Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Student Research and Academic Interests

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice students use their academic talents to research and explore a wide range of topics which impact our local and global community. As seniors, our students complete a Capstone Research Project, which integrates best practices as they analyze topics in which they have developed a passion. In addition, many of our students have an opportunity to present their work at national (and, during study abroad, international) venues.

Student-led organizations also play a role in activism and developing awareness of various topics. Students play key roles in the Criminal Justice Society or Sociology Society by organizing events, career fairs, and fundraising drives to support those who are most in need.

2020 Senior Thesis Research Topics

Incarceration, Recidivism, & Restorative Justice 

• Restorative Justice and the Effects on Offenders
• Rehabilitation and Education for Prisoners with Substance Abuse
• The Link between Childhood Trauma and Adulthood Incarceration
• Restructuring Drug Treatment Facilities to Maximize Long-Term Rehabilitative Success: Social Bonds and Post-Treatment Programs
• Women’s Health in Prison: Challenges and Issues that Call for Reform
• An Analysis of the Restrictions On Ex-Felons: The Effects On Everyday Life
• Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Illness in Relation to Recidivism

Exploring Social Problems at the Intersection of Race, Class, & Gender

• Social Attitudes towards Immigrants Reflected Through Immigration Policy
• An Elite Squad?: Intimate Partner Violence Myths in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Is Sectarianism Still Kicking in Scottish Football? An Examination into Online Behavior and Language by Glasgow Celtic and Rangers FC Fans
• We Live in a Society: Violence and Radicalization in the Internet Manosphere
• A Bad Trip Down The Trail to Nowhere: A Critical Analysis of the Opioid Crisis in Rural Appalachia
• The Impact of Racial and Gender Bias in the Juvenile Justice System

Policing, Wrongful Convictions, & CSI

• Contributing Factors of Wrongful Convictions
• Fabricated Forensics: Examining an Undergraduate Population’s Ability to Detect Fallacies in Crime-Based Media
• The Representation of Police Work in the Media
• Parole and Recidivism
• Comparing United States and International Policing
• Exploring Police Brutality and Aggression in the United States
• SocioCulture Critique: False Confessions

Identity & Society

• "We’re here, we’re queer, we will not live in fear!”: A Content Analysis Exploring Gender Disparity in the Public Reappropriation of LGBTQ+ Slurs
• American Identities and the Consumption of Japanese Homoerotica
• Western Ideologies in South Korea
• Queer and Kinship
• American Capitalism's Basis in Slavery

Sociological Explorations

• Toys or Tools?: An Analysis of Gender Marketing in Sex Toys
• A Sociological Exploration of Black Women’s Health Disparities
• Military Veterans and the Challenges of Serving
• They Must Be Bad Kids! Racial and Ethnic Disproportionality in School Discipline
• Inquiry into Success Rates for Prostitution Programs in the US
• The Root Causes of Aggression in Children and How to Intervene

Agency and Alterity

• Locked Alone in a Cell for 23 Hours a Day: An Exploration of Attitudes Towards Solitary Confinement
• A Spread of the Disease, Suicide Contagion: an Exposure to Suicide Could Lead to Deadly Outcomes Via Anomie or Imitation Induced by Social Networks and Entertainment like 13 Reasons Why
• Patient-Provider Interaction: Gender Stigma Creates Barriers in Healthcare for Female Patients
• Media Representation of Urban Farming
• Trial by the Press: A Cognitive Study of Terrorist Attacks