Criminology and Criminal Justice (BA)

This program is offered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences/Law, Crime and Social Justice Department. It is available online via asynchronous modality and at the St. Louis main campus.

Program Description

The mission of the major in criminology and criminal justice is to provide students with a multidisciplinary approach to crime and deviance, with particular emphasis on providing critical thinking skills and familiarizing students with the dominant ways professionals use to explain, predict and prevent crime and victimization.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of major criminological theories.
• Analyze the policy implications of criminological theories.
• Describe the elements and development of the criminal justice system and its role in maintaining social order.
• Evaluate how the institutions and elements of the criminal justice system vary across jurisdictions and interact with one another.
• Apply principles of crime prevention to the policy that attempts to effectively reduce crime and victimization.
• Compare the theoretical foundations of crime analysis and their abilities to predict and analyze patterns of crime.
• Articulate several major types of crime, their causes and proposed solutions to reduce them.
• Compare the techniques, sources and means of analysis of criminological data research methods.

Degree Requirements

For information on the general requirements for a degree, see Baccalaureate Degree Requirements under the Academic Policies and Information section of this catalog.

• 43 required credit hours
• 3 international language requirement credit hours
• Applicable University Global Citizenship Program hours
• Electives

Special Requirements

• Within the required 43 hours for the major, 18 hours must be at the 3000-level and above, with at least 6 hours at the 4000-level.
• No more than 6 credit hours obtained in senior thesis, practica, independent learning experiences, reading courses and assessment of prior learning may be applied toward the 43 credit hours required for a major.
• Transfer students can apply up to 15 credit hours of approved criminology coursework from other colleges/universities toward the major.
• Students must complete the 43 credit hours for the major as specified below with a grade of C- or better.
• In the final semester of study, each student must register for CRIM 4900 Senior Capstone in Criminology (3 hours) and submit an overview paper.

International Language Requirement

• A minimum of 3 credit hours in a non-native language is required in addition to the requirements for the major. Courses used toward the international language requirement may also be used to fulfill general education requirements or a major/minor in a foreign language.
• Transfer students who have completed their 3 credit hours at an institution of higher education are considered to have fulfilled the requirement, as are students who have scored a "3" or higher on an Advanced Placement exam in a non-native language.
• For students whose native language is not English, a passing grade on the TOEFL will count as their foreign language requirement. Students who are from bilingual families but have no evidence of academic study of the second language on a transcript will need to take one course.

Curriculum

The 43 credit hours required for the criminology and criminal justice major include the following courses:

Core Courses

• CRIM 1050 Introduction to Criminology (3 hours)
  or CRIM 1100 Introduction to Criminal Justice  (3 hours)
• CRIM 1800 Careers in Criminology and Crime Prevention (1 hour)
• CRIM 3300 Theories of Crime and Justice  (3 hours)
• ANSO 2850 Introduction to Research Methods (3 hours)
  or PSYC 2825 Introduction to Research Methods (3 hours)
• LEGL 3500 Criminal Litigation (3 hours)
  or CRIM 3500 Criminal Procedure and the Constitution (3 hours)
• CRIM 4900 Senior Capstone in Criminology (3 hours)

27 credit hours from the following:

• Any course with the CRIM prefix
• ANSO 1050 Global Social Problems (3 hours)
• ANSO 2300 Social Movements (3 hours)
• ANSO 2760 Urban Studies (3 hours)
• HRTS 3500 International Human Rights Law (3 hours)
• HRTS 3600 Topics in Mass Violence (3 hours)
• LEGL 2080 Topics in Law (3 hours)
• LEGL 2400 Introduction to Law (3 hours)
• LEGL 4602 International Criminal Law: A Human Rights Perspective (3 hours)
• LEGL 4605 Constitutional and International Issues: Human Trafficking and Slavery (3 hours)
• PSYC 3125 Abnormal Psychology (3 hours)
• PSYC 4550 Drugs and Chemical Dependency (3 hours)