Applied Sociology (MA) — Graduate Certificate in Forensic Services

The Graduate Program in Applied Sociology, in cooperation with the University’s Division of Continuing Education, is partner to a 16-credit Graduate Certificate Program in Forensic Services, designed for criminal justice and mental health professionals.

Criminal investigation, law, psychological assessment and evaluation, and the workings of related social service systems are all broadly encompassed by the term “forensic services.” The certificate program is designed to enable students to serve as effective professionals in a variety of social service settings, by providing them with a strong academic grounding in the behavioral sciences as well as practical skills in the fields of mental health and criminal justice.

The program’s emphasis on analysis and its interdisciplinary approach are strengthened by partnership with other academic units. Among these are UMass Boston’s undergraduate Criminal Justice Program, Department of Psychology, and Graduate Program in Counseling, as well as the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.

The Forensic Services Certificate Program seeks to help students increase their understanding of public health and the law, especially in areas where issues of mental health and criminality intersect and diverge. Students interested in policy or social service provision for vulnerable populations have the opportunity to take advantage of the program’s focus on such specific areas as alternatives to incarceration, clinical assessment, corrections, criminal justice, criminality, law, mental illness, offenders, parole, the police, private agencies, probation, public systems, substance abuse, treatment services, and violence.

Requirements

Students in the certificate program complete five three-credit courses and a one-credit field experience project:

COUNSL 604: Foundations in Mental Health

PSYCH 614: Forensic Psychology

SOCIOL 598: Field Experience Project (1 credit)

SOCIOL 623: Alcohol, Drugs, and Crime

SOCIOL 467/667: Sociology of Law

SOCIOL 618: Seminar in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Forensic Services (with UMass Medical School faculty).

Admission Requirements

Please see the general statement of admission requirements for all graduate studies programs in the “Admissions” section of this publication.

Further Information

For specific information about the Forensic Services Certificate Program, please call the program office at 617.287.6276.