Program Overview

Program Overview

The graduate program in criminology and law has two areas of special emphasis: crime and justice, and law and society. The degree programs are research-based and prepare students to conduct original exploration into relevant problems, issues, and policies.

Degrees Offered

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Master of Arts

Program Requirements

Requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog.

M.A. Degree Program

Admission to the master’s degree program requires a bachelor’s degree from a criminology/criminal justice or relevant social science or humanities program (political science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, history, women’s studies, etc.). Qualified students may enter the master’s program as undergraduates through the combination B.A./M.A. program. Both M.A. options (thesis and non-thesis) require satisfactory completion of at least 36 credit hours.

Ph.D. Degree Program

The Doctor of Philosophy program includes a minimum of 90 semester hours of credit beyond the B.A. Students with a criminology or closely related M.A. received in the last 7 years from an accredited U.S. university may request that up to 30 hours credit from their M.A. work be counted toward this total. Those with an M.A. from this department may apply 36 hours. The Department requires Ph.D. students to complete at least 66 hours of course work (excluding research credits), including the M.A. hours. Qualifying examinations take place at the end of a student’s course work.

Criminology, Law and Society/Law Joint Degree Programs

The Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law (CLS) and the College of Law offer a joint degree program leading to an M.A. or a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society and a J.D. in law. The joint degree programs enable students to earn both the degrees (the J.D. and the M.A. or the J.D. and the Ph.D.) in less time than would be required to earn both degrees consecutively. Students wishing to pursue the joint program must be admitted to both the Graduate School and the College of Law. These requirements include both the LSAT and GRE. Admission to one may precede the other. Students are encouraged to announce their intent to seek a joint degree as soon as possible. CLS allows 12 hours of appropriate law school courses to be credited toward the CLS degree. The 12 credits selected from the law curriculum must be approved by the graduate coordinator on the recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee. The College of Law will permit 12 hours of credit earned in graduate courses to be credited toward the J.D.

Student Learning Outcomes

Criminology, Law & Society (PHD)

• SLO 1: Knowledge - Identify, define and describe criminological and law and society theories and criminological and law and society research methods.
• SLO 2: Knowledge - Identify, define and describe their primary track of interest (either Crime & Justice or Law & Society)
• SLO 3: Professional Behavior - Prepare and produce documents professionally and ethically.
• SLO 4: Professional Behavior - Practice the role of the professional criminologist.
• SLO 5: Skills - Conduct independent empirical research with scientific integrity.
• SLO 6: Skills - Apply substantive criminological and law and society knowledge in critical thinking, analysis, and communication.

Criminology, Law, & Society (MA)

• SLO 1: Knowledge - Identify, define and describe criminological and law and society theories and criminological and law and society research methods.
• SLO 2: Skills - Identify, define and describe their primary track of interest (either Crime & Justice or Law & Society)
• SLO 3: Skills - Conduct independent empirical research with scientific integrity
• SLO 4: Professional Behavior - Prepare and produce documents professionally and ethically
• SLO 5: Professional Behavior - Practice role of professional criminologist

Courses

Course List by Depts Code | Title | Credits
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CCJ 5934| Contemporary Issues in Criminology and Law| 3
CCJ 6285| Criminal Justice Process| 3
CCJ 6619| Crime and the Life Course| 3
CCJ 6705| Research Methods in Crime, Law, and Justice| 3
CCJ 6712| Study Design and Evaluation Research| 3
CCJ 6905| Independent Study| 1-3
CCJ 6910| Supervised Research| 1-3
CCJ 6916| Applied CJ Research Project| 1-12
CCJ 6920| Seminar in Criminological Theory| 3
CCJ 6936| Proseminar in Crime, Law, and Justice| 3
CCJ 6971| Research for Master's Thesis| 1-9
CCJ 7742| Research Methods in Crime, Law, and Justice II| 3
CCJ 7921| Professional Development in Criminology, Law, and Society| 3
CCJ 7979| Advanced Research| 1-12
CCJ 7980| Research for Doctoral Dissertation| 1-15
CJJ 6020| Juvenile Justice| 3
CJL 6039| Law and Society| 3
CJL 6090| Law and Social Science| 3
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