This is a lower-division course for first and second-year students, especially criminology minors. The course was designed to be taught as an in-person course that meets twice a week in a lecture-style format over a 10-week quarter at the University of Oregon.
This course covers “the study of the processes of making laws, breaking laws, and reacting towards the breaking of laws” (Sutherland and Cressey, 1974) and is designed to give students a broad introduction to criminology as a discipline, including measurements and definitions of crime, the myriad societal and personal factors that explain crime, and criminal justice system processes and responses.
The course enhances career preparation by considering how criminology is woven into various careers in research, education, government, law, and non-profit organizations.
Included in this course are case study assignments, a course map with links to supplementary materials such as videos, podcasts, and graphics, and supporting PPT files. The course readings include an open textbook for each topic.
Accessibility Statement:
Some video and audio flies lack captions and transcripts.
PPT Images include alt-text but no image descriptions for complex images.
Slides contain font 14pt or larger in PPT, but if viewed in Google Slides, the text is “to fit,” which may result in too small text.
Slide reading order may be out of sequence.
Attribution and Licensing:
Creator: Curated and Designed by Stephanie Wiley (University of Oregon)
Published:12/10/2024
Relevance: Course based on SOC 199 Introduction to Criminology at University of Oregon
Level: Undergraduate
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED
Describe criminology as a discipline and identify relevant career paths.
Identify and evaluate types of crime, patterns over time, and differences across groups.
Critically assess key explanations for crime and the evolution of theories over time.
Identify stages of the criminal justice process and ethically reflect on both traditional practices and recent alternative strategies.
Evaluate the interaction of social location, crime, and justice system responses.