:

CRIM 121 Social Perspectives on Criminology
CRIM 301 Criminology Theory
CRIM 302 Quantitative Methods I – Research Design
CRIM 303 Quantitative Methods II – Data Collection & Analysis
SOCI 320 Uncovering Meaning in the Social World

Capstone:

CRIM 480 Criminology Senior Thesis Seminar or
- CRIM 495 Internship in Criminology or
- POSC 450 Internship in the Judicial System

Recommended Courses:

BIOL 142 Introduction to Human Biology with Lab
PSYC 101 General Psychology
STAT 117 Introduction to Statistic

Concentration in General Criminology (UCRG)

Concentration core requirements (6 courses):

Students must select six (6) elective courses, two (2) courses from each of the areas listed below. Three (3) electives must be taken in a minimum of two (2) departments other than Sociology.

Law and the Legal System:

ANTH 206 Forensic Anthropology
CRIM 201 White Collar Crime
CRIM 240 Drugs, Social Control, and the Law
CRIM 313 The Culture of Punishment
CRIM 330 Policing and Society
MGMT 215 Legal Environment of Business
POSC 250 American Legal Systems
POSC 315 Judicial Politics and Policy
POSC 316 U.S. Constitutional Law and Politics
PSYC 373 Psychology and the Law
SOCI 230 Law and Society

Social/Structural Dimensions of Crime and Criminal Behavior:

CRIM 120 The Fight for Social Justice: Institutional Battlegrounds
CRIM 211 Crime and Inequality
CRIM 222 Global Criminology
CRIM 233 Victimization and Justice
CRIM 308 Understanding Violence
CRIM 321 Intimate Partner Violence
CRIM 360 Media and Crime
HSTY 186 History of Modern Violence
POSC 270 Race, Politics, and the Law
POSC 272 Gender, Politics, and the Law
POSC 337 Legislative Politics and Policy
SOCI 130 Social Problems
SOCI 205 Geographic Information Systems Mapping for the Social Sciences
SOCI 245 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOCI 263 Social Inequality
SOCI 288 Immigration in the United States

Individual/Behavioral Dimensions of Crime and Criminal Behavior:

ANTH 258 Critical Approaches to Men and Masculinities
CRIM 224 Juvenile Delinquency
CRIM 270 Social Deviance
CRIM 336 Sexual Violence
HLTH 326 Drug, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior
NEUR 225 Biopsychology
PHIL 102 Introduction to Ethics: Why be Moral?
PSYC 212 Adolescent Development
PSYC 271 Principles of Behavior Modification
PSYC 322 Abnormal Psychology
SOCI 333 Society and the Mentally Ill