Criminology and Criminal Justice
Brandon K. Applegate, Chair
Patricia Armstrong, Director of Academic Programs
The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice offers programs leading to the M.A. degree with a major in Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Faculty research and teaching interests span a wide variety of crime- and criminal justice-related topics, including policing, courts, corrections, law and policy, macro- and microlevel criminological theory, sentencing, victimization, and program evaluation. Graduates from these programs are well-prepared to enter teaching, research, or policy-making positions in the criminal justice system.
Financial Assistance
The department offers financial support in the form of graduate assistantships and fellowships. Both are awarded on a competitive basis to incoming graduate students and are dependent on available resources. There is no separate application for an assistantship or fellowship. All full-time students who have a completed application, express a desire for funding, and have been accepted into a graduate program will be considered. Applicants requesting all other types of financial assistance should apply to the director of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.
M.A. / J.D. Dual Degree Program
The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, in cooperation with the University of South Carolina School of Law, offers a combined degree program which permits a student to obtain both the Juris Doctor and the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice degrees in approximately four years.
Courses
CRJU 510 - Critical Incident Management for Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Leadership and management strategies for criminal justice agencies during critical incidents and disasters including multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional response.
CRJU 512 - Information-Based Management in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
The collection and use of information and data-driven analysis in criminal justice organizations.
CRJU 535 - Inmates and Prisons (3 Credits)
Examination of issues affecting prisons and the inmates confined within them. Specific topics of study will include the philosophy and goals of imprisonment, institutional crowding, inmate rights, inmate adaptation, and individual and collective misconduct.
CRJU 551 - Adolescent Mentoring (3 Credits)
Application of skills and theories of adolescent mentoring taught in the classroom to a supervised, structured mentoring field experience.
Cross-listed course: WGST 551
Experiential Learning: Experiential Learning Opportunity
CRJU 554 - Women and Crime (3 Credits)
Impact of gender-based relations on crime and the criminal justice system.
Cross-listed course: WGST 554
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy, GLD: Global Learning, GLD: Professional and Civic Engagement Leadership Experiences
CRJU 558 - Crime Over the Life Course (3 Credits)
Development of criminal and delinquent behavior over time.
CRJU 563 - Race, Crime, and Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
An historical overview of the intersection between issues of race, crime, and justice. The impact of the criminal justice system on minority groups.
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Diversity and Social Advocacy
CRJU 565 - Organized Crime (3 Credits)
Origins and modern day activity of organized crime in the United States and internationally will be investigated. Attention is given to problems of criminal activity and the present day transnational character of criminal organizations.
CRJU 575 - The Death Penalty (3 Credits)
Overview of the history and evolution of the death penalty. Identification of key legal developments in death penalty jurisprudence.
CRJU 577 - Law and Criminal Justice Policy (3 Credits)
Legal and policy responses to crime and criminal justice issues.
Prerequisites: CRJU 313 or CRJU 314.
CRJU 582 - Computer Applications in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Computing, database systems, and software applications in research and professional practice.
CRJU 591 - Selected Topics in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
A seminar for advanced students. Individual topics to be announced by title. May be repeated once with the consent of the advisor.
CRJU 701 - Survey of Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Classical and recent literature in criminal justice. Trends and issues that transcend criminal justice.
CRJU 702 - Law and Justice (3 Credits)
Examination of law as an instrument of criminal justice policy, social control, and the protection of civil liberties.
CRJU 703 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Scientific methods in criminal justice research to include methods of design, data collection, and interpretation of research findings.
CRJU 704 - Organization and Management in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Management strategies and selected analytic tools for the administration of criminal justice agencies.
CRJU 705 - Quantitative Methods in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Descriptive and inferential statistics and the use of computers in criminal justice.
CRJU 706 - Advanced Quantitative Analysis for Criminology and Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
A detailed treatment of the general linear model, logistic regression analysis, and statistical models for event count data with applications in criminology and criminal justice. Restricted to criminology and criminal justice majors.
CRJU 711 - Police Practices and Problems (3 Credits)
Historical and contemporary role of the police, societal expectations, resource allocation, police policies, and the effectiveness of various police strategies in controlling crime.
CRJU 712 - Police Administration and Management (3 Credits)
Principles of leadership and management applied to law enforcement.
CRJU 714 - Ethics in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Classic and contemporary theories of ethics and their applications to criminal justice decision-making.
Cross-listed course: PHIL 715
CRJU 721 - Criminal Courts (3 Credits)
Historical development, structure, and organization of the federal and state criminal court systems and review of the factors that influence criminal case processing.
CRJU 731 - Corrections (3 Credits)
Historical development of corrections, trends, and changes in the field of corrections and rehabilitation.
CRJU 732 - Correctional Policy (3 Credits)
Policy development, implementation, and evaluation in corrections.
CRJU 741 - Criminology (3 Credits)
The major theories of the etiology of criminal behavior, including biological, environmental, and other causative factors.
CRJU 751 - Juvenile Justice (3 Credits)
Historical evolution of the juvenile justice system.
CRJU 752 - Prevention and Treatment of Delinquency (3 Credits)
Theories and methodologies for the organization of delinquency prevention and control programs. Emphasis on the role of the program evaluation.
CRJU 761 - Crime and Place (3 Credits)
Examination of the relationship between crime and place, ecological perspectives in criminology, and the spatial distribution of crime.
CRJU 771 - Gender, Crime, and Justice (3 Credits)
The role of gender in explaining crime, criminal justice system processing, and punishment.
CRJU 772 - Race, Crime, and Justice (3 Credits)
The role of race in explaining crime, criminal justice system processing, and punishment.
CRJU 781 - Violence and Victims (3 Credits)
Causes of, consequences of, and responses to violence and victimization.
CRJU 791 - Selected Topics in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Seminar for advanced students. Topics of current importance, such as drugs, judicial reform, or crime prevention. May be repeated for credit up to 6 semester hours with consent of advisor.
CRJU 792 - Directed Study in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Independent study for advanced students, under faculty supervision. May be repeated for credit up to 6 semester hours.
CRJU 794 - Internship in Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Placement in a criminal justice agency under faculty supervision.
CRJU 799 - Thesis Research: Thesis Preparation (1-9 Credits)
CRJU 801 - Professional Development in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Review of strategies and skills necessary for a successful career after completion of a doctoral degree in criminology and criminal justice.
CRJU 810 - Crime, Law, and Public Policy (3 Credits)
The study of the legal and policy-making processes as they apply to criminology and criminal justice, Examines the interrelationships between law, crime, and public policy and the research methodologies appropriate for the study of crime-related policies.
CRJU 814 - Research Design in Criminology and Criminal Justice (3 Credits)
Intensive coverage of the logic and practice of research design and measurement issues commonly encountered in criminology and criminal justice research. Emphasizes the use of experimental research designs as the preferred methodology for making causal inferences.
CRJU 816 - Applied Quantitative Data Analysis (3 Credits)
Review of applied quantitative methodological literature in criminology and criminal justice. Topics include analysis of data from randomized field experiments, interrupted time-series studies, regression discontinuity studies, instrumental variable estimation, treatment probability matching estimators, statistical power analysis, and study planning.
CRJU 817 - Qualitative Research Methods and Data Analysis (3 Credits)
Examination of the qualitative research paradigm and its contribution to social inquiry, including the collection, organization, and analysis of qualitative date. Collection and analytic strategies involve interviewing, observation, and textual analysis.
CRJU 821 - Advanced Criminological Theory (3 Credits)
Advanced coverage of theoretical and developments and empirical research in criminology, with a focus on definitive statements from important theoretical traditions, empirical tests of criminological theories, and the translation of theory into policy.
CRJU 899 - Dissertation Preparation (1-12 Credits)
Dissertation Preparation.