Overview
The minor in Criminal Justice is designed to prepare students to work in a variety of criminal justice settings and cultivate an appreciation for the complexities of justice, crime and corrections. The curriculum is designed to provide a foundation for students who are interested in a career in criminal justice settings as a specialty of their major field, students interested in issues of justice and crime, or non-matriculated students who are already employed in criminal justice settings and seek additional coursework as a means of advancing their careers.
The minor requires 30 credits (minimum of 20 credits in residence). There are three core courses required for a total of 15 credits and an additional 15 credits of electives chosen from an approved list of classes. Other electives may be approved by your program advisor in consultation with faculty by submitting a Program Petition for Course Substitution. At least 15 credits (core and elective combined) must be taken at the upper-division (300-400) level.
Students may request to transfer in up to 10 credits to be applied toward the required courses. The student must maintain an overall cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all criminal justice minor course work and a minimum 2.0 GPA in each course required to earn the minor.
Core courses (15 credits)
- T CRIM 101: Introduction to Criminal Justice (5)
Choose One
- T CRIM 271: Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance and Social Control (5)
- T CRIM 362: Criminological Theory (5)
Choose One
- T CRIM 361: Addictions and Mental Illness in Criminal Justice (5)
- T CRIM 370: Police and Society (5)
- T CRIM 372: Adult Corrections (5)
- T CRIM 395: American Criminal Courts (5)
Approved electives (choose 15 credits below)
- T CRIM 155 Media, Crime, and Justice (5)
- T CRIM 156 Criminal Justice and the War on Drugs (5)
- T CRIM 157 Miscarriages of Justice (5)
- T CRIM 158 Hate Crimes and Organized Hate in America (5)
- T CRIM 222 United States Federal Law Enforcement (5)
- T CRIM 225 Diversity and Social Justice in Criminology (5) effective winter 2016
- T CRIM 272 Restorative Justice (5)
- T CRIM 275 White Collar Crime (5)
- T CRIM 352 Women in the Criminal Justice System (5)
- T CRIM 360 Youth and Juvenile Justice Systems (5)
- T CRIM 363 Criminalization of Immigration (5)
- T CRIM 364 Criminal Justice and the LGBTQ Experience (5)
- T CRIM 365 Facing Harm: Victim Offender Dialogue (5)
- T CRIM 370 Police and Society (5)*
- T CRIM 372 Adult Corrections (5)*
- T CRIM 373 Criminal Evidence and Investigations (5)
- T CRIM 374 Human Trafficking (5)
- T CRIM 375 Men, Masculinities and Criminal Justice (5)
- T CRIM 395 American Criminal Courts (5)*
- T CRIM 427 Disproportionality Across Systems (5)
- T CRIM 428 Policy and Practice with Sexual Offenders (5)
- T CRIM 430 Children of Incarcerated Parents (5)
- T CRIM 433 Crisis and Trauma Interventions with Crime Victims (5)
- T CRIM 434 Criminal Homicide (5)
- T CRIM 435 Terrorism and Criminal Justice Systems (5)
- T CRIM 436 Contemporary Social Work in Criminal Justice Settings (5)
- T CRIM 440 Fundamental of Criminal Law (5)
- T CRIM 450 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems (1-15, max. 15)**
*Note: T CRIM 370, T CRIM 372 and T CRIM 395 are options that can be applied as Minor in Criminal Justice core course requirements. If a student elects to use T CRIM 370 or T CRIM 372 or T CRIM 395 as a core course requirement, the same class will not be double counted as an approved elective course requirement.
**May only apply a maximum of ten (10) credits from T CRIM 450 as approved elective credits toward the Minor in Criminal Justice.
- T HLTH 425 Violence in Intimate Partner Relationships (5)
- T INFO 444 Mobile Digital Forensics (5)
- T LAW 320 American Constitutional Law: Institutional Powers and Constraints (5)
- T LAW 452 Minorities and the Law (5)
- T LAW 363 Law in Society (5)
- TPSYCH 210 Abnormal Psychology (5)
- TPSYCH 250 Human Cognition (5)
- TPSYCH 401 Family Violence (5)
- TPSYCH 406 Chemical Dependency (5)
- TPSYCH 421 Social Psychology, Law and Society (5)
- TPSYCH 432 Sex Crimes and Sexual Violence (5)
- TSOCWF 354 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (5)
- TSOCWF 420 Interpersonal Violence and Society (5)
- TURB 312 Race and Poverty in Urban America (5)
Learning Outcomes
- Gain an understanding of the origins of criminal behavior, society’s responses to crime and delinquency and the consequences of crime for our society.
- Become sensitized to the human impacts of criminal justice policies including differential impacts of race/ethnicity, social class, age, and gender.
- Be grounded in theoretical and empirical knowledge, values and skills related to criminal justice as they develop into competent professionals.
- Recognize the multiple needs of the victims of criminal behavior, including crisis and trauma interventions.
- Become knowledgeable about special populations in the criminal justice system including sex offenders, the chemically dependent, and individuals with mental illness.
Adding a minor
To add a minor, current students may contact their major academic advisor.
Distribution Note: Social Welfare majors who are pursuing the minor in Criminal Justice may not double count TSOCWF 300-400 level courses as approved Social Welfare electives and as electives for the minor in Criminal Justice. The TSOCWF 300-400 level course(s) may satisfy one distribution area or another, but not both.
Program petition for course substitution
Current students who have declared the minor in criminal justice are eligible to submit course substitution petitions for review. You must supply documentation as outlined on the Program Petition for Course Substitution along with the signed form. Please allow a minimum of 7 - 10 days for review. Decision notifications will be sent to your UW email address. Only transferable college-level transferable courses are eligible for course substitutions (vocational-technical course work is not eligible).
