Curriculum

Students will complete the minor with a capstone course -- a senior-level interdisciplinary course that focuses on victim services, which includes victim assistance programs, victim-witness services, victim-offender programs, victim rights, victim advocacy, and national organizations for victims. Note that an alternative course or experience may take the place of the required capstone course with permission of the minor coordinator.

At least 8 credits required for the minor must be at 3000 level or above.

Victimology Minor Faculty
 

Robert J. Barney

Ph.D. (University of Louisville), Associate Professor of Social Work: International social work, family and community developent, cultural diversity in HIV/AIDS support, research practice, human trafficking.

Jess Bonnan-White

Ph.D. (University of Iowa), Professor of Criminal Justice: Conflict resolution, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, international development, Middle East conflict, anthropology, trauma studies, quantitative and qualitative data, research methods, peace-building.

Deeanna Button

Ph.D. (University of Delaware), Professor of Criminal Justice: Social inequality, violence/victimization, gender and sexuality, LGBTQ youth and resiliency, criminology, research methods and statistics.

Guia Calicdan-Apostle

DSW (University of Pennsylvania), Victimology Minor Coordinator & Associate Professor of Social Work: Clinical social work practice, cultural competence, spirituality in mental health, public health intervention and advocacy (tobacco control), race, ethnicity and diversity issues.

Joshua D. Duntley

Ph.D. (University of Texas), Associate Professor of Criminal Justice: Evolutionary psychology, forensic psychology, homicide, stalking, victim defenses, human mating, statistics.

Michael R. Hayse

Ph.D. (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), Associate Professor of History

Marion Hussong

Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania), Professor of Literature and Holocaust and Genocide Studies: 20th century German history, Russian and East European history, Holocaust/genocide studies, history and memory.

Holocaust literature, 19th and 20th century German and Austrian literature, comparative literature, children's literature.

Janice O. Joseph

Ph.D. (York University), Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice: Juvenile justice, delinquency, violence against women, minorities and crime, corrections.

Katherine Kafonek

Ph.D. (University of Delaware), Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice: gender-based violence victimization, sex education, intersectionality, qualitative methods, interdisciplinary strategies for violence prevention.

Nazia Kazi

Ph.D. (CUNY Graduate Center), Associate Professor of Anthropology: Race, immigration, inequality, Islamophobia, social theory.

Manish Madan

Ph.D. (Michigan State University), Associate Professor of Criminal Justice: Comparative research, policy, gender, victimization, media, policing, statistics.

Sara Martino

Ph.D. (Temple University), Professor of Counseling: Counseling psychology, illness-related stress disorders, female aggression, self-mutilation, superwoman ideal, gender group identity, psychology of women, marriage and family therapy.

Patricia Reid-Merritt

DSW (University of Pennsylvania), Distinguished Professor of Social Work and Africana Studies: Social work practice, social policy, social work with ethnic/minority groups, Africana organizations and leadership practices, African-centered social work practice.

Kimberley R. Schanz

Ph.D. (CUNY Graduate Center), Associate Professor of Criminal Justice: Behavioral crime scene analysis with an emphasis on the behavioral aspects of sexual assaults, and forensic psychology.

Allison N. Sinanan

Ph.D. (Fordham University), Professor of Social Work: Sexual abuse recurrence in minority children, oppression of children and families of color.

Connie M. Tang

Ph.D. (University of Wyoming), Professor of Psychology: Child and adolescent development, child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency, psychology and the law, social cognition, culture and cognition, research methods.

Judith Vogel

Ph.D. (Temple University), Associate Professor of Mathematics: Numerical linear algebra, Children of the Holocaust, Holocaust education using children's literature.

Kaite Yang

Ph.D. (Princeton University), Assistant Professor of Psychology: Social psychology, personality and individual differences, the emergence of gender differences, meta-analysis, thought speed and creativity.

PROFESSORS EMERITI

Sonia V. Gonsalves

Ph.D. (Temple University), Professor Emerita of Psychology: Educational psychology, statistics, research methods, psychological and educational testing, experimental psychology, adolescence, learning. 

Melaku Lakew

Ph.D. (University of California at Riverside) - Professor Emeritus of Economics: Monetary theory, history of economic thought, comparative economic systems, economic development.

Franklin O. Smith

Ed.D. (University of Massachusetts at Amherst), Professor Emeritus of Sociology: Family, sociology of education, sociology of sports, acting, public oratory.

Admission to the Minor

The Victimology and Victim Services Minor is open to students from all majors. Interested students should inform their preceptor of their interest and complete the Declaration of Major/Minor Form, available through Academic Advising to officially declare the minor. The declaration form must be signed by the minor coordinator.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum, many of the courses may be applied toward program, cognate, or at-some-distance requirements. Planning early, particularly in programs with highly structured requirements, can help students complete the minor without taking additional courses beyond the basic 128 credit hours needed for graduation.

Career Opportunities

The Victimology and Victim Services Minor will prepare students for entry into a wide variety of positions in fields such as:

• Criminal justice
• Social work
• Counseling
• Gerontology
• Nursing

It can be especially useful for those who interact directly with victims, their families, and their communities, such as police officers and other first responders, probation officers, counselors, social workers, and medical emergency personnel.