The Program

The Criminology and Criminal Justice System Certificate at UMass Amherst explores the sociological theories of crime, law, and the criminal justice system. It equips students to analyze and critique criminal justice structures and processes from a social science perspective. Central topics explored in these courses include criminological theory, sociology of law, deviance and conformity, access to justice, inequality, mass incarceration, and more. Students who pursue the Criminology and the Criminal Justice System certificate often go on to pursue graduate school of law school, or go into a variety of careers, including as prosecutors or defense attorneys, social justice activists, educators, probation or parole officers, consultants, policy analysts, or law enforcement officers.

*This is not a law enforcement program, and completing the Criminology and Criminal Justice System Certificate does not provide educational incentives for regular full-time officers in participating cities and towns through salary increases through the Quinn Bill (Police Career Incentive Pay Program).

The Criminology and Criminal Justice System Certificate requirements include 5 courses, including SOC 241: Criminology; one of three core courses, and three elective courses, one of which may be taken outside of the department if desired.

Declaring Completion of the Certificate

When a student has enrolled in the final class for the certificate, they must fill out a Completion Form and submit an unofficial transcript. These forms are available online and may be submitted by e-mail (advising@soc.umass.edu), or mail, to Criminology and Criminal Justice System Certificate Program, Sociology Department, 200 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003.

Degree-seeking University of Massachusetts students should expect to possibly take 2 or more criminology content courses on-line through University Without Walls (UWW): https://www.umass.edu/uww/.

Certificate students who are not currently matriculated at the University of Massachusetts Amherst normally take all of their courses online through UWW.

Note:To receive the Criminology and Criminal Justice System Certificate, a minimum 2.0 GPA must be maintained across courses applied to certificate requirements.

Criminology and the Criminal Justice System Certificate Courses (Five required)

Recommended (though not required):

  • Sociol 103 Social Problems

Required:

  • Sociol 241 Criminology

Choose one course from the following:

  • Sociol 248 Conformity and Deviance
  • Sociol 323 Sociology of Law, or
  • Sociol 342 Deviance and Social Order

Choose three upper-level (200+) Sociology / CJ electives:

(Courses offered vary by semester; some are offered only online.)

  • 218 The Law, Logic, and Social Science of Courtroom Evidence
  • 242 Drugs & Society
  • 248 Conformity and Deviance
  • 323 Sociology of Law
  • 342 Deviance and Social Order
  • 343 Hate Crime
  • 344 Gender and Crime
  • 345 Juvenile Delinquency
  • 346 Communities and Crime
  • 347 Corporate Crime
  • 349 Race, Class, and Crime
  • 350 Policing and Surveillance
  • 391M Serial Mass Murder (online through UWW)
  • 392J Race & Policing
  • 394F Crime & Forensics (online through UWW)
  • 394S White Collar Crime (online through UWW)
  • 395AP American Police (online through UWW)
  • 395K: Domestic Violence
  • 397AM Asylums, Madness, and Mental Illness (online through UWW)
  • 397CL Criminal Legal System (online through UWW)
  • 397CP Crime and Public Policy (online through UWW)
  • 397GF Gender Family and Crime (online through UWW)
  • 397PA Probation & Parole
  • 397MC Mass Incarceration in the US
  • 397PA Probation and Parole
  • 497S Surveillance and Society

One course from a department outside of Sociology may be used toward the certificate:

(Alternative courses may be substituted but must be approved by the Sociology Director of Undergraduate Advising.)

  • Anthro 297MR Forensics: Myth and Reality
  • Cmpsci 391 LI Computer Crime Law
  • Educ 297A School-to-Prison Pipeline
  • Hisotry 397RL Special Topics: Rape Law: Gender, Race, (In)justie
  • Honors 322H Criminal Law and Justice in the US
  • Journal 290J: Journalism in Jail
  • Legal 250 Intro to Legal Studies
  • Legal 333 Law & Culture in America
  • Legal 360 Civil Liberties in Wartime
  • Legal 397K Seminar on Human Trafficking
  • Legal 397RE Law & Politics of Race and Ethnicity in the US
  • Legal 472 Race, Gender, and the Law
  • PoliSci 162 Intro to Constitutional Law
  • Polsci 163 Intro to Civil Liberties
  • PoliSci 297GL/Legal 297R Gender, Law, & Politics
  • Polsci 360 Constitutional Law
  • Psych 297F Forensic Psychology
  • Psych 355 Adolescent Psychology
  • Psych 380 Abnormal Psychology
  • Wgss 340 Critical Prison Studies

Students are strongly encouraged to pursue a Criminal Justice-based internship or practicum in order to apply the skills they will develop in their coursework. Practica credits do not count toward total certificate credits/requirements.
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