Criminology

• Foster intellectual curiosity. 

• Achieve breadth of knowledge across socio-anthropological substantive areas and depth within one area 

• Write and speak clearly and fluently while also incorporating the socio-anthropological knowledge (i.e. terms, concepts, and theories) that they have gained in their socio-anthropological coursework. 

• Practice the skill of connecting social observations with theory so that the theories alluded to in #3 can be used by graduates throughout their lives to develop sophisticated assessments about the causes and effects of human actions. 

• Develop a foundation of socio-anthropological theory about the way humans interact with the social and physical world such that they can use them to understand and assess a variety of human actions around the world. 

• Develop the skills and knowledge to conduct basic socio-anthropological investigations. This would include being familiar with the process by which an individual can: develop sociological hypotheses; collect pertinent sociological data; analyze data qualitatively and quantitatively; develop conclusions about the issue(s) in question. 

• Find, understand, and critically assess scholarly and analytic socio-anthropological literature. 

• Break free from the leash of cultural conformity by learning to think critically and creatively about issues for themselves without relying on others (authorities) to make the assessments for them. 

Full Course Catalogue  Course Descriptions

Major Requirements

• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology (fulfills General Studies Foundations Social Science course)
• SOC 210 Research Methods
• SOC 211 Statistics (fulfills General Studies Foundations Quantitative Reasoning course)
• SOC 213 Social Theory
• SOC 490 Senior Seminar
• SOC 251 Crime & Deviance
• SOC 202 The Criminal Justice System
• SOC 382/482 Internship, travel abroad course, or a 400-level approved substitution
• Two of the following:
  • ANT 101 Intro to Cultural Anthropology
  • SOC 201 Social Problems
  • SOC 230 Cultural Sociology
  • SOC 231 Cults & New Religious Movements
  • SOC 261 The Family
  • SOC 262 Social Stratification
  • SOC266 Sociology of Race
  • SOC 291 Environmental Sociology
  • ANT 285 The Human Animal  
• Four of the following:
  • SOC 253 Criminal Investigation and SOC 254 Advanced Criminal Investigation (must take both courses to satisfy one of the requirements from this list)
  • SOC 302 Juvenile Delinquency
  • SOC 305 Terrorism
  • SOC 307 Organized Crime
  • ANT 310 Crime, Culture, Conflict Resolution
  • SOC 311 Domestic Violence
  • SOC 345 School to Prison Pipeline
  • SOC 360 Crime and the Media
  • SOC 385 Violence & Victims  
• One of the following:
  • SOC 440 Ethnographies in Crime and Deviance
  • SOC 450 White-Collar Crime
  • SOC 460 Serial Murder  

Study Abroad courses are also encouraged as electives.

Combined Major Requirements

• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology (fulfills General Studies Foundations Social Science course)
• SOC 210 Research Methods
• SOC 211 Statistics (fulfills General Studies Foundations Quantitative Reasoning course)
• SOC 213 Social Theory
• SOC 490 Senior Seminar
• SOC 251 Crime & Deviance
• One of the following intermediate specialized courses:
  • SOC 253 Criminal Investigation and SOC 254 Advanced Criminal Investigation (must take both courses to satisfy one of the requirements from this list)
  • SOC 302 Juvenile Delinquency
  • SOC 305 Terrorism
  • SOC 307 Organized Crime
  • ANT 310 Crime, Culture, Conflict Resolution
  • SOC 311 Domestic Violence
  • SOC 345 School to Prison Pipeline
  • SOC 360 Crime and the Media
  • SOC 385 Violence & Victims
• One of the following advanced application courses:
  • SOC 440 Ethnographies in Crime and Deviance
  • SOC 450 White-Collar Crime
  • SOC 460 Serial Murder  

Because this is a combined major, there are relatively few topically based requirements. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged that criminology combined majors use their electives to take additional topical courses. 

Minor Requirements

The criminology minor exposes students to the sociological perspective through study of the methodology of the field, basic theoretical paradigms, as well as the study of socialization, culture, deviance and conformity, social organization and societal development, complex organizations, and the principles of stratification and other forms of social inequality. In addition, students study the social problem of crime and deviance within the context of other social problems such as family dysfunction, poverty, education, racism, gender issues, and the sociology of work and occupations.

• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
• SOC 251 Crime and Deviance
• Three of the following courses:
  • SOC 202 The Criminal Justice System
  • SOC 210 Research Methods
  • SOC 211 Social Statistics
  • SOC 213 Social Theory
  • SOC 253 Criminal Investigation  
  • SOC 254 Advanced Criminal Investigation
  • SOC 302 Juvenile Delinquency 
  • SOC 305 Terrorism
  • SOC 307 Organized Crime
  • SOC 311 Domestic Violence  
  • SOC 360 Crime and the Media
  • SOC 385 Violence and Victims
  • ANT 310 Crime Culture, Conflict Resolution

Field Study Experiences: The Albright College sociology and anthropology department hosts a variety of opportunities for field study within the City of Reading, and the city, in a way, becomes a socio-anthropological laboratory. Students have worked with faculty to assess local social service agencies, study changes in neighborhoods experiencing reinvestment, explore the impact of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on communities, measure gang involvement and risk factors for gang membership, interview community members on town-gown relations, and compare religious services, among others.

Some of the field studies in which students have engaged took place in:

• Barber shops
• Pet stores
• Roller rinks
• Childcare facilities
• Nightclubs
• Homeless shelters
• Agricultural animal auctions
• Abortion clinics

Internships and Career Support

Students can connect with the Career Development Center to find internships where they can apply language proficiency in real‑world settings, locally, nationally, or internationally, and these can count toward major requirements with faculty approval.

ACRE Undergraduate Research

Students in any major can engage in interdisciplinary undergraduate research through the Albright Creative Research Experience (ACRE), partnering with faculty mentors to pursue independent research or creative projects and present their work beyond the classroom.