The Programs and Curses of Criminology & Investigations

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1 Annex IV, Page 1 of 5 PROPOSAL FOR CRIMINOLOGY AND INVESTIGATIONS MAJOR The Division of Sociology and Anthropology will offer a major entitled Criminology and Investigations (CRIM). The major will retain, and build on, the division s strong criminology and criminal justice curriculum. The CRIM major will include new courses dealing with investigative processes in the criminal justice system and the sociology of legal investigations. NATURE OF THE PROGRAM The Criminology and Investigations major is grounded in the disciplines sociology and anthropology and supports the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University. The major has two primary foci. The criminology focus provides an understanding of society as a normative order with ever-changing definitions of conformity and deviance. Through an examination of the social foundations of law, the operation of the criminal justice system, and such urgent problems as juvenile delinquency, corporate crime, hate crime, terrorism, and organized crime, students develop a new understanding of the public order and public policy. The investigation focus explores the processes and procedures employed by those individuals and groups in the criminal justice system who seek to establish truth in the furtherance of justice. Students will examine both the formal and informal processes that affect the investigation, including the collection and presentation of evidence. They will also examine the primary social relations that shape the fate of criminal and civil cases. In particular, students will consider how forensic experts and attorneys negotiate the oftenconflicting demands of disinterested science and legal advocacy in the course of jointly investigating, evaluating, and preparing legal cases. The subject of legal investigations is of particular sociological interest because it involves exchanges between scientific and legal professionals with distinctive languages, methods, standards, and goals. In the course of working together on the same side of legal disputes, experts and attorneys must balance their conflicting agendas, raising ethical questions at the core of their professional identities and directly shaping the nature and outcome of the case they are putting together. The sociology of legal investigations traces the work site social dynamics and contingencies of legal inquiry as a negotiated process spanning the work of police, scientists, and attorneys. The Criminology and Investigation major prepares students for a variety of careers in the public, private, and non profit sectors and for graduate programs in sociology, criminal justice, forensic investigation, public administration, and law. The major will become effective in the Fall 2004 semester.

2 Annex IV, Page 2 of 5 JUSTIFICATION FOR CRIMINOLOGY & INVESTIGATIONS MAJOR In response to unprecedented student demand and an expanding high-tech job market, Forensic Investigation is a key growth area at WVU. However, the surge of popular interest in forensic investigations is not merely technological. As the producers of prime-time television seem to know well, the most compelling and enduring interest in forensic investigations is often sociological. The arena in which forensic investigations are carried out is the criminal justice system where backstage social relations, social structures, normative ethos, and social processes combine to affect the nature and outcomes of scientific investigations. The organization and management of agencies within the criminal justice system also falls within the realm of sociology. Experts represent the cutting edge of applied human intelligence in virtually every profession. Along with the specialized knowledge of each profession comes a distinctive way of talking and looking at the world with its own standards and measures of success. As part of conducting legal investigations, paid scientific experts of all varieties stake a claim to a specific area of Aexpertise@ that constitutes their livelihood and identity. How do scientists produce and maintain areas of expertise when they work with people from legal professions who also stake claims on those areas? The social side of forensics focuses on the difficulties and challenges that a multidiscipline collection of experts and attorneys face in the course of putting together legal cases based on scientific evidence. In the mingling of varied backgrounds and investigative approaches, what are the ethical dilemmas and conflicting professional agendas that shape the fates of the cases through attorney-expert exchanges? Here the interest is not only theoretical; the cost of crossprofessional misunderstanding in both lives and dollars is enormous in criminal and civil litigation. The U. S. Department of Justice recently allocated millions of dollars for research and curriculum development for the study of forensic investigations at WVU. In an era of growing public skepticism about the ethics and social practices of legal professionals, the sociology of legal investigations could be one of the most promising emerging fields of the discipline. Admission Requirements REQUIREMENTS Students may apply for admission as pre-majors during their freshman or sophomore years. They may apply for admission as majors upon completion of 58 credit hours with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of a least 2.5 and completion of STAT 211 or STAT Degree Requirements In addition to 14 hours of required course work in general Sociology & Anthropology, Criminology & Investigations majors must earn a minimum of 30 credit 1 A University-wide task force is currently studying the feasibility of requiring the completion of only 29 credit hours before declaring a major. The requirements of the Criminology and Investigations major will align with any new University policy in this regard.

3 Annex IV, Page 3 of 5 hours: Six hours in CRIM foundation courses, 9 hours in intermediate courses, 6 hours in advanced courses, and 9 hours in division elective courses. General Requirements All students in the Division of Sociology & Anthropology are required to take the following courses in addition to the required courses in their chosen major. SOCA 101 Introduction to Sociology SOCA 105 Introduction to Anthropology SOCA 311 Social Research Methods SOCA 401 Sociological Theory SOCA 488 Capstone Experience STAT 211 or STAT 215 Statistics (students must successfully complete STAT 211 or STAT 215 prior to admission into the Criminology & Investigations major) SOCA 389 Writing in Sociology & Anthropology Requirements for Criminology & Investigations Major Foundation Courses (6 hours): SOCA 232 Criminology and SOCA 233 Juvenile Delinquency or SOCA 330 The Criminal Justice System Intermediate Courses (9 hours): SOCA 302 Deviant Behavior SOCA 331 Sociology of Law SOCA 334 Corporate and White Collar Crime SOCA 345 Terrorism SOCA 339 Organized Crime SOCA 335 Criminal Justice Processes Advanced Courses (6 hours): SOCA 407 Constructing Social Problems SOCA 461 Issues in Crime and Justice SOCA 402 The Investigating Professions Elective Courses (9 hours): SOCA 222 The Community SOCA 235 Race Relations SOCA 238 Ethnic Groups SOCA 252 Physical Anthropology SOCA 265 Introduction to GLBT Studies SOCA 293 Special Topics SOCA 304 Complex Organizations SOCA 360 Women and Men in Society

4 Annex IV, Page 4 of 5 SOCA 405 SOCA 491 SOCA 493 SOCA 495 Introduction to Social Inequality Professional Field Experience Special Topics (upper level) Independent Study Students are encouraged to do independent study, fieldwork, or an internship in their senior year. Up to three credit hours of independent study (SOCA 495) or field experience (SOCA 491) may be counted toward fulfilling departmental elective requirements. In order to graduate with a CRIM major, students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 and at least 2.5 in SOCA courses counted toward the major. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS The Criminology & Investigation major can be implemented with existing resources in the Division of Sociology & Anthropology. These resources include tenured and tenure-track faculty in the division along with Fred Prichard and Norman Conti. Fred Prichard, currently funded by a grant through the Forensic Science Initiative, will develop the course entitled The Investigating Professions, SOCA 402 and will provide a key link to the Forensics program. We are also including Norman Conti, a senior lecturer in the Division of Sociology & Anthropology whose primary area of study is police culture, as part of the plan to implement this new major. Currently, the Division of Sociology & Anthropology serves approximately 150 majors and 100 pre majors. Approximately sixty percent of these students are focused in the Crime and Social Control AOE. The other 40% are in either the Social Inequality / Social Development or Anthropology AOEs. Adding 50 new students to the CRIM major would require the division to add one new section of Research Methods (SOCA 311) and increase the number of students each semester who take Sociological Theory (SOCA 401) by about 15. Under the current workload configuration, the effort of the eight full time tenured/ tenure-track faculty members in the Division of Sociology and Anthropology are distributed in the following manner: 3.5 in Crime & Social Control, 2.5 in Social Inequality/Social Development, and 2 in Anthropology. With Dr. Prichard contributing full time and Dr. Conti part time to the crime area and holding Sociology & Anthropology majors in the Social Inequality /Social Development and Anthropology AOEs at existing levels, the Division projects that it could accept up to 50 new CRIM majors (for a total of 150 CRIM majors) within existing resources. If interest exceeds capacity, premajors will be admitted based on comparative GPA. In making this estimate, one concern is noted. We currently do not know the extent to which the development and implementation of the capstone course for CRIM majors will draw on division resources and, thereby, impact other course offerings. The division will study this issue in the first year of the program.

5 Annex IV, Page 5 of 5 COLLEGE/SCHOOL SIGN-OFF Contact Person: James J. Nolan ext jim.nolan@mail.wvu.edu SIGNATURES Initiated by: Initiators Signature Chair, Division Curriculum Committee Department Chair Chair s Signature James J. Nolan Date: Melissa Latimer Date: Lawrence T. Nichols College Curriculum Committee Joan Gorham, Associate Dean Dean Duane Nellis Faculty Senate Approved by: ARC Only Date Received: Date Entered: