Criminology, Law, and Society

Criminology, Law and Society focuses on the problem of crime and on understanding the social, cultural, political, and economic forces that interact with the law. Courses present overviews of legal systems with particular emphasis on criminal and juvenile justice, forms of criminal behavior, the role of law in understanding social and psychological phenomena, and the applications of sociological theory in understanding law and legal systems. Students are provided with opportunities to become acquainted with the varieties of behavior that society chooses to control or regulate; the methods and institutions used to achieve that control or regulation, and the approaches aimed specifically at altering sanctioned behavior.

Students who complete this program will demonstrate:

• An understanding of the criminal justice system and its components, e.g. Police, Courts, and Corrections.
• An understanding of criminological theories and their application to contemporary law and society.
• An ability to integrate and apply analytical skills and substantive knowledge to specific topics and/or problems in criminology, law and society.
• An ability to use skills in critical thinking, synthesis and analysis, of informational sources about policing, criminal law, corrections, leadership, applied research, and social justice.
• Knowledge of the role of ethics, morals, and values in the field of criminology and social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
• An understanding of applied research methodologies.