Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice

This course introduces the study of societal responses to crime and provides an explanation of why criminal justice should be thought of as a system. It covers the workings of law enforcement, the courts, and the correctional system, as well as juvenile justice. It reviews what constitutes crime and how crime is measured. Additionally, this course looks to the future and outlines some of the pressing issues that continue to challenge crime control in a democratic society.

This course examines fairness and inequality in the criminal justice system through the lens of law and the courts. Topics include racial and gender bias in policing and judicial decision-making, sentencing disparities, and the legal regulation of punitive practices such as drug courts and solitary confinement. Using critical legal theories and case studies, the course analyzes how criminal law, court procedures, and sentencing policies can perpetuate inequality, and explores legal reforms aimed at promoting fairness and more equitable outcomes for marginalized communities.

This online course explores the practical, day-to-day operations of policing and law enforcement in a flexible, accessible format. Students examine how officers respond to crime, maintain public safety, and interact with diverse communities, with attention to ethical decision-making and professional accountability. Topics include patrol strategies, investigations, traffic enforcement, report writing, and handling high-pressure situations. Through case studies, interactive discussions, and real-world scenarios, students gain a practical understanding of policing strategies and their impact on individuals and communities, while developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills applicable to criminal justice practice.

This online course offers a comprehensive exploration of the practical functioning of criminal courts and the criminal justice system. Designed for students, legal professionals, and anyone interested in courtroom processes, the course combines theoretical understanding with hands-on applications through interactive modules, virtual case studies, and simulated courtroom exercises. Students will learn about the roles and responsibilities of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and court personnel, as well as courtroom procedures from arraignment to sentencing. Key topics include evidence handling, trial procedures, sentencing practices, ethical considerations, and case management.

This course examines policing and corrections as central components of the criminal justice system, emphasizing how everyday practices of surveillance, arrest, supervision, and punishment shape individuals’ lives. Using a holistic approach, the course explores how social, economic, and environmental factors—such as racial inequality, poverty, mental health, and addiction—contribute to contact with police and ongoing involvement in jails, prisons, probation, and parole. Rather than focusing primarily on legal doctrine, the course emphasizes system navigation, institutional decision-making, and client-centered strategies that address both immediate justice system consequences and the broader conditions that sustain criminalization.

This course examines the practical operations of correctional systems and institutions, focusing on the day-to-day realities of corrections work. Students will explore the structure and functions of correctional agencies, including jails, prisons, probation, parole, and community-based corrections. Emphasis is placed on inmate management, rehabilitation programs, security procedures, ethical and legal issues, and the challenges faced by correctional professionals. Through case studies, applied exercises, and real-world examples, students gain practical insight into correctional policies, offender supervision, and reentry processes. The course prepares learners for careers in corrections, criminal justice, and related fields by bridging theoretical concepts with operational practice.

An introduction to the concepts, methods and theories employed by sociologists to understand societies, social institutions, and the myriad expressions of group life. The course explores the cultural contexts of human behavior to explain individual and group interaction, social mobility and inequality, relations framed by class, gender and race, and patterns of socialization, deviance and social change.

This examination of American Society places an emphasis on the institutional bases of social problems and conflict, as well as the policies designed to address these problems. Topics include poverty, racism, environmental threat, crime and violence, and other contemporary challenges. Attention is consistently directed to the influences of these social problems on women's lives as well as the ethical dilemmas and debates surrounding the solutions to these problems.

This course explores questions about the criminal law, criminal conduct, the risks of criminal victimization and prevailing crime control policies. Theories developed to explain why individuals offend and why crime rates vary are examined in light of research findings, so that students gain a thorough understanding of crime and its causes. These ideas are applied to conventional street crime as well as to organized crime and elite crime.

This course is intended to offer students an overview of various elements of the criminal investigation process, from police detective work to forensic science processes. We will use a sociological perspective to examine such topics as: homicide investigation, cold case files, and police investigative techniques and an introduction to forensic analyses including fingerprinting, ballistics, forensic accounting, cyber forensics, and DNA processes. Students will learn about changes over time investigation techniques and science applications in the criminal justice system and how these changes have affected political, social and economic interests in society.

This course is based on the premise that deviance is a socially constructed phenomenon. This means that the attributes, behaviors and conditions humans label 'deviant' vary over time and place, as do societal reactions to them. Students will be introduced to agents of social control, both formal and informal, as well as the role such control and power differentials plays in defining, labeling, and sanctioning deviant behavior. The material covered in the course examines theories of deviant behavior, how social scientists study deviant behavior, how deviant behavior is socially constructed, how people manage deviant identities, how relationships operate in deviant subcultures and countercultures, and the relationships between deviant subcultures and mainstream culture.

Special topics course offered in response to student and faculty interest.

Patterns of relationship among racial and ethnic groups in the United States are analyzed. This course explores inequalities of wealth, power, and status along with the persistence of racism, movements to advance civil rights and efforts by groups to maintain social boundaries. Current trends in intergroup relations are discussed to explore how changing demographic racial patterns may affect future definitions of race and ethnicity.

A study of the criminal justice system; police, attorneys, courts, judges, jails, prisons, parole. Attention is given to conflicting punishment philosophies and practices. Studies of inmate society are highlighted in this survey of America's attempts to correct the crime problem.

This course will provide students with an overview of the family from a sociological perspective. Students in the course will examine transformation of the family across time as well as its position as both a private and public institution. Topics include defining the family, gender and power, courtship and marriage, parenting, divorce and remarriage, work, and family violence. Particular attention is placed on the roles of women in the family and the ways in which families impact the lived experiences of the women in them.

This course examines the nature and extent of juvenile delinquency, measurement issues and the various sociological and other relevant social science theories of the causes of this phenomenon. Policy implications of these theories and the current research in the field and historical trends in juvenile delinquency are discussed and evaluations of treatment and prevention programs in the local community as well as the larger society are examined.

This course will analyze homicide from macro and micro sociological perspectives. We will critically analyze the phenomenon of homicide and the reactions to it both broadly (macro) and deeply (micro). Using sociological imagination to understanding homicide from a critical perspective in which the relationship between the lives of individuals and the larger social forces that help to shape their lives will be identified. We will focus on political, economic and cultural forces including gender and race that impact on homicide and how individuals in society view and react to different types of homicide. We will discuss the consequences of homicide for both individuals and society, and different types of possible intervention strategies based on different theoretical approaches to the socio-scientific study of murder. We will explore reasons, and possible implications, for the fascination surrounding homicide in the United States. We will examine the laws, the courts, and how law enforcement investigate homicide cases.

This course blends classic criminology theories (Strain, Labeling, Conflict) with media analysis, exploring how media shapes our fascination with crime, its social construction, and the CJS's role, using podcasts, documentaries, and case studies (like Amanda Knox or the Mafia) to link micro-level stories to macro societal issues, inequality, and policy implications. Key themes include moral panics, race/gender in crime, the criminal justice system's function, and the sociology of investigation, often using real-world examples and multimedia.

This course will explore the logic of scientific inquiry. Throughout the course, students will explore the relationship between theory and methodology, the nature of causation, components of research design, and a variety of methods for social science research. Guidance in retrieving information, reviewing and evaluating research reports, and constructing a research proposal is provided.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of research and data analysis used in criminal justice and social science. Students learn how researchers collect, measure, and interpret information to better understand crime, social issues, and policy outcomes. Emphasis is placed on recognizing patterns in data, drawing informed conclusions, and critically evaluating research findings. Using real-world examples such as crime and social justice data, students gain hands-on experience with research tools and software to explore relationships, interpret results, and apply evidence-based reasoning to policy and practice.

This course will examine the causes and consequences of women's incarceration. We will use sociological and criminological theorizing to understand why and how women's incarceration rates have increased over the last three decades. We will examine the impact this trend has on individuals, families and communities. Key topics within the course include: women's pathways to criminal involvement; the relationship between women's physical and sexual victimization and their incarceration; the impacts of women's incarceration on children and families; and current efforts to re-integrate women into society post-incarceration. Although we will focus mainly on incarcerated women in contemporary culture, we will also consider other historical contexts, such as the origins of women's "reformatories" and the evolution of women's incarceration over time. To deepen our understanding of these issues, we will also apply an intersectional analysis to focus on how marginalized women are impacted by the criminal justice system and mass incarceration.

This course will examine the intersections of gender and violence. We will use sociological theorizing to understand why, how, and when violence is gendered and assess the impact and consequences on individuals, communities, and society. Key topics within the course include: rape and sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, female genital mutilation, mass shootings, war, pornography, violence against LGBTQ people, and sex trafficking. To deepen our understanding of these issues, we will also apply an intersectional analysis to focus on how different marginalized groups are impacted by gender-based violence. Although we focus mainly on contemporary gender-based violence in the U.S., we will also consider other cultural and historical contexts.

This course examines the roles of minorities as offenders, victims, and employees in the criminal justice system. An assessment of statistics, research, and the literature as it relates to minorities and crime will be included. Public perceptions of race and crime and the interactions of police, courts and juries in terms of the race of victims and perpetrators will be examined. Research on racial bias in jury decisions, sentencing, and the death penalty will also be reviewed.

This course focuses on the experiences of women in the criminal justice system. The study of crime throughout our history has focused overwhelmingly on males and this has often resulted in hiding the experiences of women. We will examine how gender shapes women's experiences as victims, as offenders and career professionals in law enforcement. The experiences of women in prison and the effect on their families will be examined. The intersections of race and social class will be examined as well.

The purpose of this course is to analyze the organization and consumption of drugs in the United States. Both legal and illegal drug use will be examined in terms of consumption and legal issues as well as social effects on individuals, families and communities. The politics and economics of both pharmacological and criminal justice institutions and drugs will be examined.

This course provides an overview of victimology to identify, describe, explain and discuss a wide range of victimizations and victimological debates. This course involves the study of crime victims. We will examine the physical, emotional, and financial harm people suffer at the hands of offenders, as well as the history, theories, research, legislation, and policy implications related to the social construction of a crime victim. Services and solutions for victims of crime will also be discussed.

This course focuses on the border between the US and Mexico, a border that is over 2,000 miles between two countries which are very different. The course will examine the push/pull factors that have led to immigration from Mexico, and some of the changes in that situation in recent years. The role of the border patrol in regulating the border and dealing with crime and the unique culture created along the border with the mix of cultures will be examined. Topics include the drug trade, violence against women, the economic realities of businesses on both sides of the border and finally the current politics of immigration in both the US and Mexico.

The internship is a learning experience involving work in a community, criminal justice or criminological setting. Interns are expected to gain valuable work experience as well as relevant knowledge which will add to their overall understanding of the field of sociology or criminology. Internship positions must center on learning new material over the course of the semester and interns are expected to participate in ongoing training and development.

This course is designed for Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology majors, as well as Criminology & Sociology double majors, who have completed SOC 480: Community Internship. The course integrates writing in criminal justice, criminology, and sociology, with an emphasis on developing critical analysis skills, examining the social construction of crime, and strengthening effective written communication through a range of writing assignments.

Special topics course offered in response to student and faculty interest.

This career/graduate school preparation course for the Sociology or Criminology major is an opportunity for students to make plans for their futures after graduation. Students will complete a variety of exercises and oral presentations meant to prepare them for graduate school or a job in public service, law enforcement, the non-profit sector or the private sector.

This capstone course for the Sociology or Criminology major is an opportunity for students to use their sociological imaginations to formulate solutions to the problems that face our world today. All students will utilize sociological or criminological theories, literature, methods and data to explore a macro-level social problem chosen by the sociology faculty. Findings of the semester long project will be presented to sociology faculty, students, and the broader Meredith Community. In addition, students will develop a resume and prepare for a career or graduate school after graduation.

In conjunction with a sociology faculty mentor, the student will formulate and execute a research project at an advanced level of complexity that will culminate in a paper and presentation. The project must meet Honors Program thesis requirements as well as the expectations of the sociology faculty. A research proposal form completed by the student, faculty mentor, and Honors Program director is required for registration.