College of Letters and Science / School of Behavioral and Social Sciences / Department of Sociology and Social Work

Criminal Justice Minor

Minor

The Criminal Justice minor prepares students for work in the criminal justice field. It is designed to provide students with the courses needed for a successful career in criminal justice agencies and for graduate work in criminology and criminal justice. A minor in Criminal Justice is useful preparation for a career in police work, corrections, probation/parole, youth justice/programming, counseling, and social services. This minor is administered by the Department of Sociology and Social Work but can be coupled with a variety of majors.

The Criminal Justice minor consists of 22-23 credits. Course descriptions can be found in the course catalog here.

Required Classes – 9 credits

  • SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology (3 cr.) or SOC 102 Social Problems (3 cr.) and
  • SOC 230 Criminology (3 cr.) and
  • SOC 334 Race, Crime, and Criminal Justice (3 cr.)

Electives – 9 credits

  • NRES 392 Environmental Law Enforcement Theory and Principles (3 cr.)
  • NRES 494 Conservation Law Enforcement Investigations (3 cr.)
  • PHIL 315 Philosophy of Law (3 cr.)
  • POLI 210 Politics of Crime and Punishment (3 cr.)
  • POLI 212 Law and Legal Systems (3 cr.)
  • POLI 335 Law and Society (3 cr.)
  • POLI 386 Politics of Terrorism and Homeland Security (3 cr.)
  • PSYC 351 Psychopathology (3 cr.)
  • PSYC 390 Psychoactive Drugs and Behavior (3 cr.)
  • SOC 270 Race and Ethnicity (3 cr.)
  • SOC 306 Social Aspects of Substance Abuse (3 cr.)
  • SOC 327 Social Inequality (3 cr.)
  • SOC 329 Gender and Crime (3 cr.)
  • SOC 330 Victimology (3 cr.)
  • SOC 332 Juvenile Delinquency (3 cr.)
  • SOC 333 Corrections (3 cr.)
  • SOC 335 Deviance (3 cr.)
  • SOC 344 Interpersonal Violence (3 cr.)
  • SOC 345 Community Corrections (3 cr.)
  • SOC 368 Sociology of Mental Health (3 cr.)
  • SOC 396 Special topics in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3 cr.)
  • SW 303 Ethical Practice in the Helping Professions (3 cr.)
  • SW 383 Introduction to Substance Use Disorders (3 cr.)
  • SW 385 Mental Health and Co-Occurring Disorders: Resilience and Recovery (3 cr.)

Applied Requirement options – 4-15 credits

  • NRES 393 Conservation Law Enforcement, 15 cr., or
  • SOC 393 Police Academy, 15 cr., or
  • SOC 492 Applied Sociology Practicum, 3-6 cr., and
  • SOC 493 Applied Sociology Practicum Seminar, 1 cr., or
  • SW 494 Social Work Practicum, 8 cr., and
  • SW 495 Social Work Practicum Seminar, 1 cr.

For more information

Contact:

Dorothy R. De Boer
Criminal Justice Coordinator
Professor of Sociology
dorothy.deboer@uwsp.edu