Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
Thomas W. Cole, Jr., Research Center for Science and Technology, Room 2003
Telephone: (404) 880-6659

Dr. Anthony Troy Adams, Chair
aadams@cau.edu

The mission of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice is to prepare students with knowledge, skills, and values to become proficient in the use of major theoretical and practical perspectives on society in general, and the criminal justice system in particular, that positively impact global issues.

The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice’s vision is to impart knowledge of theoretical perspectives, research methods, and problem-solving skills to address social problems locally and regionally, nationally, and globally. 

The Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice was formed in 2001 by joining the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Sociology and the Department of Criminal Justice. The Department currently offers degree programs in Sociology and in Criminal Justice. The department embraces an interdisciplinary approach to the study of social problems, including social injustice, poverty, crime and violence, environmental justice, and health disparities. A combination of traditional and non-traditional courses with supervised qualitative and quantitative research and fieldwork approaches, provide students with a comprehensive educational experience. Graduates of these degree programs are represented at national and international levels in teaching, research, public and private sectors (e.g., law, law enforcement, corrections, higher education, non-profits, and administrative and executive-level positions).

The Department is committed to identifying and recruiting those students interested in sociology and criminal justice regardless of their previous academic study - social science, engineering, police science, sociology and criminology. In every area of sociology and criminal justice, there is a need for students who are committed to making positive changes within African American society and the criminal justice system; and changes that positively affect African-Americans in general and African-American offenders and victims in particular.

The Department is also committed to providing students with the knowledge, academic skills, and values that are essential to becoming successful graduate students, responsible practitioners and leaders in the criminal justice system and related areas; and, always to be useful, productive and fulfilled citizens in an increasingly complex society.

Statement of Outcomes Assessment

Two fundamental learning goals of the sociology and criminal justice administration major are student competences in research methods and theory. The Department meets these goals through our courses in Social Science Research Methods, Statistics, Criminology, and Sociological Theory, which are all required by both majors. After completing the required outcomes assessment courses, sociology and criminal justice majors should be able to:

1. Describe and apply classical and contemporary theories in at least one area of social reality.
2. Describe and evaluate classical and contemporary theories of crime causation and apply these theories to real world phenomena.
3. Identify basic methodological approaches and describe the general role of methods in building sociological knowledge.
4. Design a research study in an area of choice.
5. Develop proficiency in understanding statistics sufficiently to analyze scholarly articles in the field.
6. Conduct social research by developing, administering, and analyzing surveys.

In each of the required theory and research courses, the instructor of the outcomes assessment course is responsible for awarding student grades; however, outcomes assessment is the shared responsibility of all full-time department faculty. It is at the discretion of the individual instructor whether or not to consider departmental faculty evaluations of student work in their courses when awarding student grades for the course.

For sociology majors, departmental faculty will review and evaluate the research paper or other writing submitted in Sociological Theory and the final paper submitted for Methods of Social Research. For criminal justice majors, departmental faculty will critique and assess the research paper submitted in Criminology and the final paper submitted for Methods of Social Research. For students majoring in both sociology and criminal justice, three evaluations will be done by departmental faculty: the research paper for Sociological Theory, Criminology, and Methods of Social Research.

For a student to pass his/her outcomes assessment requirement, a majority of the departmental faculty must agree that the quality of the work done for both courses demonstrates competence. If a student fails to meet the necessary criteria for any of their outcomes assessment paper requirements, the student may:

1. revise the written work, submit a new paper for consideration prior to the end of the semester during which the student is enrolled in the course, and give an oral presentation of the paper before the department faculty reviewers;
2. request an Incomplete (in accordance with the Academic Policies set forth in the Clark Atlanta University Undergraduate Catalog), revise the written work, submit a new paper for consideration within the allotted time period, and give an oral presentation of the paper before the department faculty reviewers; or
3. repeat the course (in accordance with the Academic Policies set forth in the CAU Undergraduate Catalog).

It is possible that a student may pass his/her outcomes assessment but receive less than a C grade for the course in which the outcomes assessment work was done. In such a case, the student does not have to go through the outcomes assessment process again; however, the course has to be repeated, since students must achieve at least a C grade in all required courses for the major.

It is also conceivable that a student may fail the outcomes assessment process, yet achieve a C or better in the course in which the outcomes assessment work was required. In such a case, the student does not have to repeat the course, but must follow guidelines outlined above for students who do not pass their outcome assessment requirement.

Programs of Study