Sociology-Criminology Major B.A.
The Sociology–Criminology B.A. is offered on OHIO’s campuses and online. Sociological approaches to criminology include the study of criminal institutions, crime prevention, and how societies view, define, and react to deviance and crime:
- Focus on external factors such as poverty, social inequality, and cultural norms that contribute to deviant or criminal behavior.
- Emphasis how individual behavior develops in response to their social context.
- View of deviant and criminal behavior as shaped by social and economic conditions.
- Preparation for criminal justice careers ranging from juvenile probation to substance abuse counseling to federal law enforcement
- Preparation for graduate study in sociology, criminology, or law
- See more information about Careers in Sociology, Criminology and Pre-Law.
Faculty Contact: Dr. Amanda Cox
Program Overview
The Sociology-Criminology curriculum focuses on a sociological context, providing students with a broad understanding of the social, cultural, and political contexts that shape criminal behavior and justice institutions. The degree also provides training in social inequality, working with diverse populations, and understanding crime, social control, and policy debates in their broader cultural, political, and social contexts.
Students can choose from a wide variety of criminology concentration courses to tailor their degree to their interests, including criminology, police and society, punishment and society, juvenile delinquency, government and corporate crime, violence against women, crime and the media, and transforming criminal justice.
The program provides opportunities for students to develop marketable professional skills in research methods, analytical reasoning, data analysis, ethical decision-making, problem-solving, and public service. Graduates are qualified for a wide range of careers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including community justice organizations, corrections, courts, data analysis, education, federal law enforcement, fraud prevention, homeland security, juvenile justice, offender rehabilitation, and victim advocate agencies.
The Sociology-Criminology major is designed for students who desire careers in some aspect of criminal justice or who are planning to seek graduate degrees in an area related to the criminal justice system, yet who wish to receive a broad liberal arts education at the same time.
Students completing the program receive a degree in Sociology with the specialty in criminology listed on the transcript. Thus, requirements include many courses required of all Sociology majors, as well as more specialized courses in criminology and criminal justice. Some courses outside of Sociology also are included, giving the program an interdisciplinary focus.
The Sociology-Prelaw degree and Sociology-Criminology degree share similarities in terms of the core courses in sociology, research methods, statistics, and a capstone, but they differ in their different specific focus and course requirements that reflect their respective career paths in law and law-related fields or criminal justice and related fields.
The Sociology-Criminology degree includes a criminology concentration, which covers the causes and dynamics of deviant and illegal behavior, the organization and effectiveness of criminal justice institutions, and innovative approaches to crime prevention, rehabilitation, and social transformation. Coursework here includes courses on criminal behavior (including Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, Government and Corporate Crime, Human Trafficking, Crimes Against Humanity, and Violence Against Women) and the criminal justice process and society’s response to crime (including Criminal Justice, Police and Society, Punishment and Society, Crime and the Media, Crime, Drugs, and Society, and Transforming Criminal Justice). This degree prepares students for a broad variety of careers in justice related fields such as criminal and social justice, law enforcement, community justice and intervention, and victim advocate agencies (see question 3 for more career examples). Students have access to a sociology career advisor with expertise in sociology-criminology positions.
Careers and Graduate School
Graduates of the program are employed in a wide variety of occupations ranging from juvenile probation to substance abuse counseling to federal law enforcement.
Other students have used the criminology program as a foundation for graduate study in sociology, criminology, or law.
More about OHIO’s Sociology Degrees
Learn more about OHIO’s three different undergraduate sociology degrees.
Admissions Information
Freshman/First-Year Admission: No requirements beyond University admission requirements.
Change of Program Policy: No selective or limited admission requirements.
External Transfer Admission: No requirements beyond University admission requirements.
Degree Requirements
- Major code BA4253
University-wide Graduation Requirements
To complete this program, students must meet all University-wide graduation requirements.
College-Level Requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences
View the College-Level Requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences.
Sociology Hours Requirement
Complete a total of 30 semester credit hours of SOC coursework, including all the requirements below.
Sociology Core Courses
Earn a "C" or better in the following three courses:
- SOC 1000 - Introduction to Sociology Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3000 - Development of Sociological Theory Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3500 - Elementary Research Techniques Credit Hours: 3
Sociology Elective
Complete one additional Sociology course, not from Sociology-Criminology courses.
Sociology Statistics Courses
Complete one of the following courses:
- COMS 3520 - Empirical Research Applications in Communication Credit Hours: 3
- ECON 3810 - Economic Statistics Credit Hours: 3
- MATH 2500 - Introduction to Statistics Credit Hours: 4
- PSY 2110 - Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences Credit Hours: 4
- QBA 2010 - Introduction to Business Statistics Credit Hours: 4
Criminology Core Courses
Complete the following courses:
- SOC 2600 - Criminal Justice Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3600 - Criminology Credit Hours: 3
Criminology Electives
Complete three courses, at least two at the 3000- or 4000-level.
- SOC 2610 - Deviant Behavior Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3630 - Juvenile Delinquency Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3640 - Police and Society Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3650 - Sociology of Mental Illness Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3660 - Punishment and Society Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 3670 - Corporate and Governmental Crime Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4620 - Sociology of the Courts Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4640 - Law in Societies Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4670 - Violence Against Women Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4680 - Crimes Against Humanity: Confronting and Responding to Mass Atrocity and Genocide Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4690 - Crime, Risk, and Governance Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4710 - Gender and Justice Credit Hours: 3
- SOC 4910 - Internship in Sociology & Criminology Credit Hours: 3.0-9.0
Sociology Capstone
Complete the following course:
- SOC 4950 - Sociology Capstone Credit Hours: 3