Criminal Justice Certificate Program

Program Overview

The Criminal Justice Certificate Program includes an interdisciplinary sequence of classes and an internship, for students interested in the American criminal and juvenile justice systems. Certificate students select courses in legal studies and from the departments of Sociology, Political Science, Social Work, Psychology, Gender and Women’s Studies, Anthropology, History, Human Development and Family Studies, Rehabilitation Psychology, Integrated Liberal Studies, and Counseling Psychology. Students gain a broad understanding of the philosophy, theories, and operation of the adult and juvenile justice systems.

The Criminal Justice Certificate consists of a minimum of 6 courses. Students are required to take one course from each of the 6 defined groups. Of the six courses, one course should be related to race and justice studies. This certificate allows students to explore the criminal justice system through many different lenses including psychology, social work, sociology, and law. Students have the flexibility to focus the certificate from a field they are interested in.

Below are the six defined groups:

  1. Criminal Justice System– all students are required to take Legal Studies 131- Criminal Justice in America.
  2. Theories of Crime & Deviant Behavior
  3. Crime and Justice/Operations of the Justice System
  4. Broader Psycho/Socio/Economic Processes Related to Criminal Justice
  5. Ethnography-Internship Prep
  6. Fieldwork/Internship
    • Legal St 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice & Legal Studies
      • This course is 3 credits and offered every semester. Students are enrolled in legal studies 694 at the same time they are interning.
      • In order to get permission to enroll in legal studies 694, students must participate in a pre-internship process that typically begins the semester before a student wants to enroll in legal studies 694 and intern.
      • This is one option to complete the Group 6 requirement. Scroll down to courses to earn the criminal justice certificate to see other courses in other departments that may fulfill group 6.
      • Here are examples of the pre-internship process per semester:

* please note the assignments, deadlines, and guidelines change from semester to semester. These are just examples. Please contact cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu for more information.

Declaring the Criminal Justice Certificate

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How to Declare the Criminal Justice Certificate

There are no pre-requisites to declare the criminal justice certificate. Any student may declare the certificate, no matter what major or school they are in.

Students are encouraged to declare the certificate as early as possible within their college careers in order to prepare for field work/internship/research seminar course.

In order to declare, please review this entire webpage, including the section below, “courses to earn the criminal justice certificate.” After you have reviewed this webpage, please complete this form to declare the criminal justice certificate.

Upon completing this form, your request to be declared will be processed and will appear in your student center within 3 business days of submitting this form.
Please direct any questions to: cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu or make an appointment with Martine Delannay or Micha Schwab via StarFish.

Courses to Earn the Criminal Justice Certificate

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Spring 2024 Courses

Major and Certificate overviews

Group 1 – Criminal Justice System

Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America

Group 2 – Theories of Crime and Deviant Behavior

Psychology 526/586: The Criminal Mind

Social Work 612: Psychopathology in Generalist Social Work Practice

Sociology 421: Processes of Deviant Behavior

Sociology 441: Criminology

Sociology 446: Juvenile Delinquency

Group 3 – Crime and Justice/Operations of the Justice System

Ed Pol 150: Incarceration and Education (dars exception needed)

Legal Studies/Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender & Justice

Political Science 314: Criminal Law and Justice

Psychology 401: Psychology, Law, and Social Policy

Psychology 601: Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)

Rehab Psych 535: Forensic Rehabilitation (dars exception needed)

Group 4 – Broader Psycho/Social/Economic Process Related to Criminal Justice

**AfAm/GWS 625: Gender, Race and the Civil Rights Movement

**History 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America

**Human Development & Family St 474: Racial Ethnic Families in U.S. (Ethnic St)

Legal Studies 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System

Legal Studies 422: Women and the Law

**Legal Studies/ChicLa/Soc 443: Immigration, Crime & Enforcemt (Ethnic St)

Legal Studies 444: Law in Action

Legal St 450: Courts, Constitutionalism and Human Rights

Legal Studies 477: History of Forensic Science

Legal St 459: Rule of Law

Psychology 405: Abnormal Psychology

Social Work 453: Substance Use Disorders

Social Work 646: Child Abuse and Neglect

**Sociology 578: Poverty and Place

Group 5 – Ethnography – Internship Prep

Communication Arts 373: Intercultural Communication and Rhetoric

Communication Arts 565: Communication and Inter-ethnic Behavior (Ethnic St)

Counseling Psychology 225: Intersectionalities- (Ethnic St)

Counseling Psychology 655: Clinical Communication Skills

Inter-HE 202: Careers and Leadership Dev (SOHE Majors only)

Inter-LS 210: L&S Career Development

Inter-LS 215: Communicating about Careers (Comm B)

Political Science 316: Careers in Political Science

Sociology 205: Intercultural Dialogues (Ethnic St) (application)

Group 6 – Field Work/Internship Seminar: (these courses require advance preparation/permission to enroll per department)

Legal St 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice & Legal Studies

  • This course is 3 credits and offered every semester. Students are enrolled in legal studies 694 at the same time they are interning.
  • In order to get permission to enroll in legal studies 694, students must participate in a pre-internship process that typically begins the semester before a student wants to enroll in legal studies 694 and intern.
  • Here are examples of the pre-internship process per semester:

* please note the assignments, deadlines, and guidelines change from semester to semester. These are just examples. Please contact cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu for more information.

Below are opportunities in other departments that will fulfill the Group 6 requirement. Please refer to each program’s requirements for admission:

Ed Pol 500: Participatory Action Research (dars exception needed)

CSCS 601: Internship

Gender & Women’s St 660: Internship in Gender & Women’s Studies

Human Development and Family Studies 592: Research

Human Development & Family Studies 601: Internship

Political Science 315:  Legislative Internship

Rehab Psychology & Special Ed 630: Internship in Rehabilitation or Special Ed

Social Work 401: Field Practice and Integrative Seminar I

Sociology 320: Research

**For students who declared Fall 2023 and later, one course of the above should focus on race/justice studies. This is marked by **

Summer 2024 Courses

Major and Certificate overviews

Group 1 – Criminal Justice System

Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America

Group 2 – Processes of Order and Disorder

Sociology 421: Processes of Deviant Behavior

Group 3 – Crime and Justice/Operations of the Justice System

Legal St/Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice

Legal St/History 426: History of Punishment

Legal St 450: History of Prison

Group 4 – Broader Psycho/Socio/Economic Processes Related to Criminal Justice

Legal St/GWS 422: Women and the Law

Legal St 450: Truth and Crime

SW 646: Child Abuse and Neglect

Group 5 – Ethnography/Internship Prep

Communication Arts 371: Communication and Conflict Resolution

Counseling Psych 225: Intersectionalities, Self-Awareness, and Social Actions for Social Change

Counseling Psych 237: Mental Health, Self-Awareness, and Social Justice: Working in Diverse Communities

Counseling Psych 655: Clinical Communication Skills

SW 375 Social Welfare Self-Care: Cultivating Resilience

Group 6 – Fieldwork/Internship Seminar

Legal St 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice & Legal Studies

  • This course is 3 credits and offered every semester. Students are enrolled in legal studies 694 at the same time they are interning.
  • In order to get permission to enroll in legal studies 694, students must participate in a pre-internship process that typically begins the semester before a student wants to enroll in legal studies 694 and intern.
  • Here are examples of the pre-internship process per semester:

* please note the assignments, deadlines, and guidelines change from semester to semester. These are just examples. Please contact cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu for more information.

Below are opportunities in other departments that may fulfill the Group 6 requirement. Please refer to each program’s requirements for admission. Internships must be criminal/juvenile justice/legal related.

Gender & Women’s St 660: Internship in Gender & Women’s Studies

Human Development & Family Studies 601: Internship

Political Science 315:  Legislative Internship

Public Affairs  327: Administrative Internship

Rehab Psychology & Special Ed 630: Internship in Rehabilitation or Special Ed

Social Work 401: Field Practice and Integrative Seminar I

Fall 2024 Courses

Major and Certificate overviews

Group 1: Criminal Justice System

Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America

Group 2: Theories of Crime and Deviant Behavior

Legal Studies 400: Punishment and Society (dars exception needed) 
Psychology 526/586: The Criminal Mind: Forensic & Psychobio Perspect
Sociology 441: Criminology

Group 3: Crime and Justice/Operations of the Justice System

Legal Studies 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
Legal Studies/GWS/Soc 425: Crime, Gender, Justice
Legal Studies 426: History of Punishment
Legal Studies 400: Criminal Injustice in America
Legal Studies 400: Politics and Crime
Legal Studies/ChicLa/Sociology 440: Ethnicity, Race and Justice (ethnic st)
Psychology 401: Psychology, Law, & Social Policies
Psychology 601: Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)

Group 4: Broader Psycho/Socio/Economic Processes Related to Criminal Justice

AfAm 671: Origins of Black Movements (Ethnic St)
AfAm 671: Criminalizing Blackness (Ethnic St)
Legal Studies/English 160: Truth and Crime
History 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America (Ethnic St)
Human Development & Family St 474: Racial Ethnic Families in U.S. (Ethnic St)
Legal Studies 444: Law in Action
Legal Studies 641: Sociology of Law
Political Science 349: Global Access to Justice (dars exception needed)
Psychology 405: Adult Psychopathology
Social Work 420: Poverty and Social Welfare
Social Work 453 Substance Use Disorders
Social Work 523: Family Violence
Social Work 623: Interpersonal Violence
Social Work 646: Child Abuse and Neglect
Sociology 633: Social Stratification

Group 5: Ethnography-Internship Prep

Counseling Psych 225: Intersectionalities, Self -Awareness, And Social Actions For Social Change – (restricted to students with first or second year standing)
Counseling Psych 237: Mental Health, Self-Awareness, and Social Justice: Working in Diverse Communities
Counseling Psychology 620: Interviewing
Counseling Psychology 655: Clinical Communication Skills
Inter-HE 202: Careers and Leadership Dev (SOHE Majors only)
Inter-LS 210: L&S Career Development
Inter-LS 215: Communicating about Careers (Comm B)
Political Science 316: Careers in Political Science
Sociology 205: Intercultural Dialogues
Social Work 441: Generalist Practice; Individuals, Families & Groups (SW Majors only)

Group 6: Fieldwork/Internship Seminar- All Internships must be Criminal/Juvenile Justice/Law/Policy Related

Legal St 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice & Legal Studies

  • This course is 3 credits and offered every semester. Students are enrolled in legal studies 694 at the same time they are interning.
  • In order to get permission to enroll in legal studies 694, students must participate in a pre-internship process that typically begins the semester before a student wants to enroll in legal studies 694 and intern.

Below are opportunities in other departments that will fulfill the Group 6 requirement. Please refer to each program’s requirements for admission. Internships must be criminal/juvenile justice/legal/policy related.

Sociology 320: Community-Engaged Research for Solving Urban Problems
Gender & Women’s St 660: Internship in Gender & Women’s Studies
Human Development & Family Studies 601: Internship
Political Science 315:  Legislative Internship
Psychology 412: Field Experience in Psychology. More information can be found here.
Rehab Psychology & Special Ed 630: Internship in Rehabilitation or Special Ed
Social Work 401: Field Practice and Integrative Seminar I

Program Requirement

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Program Advising

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