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Degrees and Requirements

Forensics: Psychology & Criminal Justice

The Department of Psychology, in coordination with the Department of Law, Justice and Security, offers a minor in Forensics: Psychology & Criminal Justice. The minor will be awarded to students who successfully complete the course requirements and demonstrate a basic understanding and knowledge of selected subject matter in Psychology and Criminal Justice.

Summary of Requirements

Required Courses: 18 Credits

  • CRIM1001
    INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE

    CRIM1001
    INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    This introductory course will introduce criminal justice as a system that is an institutional agent of American society. The components of police, courts, and corrections are discussed with the goal of defining their function and purpose and interdependence on one another. The patterns of crime and the processes of the American Criminal Justice System, law enforcement, judicial process, and corrections will be examined. Students will learn the terminology of the field, examine the methods of inquiry used in the field, and learn the objectives, policies and procedures of probation, parole, and prisons as well as some of the issues and problems.

    PREREQUISITES:

  • CRIM3030
    .

    CRIM3030
    .

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    PREREQUISITE: ENGL1012 An examination of the etiology and major theories of criminality, with special reference to the rational choice, routine activity, biological and psychosocial theories of deviance. This course will examine criminal deviance by analyzing both criminal and victim populations, with particular emphasis on crime typology and the analysis of criminal behavior. The responses of the Criminal Justice System and private security experts to criminal behavior from situational crime prevention techniques to correctional treatment methods are explored and discussed. Cross-listed with SOCL3030

    PREREQUISITES:

    ENGL1012 or ENGL1012H

  • PSYC1021
    INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY

    PSYC1021
    INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    This survey course introduces students to several critical areas of psychology. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on the scientific method, its application to psychology, and the insights gained from scientific research. The interactions among biological processes, cognitive and emotional responses, sociocultural forces, and behavior are examined. Included are such diverse topics as: health, stress, and coping; consciousness, sleep and dreams; effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior and health; psychological disorders; social psychology; types of learning and behavior management, information processing approaches including memory, encoding and retrieval; and the relationship of the nervous system to thought, feelings, and behaviors.

    PREREQUISITES:

  • PSYC2065
    FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY

    PSYC2065
    FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    PREREQUISITE: PSYC1021 The course provides the student with a general introduction to the practice of forensic psychology. The field addresses ways in which experts in psychological science contribute to the legal system. Potential topics include eyewitness memory, the insanity defense, child custody, lie detection, criminal profiling, violent crime, and more.

    PREREQUISITES:

  • PSYC3011
    RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

    PSYC3011
    RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    PREREQUISITE: ENGL2030 and MATH1040 --or--CRIM2012 This course examines the major experimental designs and methods of scientific psychology. The nature of psychology as a science, types of and evaluation of research design and conclusions, conducting of research, preparation of research papers and ethics in research in psychology are covered.

    PREREQUISITES:

    PSYC1021 & PSYC3070 or CRIM2011 & MATH1040 or CRIM2012

  • PSYC3023
    PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

    PSYC3023
    PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

    Credits (Min/Max): 3/3

    PREREQUISITE: PSYC1021 OR PSYC1021H This course begins with definitions of abnormal behavior. Most of the course focuses upon various classifications of abnormality based on the most recent DSM, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, somatoform disorders, stress and physical health, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance use disorders, sexual and gender-identity disorders, and schizophrenia. Etiology, symptomatology, and treatment are explored throughout the semester.

    PREREQUISITES:

    PSYC1021 or PSYC1021H