Criminology - B.A.

Location(s): River Forest Campus

The major in criminology offers a career-enhancing liberal arts curriculum based upon the sociological study of law and concepts of justice and social control. This provides an understanding of the structural roots of social inequality, norms and rules, harmful behaviors, deviance, systems of coercive control, criminalization, criminal legal systems, victimization, and strategies for building justice. Students majoring in criminology undergo a comprehensive program of study and are prepared for professional employment in a number of occupations related to community work, social service, and law; for graduate study in criminology, the sociology of law, or justice studies; or for law school. Students are also encouraged to acquire practical experience through internships and civic engagement opportunities. For additional information regarding the criminology major, students should consult an advisor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology.

Major Requirements:

Forty credit hours chosen according to advising guidance and based on the student’s concentration.

A minimum of six courses in the major field must be completed at Dominican

Required Courses:

Sociological Foundation Courses (13 semester hours):

Criminology Courses (9 semester hours):

Nine credit hours that include:

CRIM 255 - Introduction to Criminology
and any two CRIM courses at the 200 or 300 level that total six credit hours from the list below:
CRIM 215 - Homelessness and Society
CRIM 242 - Youth and the Juvenile System
CRIM 256 - Media and Crime
CRIM 260 - Trauma Work
CRIM 265 - Crime and Social Justice
CRIM 270 - Police and Society in Critical Perspective
CRIM 275 - Criminal and Deviant Livelihoods
CRIM 320 - Gender and Violence
CRIM 325 - Conflict Resolution
CRIM 331 - Peacemaking and Abolition in Practice
CRIM 370 - Deviance and Social Control

Specialized Social and Legal Theory (9 semester hours):

A total of nine credit hours that includes the successful completion of three credit hours by taking either:

CRIM 406 - Theories of Crime Control
or
CRIM 408 - International and Comparative Criminology
and the selection of six credit hours (two courses) in CRIM or SOC numbered at or above 375 from the list below:
CRIM 440 - Theories of Elite and Organized Crime
SOC 380 - Social Inequality
SOC 381 - Transnational Feminist Theories
SOC 382 - Social Change: Race, Gender, and Social Class
SOC 383 - Gender, Race, and Science: Theoretical Perspectives
SOC 385 - Critical Approaches to Race and Ethnicity
SOC 386 - Sociology of U.S. Immigration
SOC 390 - Health, Society, and Aging
SOC 398 - Bridge to Career
SOC 407 - Classical Social Theory
SOC 409 - Contemporary Social Theory

Elective Courses

The completion of nine credit hours (three courses) chosen from courses in CRIM, SOC, or another designated program listed below:

Additional Information

Course substitutions are permitted when deemed necessary in consultation with an advisor and subject to the approval of the department chair. STA (study abroad) courses are permitted as course substitutions in consultation with an advisor and subject to the approval of the department chair.

Students are also encouraged to acquire practical experience through internships, community-based learning opportunities, and study abroad or domestic study courses. For additional information regarding the sociology program and its concentrations, students should consult an advisor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology.

DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR