Victimology and Victim Services Minor

Outside of a courthouse

Outside of a courthouse

a fingerprint on coarse paper

a fingerprint on coarse paper

the scales of justice

the scales of justice

Victimology is a multidisciplinary branch of criminology, based on research in criminal justice, psychology, public health, anthropology, history, and economics.

It examines the nature of the victimization process; the relationships between victims and offenders; the emotional, physical, and economic impact of crimes on victims; and the interactions between victims and other social groups and institutions, including the family and school. The field of victimology includes victim profiling, forensic victimology, and the scientific study of victims that focuses on their lifestyles, circumstances, the events leading up to the crime, and the nature of their victimization.


Program Overview

In general, the field of victimology offers evidence-based practices for understanding victim-offender dynamics, victim services, and the prevention of victimization. The minor provides students with a coherent set of interdisciplinary courses, giving them broad competency in victimology and victim services, while at the same time introducing them to specialized areas.

The minor enhances students' ability to work with a variety of victims, such as women, men, children, the elderly, and the LGBTQ population. The minor also provides students with opportunities to conduct research, learn from guest speakers, and engage with the community.

Program Coordinator

Guia Calicdan-Apostle

Guia Calicdan-Apostle, DSW

Associate Professor of Social Work
609-626-3820
H254
guia.calicdan-apostle@stockton.edu

Program Objectives

Once students have completed the minor, they will have:

  • Acquired informed and balanced knowledge about victims, victimization, and victim services;
  • Demonstrated proficiency in a range of theoretical perspectives in victimology;
  • Understood the impact of victimization on various populations of victims;
  • Developed an understanding of victims’ rights and the criminal justice response to victims and victimization.

 

Curriculum

The Victimology and Victim Services minor is awarded to matriculated students who have satisfactorily completed 20 credits (five courses) as described below.

Students will take a mandatory introductory course that will examine the history of victimology, basic concepts and consequences of victimization, offender-victim relationships, and the victim’s role in the criminal justice system. Students will then select three electives: one course from each of two categories (Category One: Types of Victimization and Victims and Category Two: Contemporary Victim-Related Issues), and a third course from either category.

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.

Mandatory Introductory Course (4 credits):

CRIM 2327 Introduction to Victimology

Elective Courses (12 credits):
One course from each of the following two categories, and a third course from either category:

Category One: Types of Victimization and Victims (4 credits):

CRIM or GERO 2160 Aging, Crime & Criminal Justice
CRIM 2235 Violence in Correctional Facilities
CRIM 2236 Violence Against Women
CRIM 2328 Perspectives in Victimology
CRIM 3110 Gangs in America
CRIM 3625 Sex & Violence 
GAH 2113 Non-Jewish Victims of Nazis
GAH 2119 History & Memory of Nazi Era
GEN 2308 Children of the Holocaust
GIS 3205 Battered Children
GIS 3600 Holocaust & Genocide
GIS 3658 Women & Genocide
GIS 3667 Families in Genocide
GSS 1071 or 2321 Peace & Conflict Studies
GSS 2213 Sexuality & Crime
GSS 2328 Native Americans & Genocide
GSS 2451 South Africa Now
GSS 2607 Violence & Victims
GSS 2648 Sexual Assault: Victims & Perpetrators
GSS 3173 Sexualized Violence in Genocide & Conflict
GSS 3244 Children & Crime
GSS 3263 Pseudoscience and Eugenics
GSS 3278 Study Tour: Holocaust
GSS 3640 Sexualty/Crime/Criminal Justice
PSYC 3618 Psychology of Child Witnesses

Category Two: Contemporary Victim-Related Issues (4 credits):

ANTH 2245 Race, Ethnicity & Immigration
GAH 1037 Philosophy of the Other
GAH 2334 Representing Race
GAH 3206 Race & U.S. Culture
GAH 2372 Cultural Stereotypes in Media
GSS 2264 Race & Islam in the U.S
GSS 2310 Sex Discrimination & the Law
GSS 3234 Human Rights in Global Perspective
HLTH 2301 Cultural Diversity in Healthcare
POLS 3225 Civil Liberties
PSYC 2201 Adolescence
PSYC 3145 Sex Crimes
SOCY 2210 Sociology & Family Law
[SOCY 2213 Minority-Majority Relations OR SOWK 2504 Race, Ethnicity, Diversity]
SOCY 2355 Black Lives
SOCY 3630 Studies in Family Relations

Either Category One or Two (4 credits)

One course from category One or Two

Mandatory Capstone Course (4 credits):

GIS 4669 Victim Services

*Alternative may be allowed with permission from the minor coordinator

 

 

 

Victimology Minor Faculty
 

Robert J. Barney

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

Jess Bonnan-White

Ph.D. (University of Iowa), Associate 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

Deeanna Button

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

Guia Calicdan-Apostle

DSW (University of Pennsylvania), 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.
Shawn R. Donaldson

Shawn R. Donaldson

Ph.D. (Rutgers, The State University), Associate Professor of Sociology: Race/class/gender, sociology of law, medical sociology, demography, South African studies.
Joshua D. Duntley

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

Michael R. Hayse

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

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.
Christina Jackson

Christina Jackson

Ph.D. (University of California Santa Barbara), Associate Professor of Sociology: Urban sociology, race, class, gender, social movements, inequality.
Janice O. Joseph

Janice O. Joseph

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

Nazia Kazi

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

Manish Madan

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

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

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

Kimberley R. Schanz

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

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

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

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

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.
Katherine Kafonek

Katherine Kafonek

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

PROFESSORS EMERITI

Sonia V. Gonsalves

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

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

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.

 

Visit Stockton's Career & Development Website for career coaching and resources.