SOC 111 - Introduction to Criminology

This course will provide the student with a multidisciplinary approach to the study of crime and criminal behavior. To this end we begin with a cursory discussion of criminal law. However, the primary focus will be to consider various explanations of criminal behavior. As such, theories from the disciplines of biology, psychology, and especially sociology will be examined. We will also consider several typologies of criminal behavior systems including violent personal crime, public order crime, occasional property crime, corporate crime, and organized crime. These systems will include considerations of the definition of behavior as criminal, the sociology of criminal behavior, and social reactions to criminal behavior. Finally, we will look at issues of penology and the uses and abuses of punishment.

Credits 4

Area
Social Sciences

Division
Social Sciences

Compass Attributes
Social Science