The Criminal Justice major provides a social scientific grounding to issues of crime and criminal justice. Through classes, internships and special projects, majors explore the nature of criminal behavior, its causes, and society’s responses. This 39-credit major includes required courses in policing, sociology of law, corrections, racial/ethnic diversity, and research methods. These and other courses also focus on issues central to criminal justice policies and practices, including mental illness, substance use and abuse, immigration, and gender. A required component of the major is a six-credit internship in a criminal justice agency that the student chooses. Our department's Internship Coordinator assists students in selecting and applying for their internship. The criminal justice major is approved by the Commonwealth’s Board of Higher Education for Quinn Bill benefits.
Requirements for the Major in Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice major requires 39 semester hours of course work, including a six-credit capstone experience that involves a supervised internship in a criminal justice agency along with extensive writing and reading assignments.
The following six Core courses are required for the major:
- Sociol 101 (Introduction to Sociology)
- Sociol/CrmJus 262L (Criminology)
- Sociol/CrmJus 351L (Methods of Sociological Research)
- Sociol/CrmJus 363L (Corrections)
- Sociol/CrmJus 465L (The Police in Society)
- Sociol/CrmJus 467L (Sociology of Law)
Students must take one of the following Race / Ethnicity / Multiculturalism courses:
- Sociol/CrmJus 321L (Race and Ethnic Relations)
- Sociol/CrmJus 323L (Race, Incarceration and Deportation)
Students must take one of the following Key Issues in Contemporary Criminal Justice courses:
- Sociol/CrmJus 367L (Drugs and Society)
- Sociol/CrmJus 368L (Alcoholism)
- Sociol/CrmJus 369L (Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention)
- Sociol/CrmJus 386L (Sociology of Mental Health and Illness)
Students must take one of the following Internship / Senior Capstone courses:
- Sociol/CrmJus 461L (Internship in Law and Criminal Justice)
- Sociol/CrmJus 462L (Internship in Law and Juvenile Justice)
Sudents must take nine credits of electives (the equivalent of three courses). Students who take extra courses in the required categories above may count the extra courses as electives. In no case may a particular course count as both a requirement and an elective.
- Sociol 112G (Children and Human Rights)
- Sociol 160 (Social Problems)
- Sociol 183 (Battered Women)
- Sociol 184 (Child Abuse)
- Sociol 201 (Youth and Society)
- Sociol 242 (Family)
- Sociol 261 (Deviance)
- Sociol 290 (Environmental Justice and Human Disasters)
- Sociol 316 (Family Violence in America)
- Sociol/CrmJus 321L (Race and Ethnic Relations)
- Sociol/CrmJus 323L (Race, Incarceration and Deportation)
- Sociol 350 (Elements of Social Statistics)
- Sociol 362 (Juvenile Delinquency)
- Sociol 364 (Cyber Crime and Society)
- Sociol 366 (White Collar and Corporate Crime)
- Sociol/CrmJus 367L (Drugs and Society)
- Sociol/CrmJus 368L (Alcoholism)
- Sociol/CrmJus 369L (Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention)
- Sociol/CrmJus 386L (Sociology of Mental Health and Illness)
- Sociol 472 (Media and Violence)
The following limits on courses must be observed:
- Only one course within the major may be taken pass/fail. That course may not be Sociol/CrmJus 351L, 461L, or 462L.
- No more than nine credits of 100-level courses may count towards the major, three credits of which will come from the required Sociol 101 course.
- A maximum of five courses (15 credits) may be transferred from other institutions into major requirements. The following three courses must be taken at UMass Boston: Corrections, The Police in Society and The Sociology of Law.
- Sociol/CrimJus 351L may be transferred from 4-year institutions only.
- Once students matriculate at UMB, criminal justice or sociology courses taken elsewhere need prior approval from the department chair and the Registrar.
Requirements for the Double Major in Criminal Justice and Sociology
Students may complete a double major in criminal justice and sociology by taking eight sociology courses in addition to the criminal justice major requirements. Only two courses -- Sociol 101 and Sociol/CrmJus 351L -- may be double counted toward both majors. The other eight sociology courses must include Sociol 341 (Elements of Sociological Theory), an approved Senior Capstone course, and at least two other courses at or above the 300 level.
Requirements for the Minor in Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice minor requires a total of 21 semester hours of coursework.
The following two courses are required for the minor:
- Sociol 101 (Introduction to Sociology)
- Sociol/CrmJus 262L (Criminology)
Students must take at least one of the following courses:
- Sociol/CrmJus 363L (Corrections)
- Sociol/CrmJus 465L (The Police in Society)
- Sociol/CrmJus 467L (Sociology of Law)
Students must take at least one of the following courses:
- Sociol 350 (Elements of Social Statistics)
- Sociol 352 (Criminological Statistics and Data Analysis)
- Sociol/CrmJus 351L (Methods of Sociological Research) - NOTE - Sociology and Social Psychology majors must choose either Sociol 350 or Sociol 352.
Students must take nine additional credits of courses from the following list:
- Sociol 112G (Children and Human Rights)
- Sociol 160 (Social Problems)
- Sociol 183 (Battered Women)
- Sociol 184 (Child Abuse)
- Sociol 201 (Youth and Society)
- Sociol 242 (Family)
- Sociol 261 (Deviance)
- Sociol 290 (Environmental Justice and Human Disasters)
- Sociol 316 (Family Violence in America)
- Sociol/CrmJus 321L (Race and Ethnic Relations)
- Sociol/CrmJus 323L (Race, Incarceration and Deportation)
- Sociol 350 (Elements of Social Statistics)
- Sociol 362 (Juvenile Delinquency)
- Sociol 364 (Cyber Crime and Society)
- Sociol 366 (White Collar and Corporate Crime)
- Sociol/CrmJus 367L (Drugs and Society)
- Sociol/CrmJus 368L (Alcoholism)
- Sociol/CrmJus 369L (Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention)
- Sociol/CrmJus 386L (Sociology of Mental Health and Illness)
- Sociol 472 (Media and Violence)
- Sociol/CrmJus 461L (Internship in Law & Criminal Justice)
- Sociol/CrmJus 462L (Internship in Law & Juvenile Justice)
The following limits on courses must be observed:
- Only one course within the minor may be taken pass/fail.
- No more than six credits of 100-level courses may count towards the minor, three credits of which will come from the required Sociol 101 course.
- A maximum of three courses (nine credits) may be transferred from other institutions.
- Sociol/CrmJus 351L may be transferred from 4-year institutions only.
- Once students matriculate at UMB, criminal justice or sociology courses taken elsewhere need prior approval from the department chair and the Registrar.
- Students majoring in Sociology or Social Psychology may double count only Sociol 101 between the major and the Criminal Justice minor. This means students must take 18 credits of Criminal Justice and/or Sociology courses that do not count as part of the major.