Juvenile Delinquency

Concentration in Juvenile Delinquency

These courses are designed for students who intend to work with at-risk youth in community organizations, juvenile courts, group homes, and/or youth programs for high-risk youth. Potential careers include guidance counselors, probation officers, or youth program coordinators. Students will gain an understanding of:

  1. The theories, policies, and procedures of the juvenile justice system and
  2. The causes of delinquent behavior among adolescents as well as the adjustment problems and treatment of delinquent youth.

Students will have an opportunity to gain knowledge about:

  1. The development and perpetuation of gangs and adolescent subcultures,
  2. Social interactions and facilitation of small groups (especially for students who plan to facilitate youth group interventions),
  3. Drug and alcohol use and abuse (a common problem behavior among adolescents),
  4. The forms and processes of deviant behavior, or
  5. The political, social, and cultural factors associated with criminal justice administration and police-community relations.

Students who choose this concentration must take the required courses and then select two courses from the listed options.

Required Courses (6 units):

  • CJA 444 – Juvenile Justice Process (3) 
  • SOC 369 – Juvenile Delinquency (3)

Select two courses from the following (6 units):

  • CJA 340 – Criminal Justice and the Community (3)
  • CJA 443 – Criminal Law and Justice Administration (3)
  • SOC 306 – Program Evaluation (3)
  • SOC 341 – Seminar in Small Groups (3) or PSY 367 – Effective Communication Skills (3)
  • SOC 362 – Gangs and Adolescent Subcultures (3)
  • SOC 363 – Sociology of Drug and Alcohol Use (3)
  • SOC 365 – Deviant Behavior (3)