Program Information

Requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog. The graduate program in criminology and law has two areas of special emphasis: crime and justice, and law and society. The degree programs are research-based and prepare students to conduct original exploration into relevant problems, issues, and policies.

M.A. degree program: Admission to the master’s degree program requires a bachelor’s degree from a criminology/criminal justice or relevant social science or humanities program (political science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, history, women’s studies, etc.). Qualified students may enter the master’s program as undergraduates through the combination B.A./M.A. program. Both M.A. options (thesis and non-thesis) require satisfactory completion of at least 36 credit hours.

Ph.D. degree program: The Doctor of Philosophy program includes a minimum of 90 semester hours of credit beyond the B.A. Students with a criminology or closely related M.A. received in the last 7 years from an accredited U.S. university may request that up to 30 hours credit from their M.A. work be counted toward this total. Those with an M.A. from this department may apply 36 hours. The Department requires Ph.D. students to complete at least 66 hours of course work (excluding research credits), including the M.A. hours. Qualifying examinations take place at the end of a student’s course work.

Criminology, Law and Society/Law joint degree programs: The Department of Sociology and Criminology& Law (CLS) and the College of Law offer a joint degree program leading to an M.A. or a Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society and a J.D. in law. The joint degree programs enable students to earn both the degrees (the J.D. and the M.A. or the J.D. and the Ph.D.) in less time than would be required to earn both degrees consecutively. Students wishing to pursue the joint program must be admitted to both the Graduate School and the College of Law. These requirements include both the LSAT and GRE. Admission to one may precede the other. Students are encouraged to announce their intent to seek a joint degree as soon as possible. CLS allows 12 hours of appropriate law school courses to be credited toward the CLS degree. The 12 credits selected from the law curriculum must be approved by the graduate coordinator on the recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee. The College of Law will permit 12 hours of credit earned in graduate courses to be credited toward the J.D.

Prospective students should examine the research interests of the Criminology Graduate Faculty to obtain a more detailed sense of faculty expertise and research areas, see the department website: http://soccrim.clas.ufl.edu/graduate/. Applications for admission and fellowship support are due January 15 of each year. Students planning to apply for admission should take the Graduate Record Examination at the earliest possible date.

Degrees Offered with a Major in Criminology, Law and Society

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Master of Arts

Requirements for these degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog.

Sociology and Criminology & Law Departmental Courses

Criminology, law & Society (PHD)

SLO 1     Knowledge        
Identify, define and describe criminological and law and society theories and criminological and law and society research methods.

SLO 2     Knowledge        
Identify, define and describe their primary track of interest (either Crime & Justice or Law & Society)

SLO 3     Professional Behavior   
Prepare and produce documents professionally and ethically.

SLO 4     Professional Behavior   
Practice the role of the professional criminologist.

SLO 5     Skills     
Conduct independent empirical research with scientific integrity.

SLO 6     Skills     
Apply substantive criminological and law and society knowledge in critical thinking, analysis, and communication.

Criminology, Law, & Society (MA)            

SLO 1     Knowledge        
Identify, define and describe criminological and law and society theories  and  criminological and law and society research methods. 

SLO 2     Skills     
Identify, define and describe their primary track of interest (either Crime & Justice or Law & Society)  

SLO 3     Skills     
Conduct independent empirical research with scientific integrity  

SLO 4     Professional Behavior   
Prepare and produce documents professionally and ethically

SLO 5     Professional Behavior   
Practice role of professional criminologist