Crime and Justice Minor

The purpose of the minor is to introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of crime and justice. Students pursuing this minor will be able to explore how crime is defined, what its causes are, what its impact is, and how social, political, and legal institutions shape and respond to it.

Requirements

A total of 18 credits from the following:

1. Three credits from each thematic group:

Group 1: Institutional

  • HIST 2550 Crime, Policing, and Punishment in the U.S.
  • POLS 2827W Criminal Justice in Practice
  • POLS 3827 Politics of Crime and Justice
  • SOCI 2310 Intro to Criminal Justice

Group 2: Behavioral

  • HDFS 3420 Abuse and Violence in Families
  • PSYC 2300 Psychological Disorders
  • SOCI 2301 Criminology
  • SOCI 2305 Deviant Behavior
  • SOCI 2320 Drugs and Society
  • SOCI 2325 Juvenile Delinquency
  • WGSS/HRTS 2263 Women, Gender, and Violence

Group 3: Legal

  • BLAW 3175/BADM 3720 The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
  • HDFS 3520 Legal Aspects of Family Life
  • HDFS 3540 Child Welfare, Law, and Social Policy
  • HRTS 3055 Theory and Practice of International Criminal Justice
  • PHIL 3226 Philosophy of Law
  • POLS 3807 Constitutional Rights and Liberties
  • POLS 3817 Law and Society
  • SOCI 3823 Sociology of Law: Global and Comp. Perspectives

2. Six additional credits from any group above

3. Three credits of approved internship or field experience

  • HDFS 3080 Seminar Internship
  • GSCU 3190 Urban Field Studies
  • POLS 3991 Supervised Field Work
  • PSYC 3880 Field Experience
  • SOCI 3990 (2cr) Internship: Field Experience & 3991 (1cr) Internship: Research Paper
  • GSCU 4981/GSCU 4991 Internship in Urban Studies
  • Another 2000-level or higher internship or field work course approved in advance by the CJ minor coordinator

Internships must be with one of the institutions of the criminal justice system or with an agency that interacts on a day-to-day basis with criminal justice institutions and must be approved for credit in an appropriate discipline. For more information, contact the coordinator.

Additional requirements:

  • A maximum of six credits in the minor may be part of the major.
  • A minimum of a C (2.0) must be earned in each of the courses to earn the minor.
  • Variable topics, special topics, and education abroad courses may be used to meet the requirements of the minor when these focus on the theme of the minor. Approval by the minor advisory group is required. For more information, contact the coordinator.

Declaring a Crime and Justice minor

Go to the College of Liberal Arts Sciences Academic Services Center online program change page.

Submitting a Final Plan of Study

See the Forms and Deadlines page.