Department of Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Justin Martin - Chair
103 Sociology Building
731-881-7520
fax 731-881-7576

Faculty

Stephanie L. Allen, Ivan Alvarado, C. Michael Awsumb, Cindy A. Boyles, Alicia E. Donaldson, Brian W. Donavant, Shelby East, Michael A. Gurley, Tina L. Lee, Justin A. Martin, Danny Pirtle, Aaron T. Rowland, Cynthia H. West

Mission

The Department of Behavioral Sciences offers high-quality degree programs designed to provide students with a solid understanding of human behavior, social processes, social institutions, and the linkages between individuals and the larger social reality. The faculty is committed to scholarship in teaching, research, service, and provides learning activities for program majors and minors as well as students in the university at large. The department provides opportunities for out-of-class learning experiences through discipline-specific organizational memberships, research, conferences and workshops, travel studies, fieldwork, and internships. Faculty and students engage in public service and research related to the needs of the university, the community, the region, and respective professional fields. Upon graduation, students will be prepared for graduate study or employment in a wide variety of occupational settings.

The department offers the B.S. in Criminal Justice (B.S.C.J.) and B.S. in Social Work (B.S.S.W.) degrees and the undergraduate major in Sociology in support of the B.S. and B.A. degrees. Minors are available in Sociology, Forensic Science, and Criminal Justice.

Expected Outcomes

Upon graduation with their respective degrees, students in the Department of Behavioral Sciences are expected to:

demonstrate familiarity with concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical trends and historical perspectives in their discipline;
demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills and professional attitude in educational, professional, and community settings;
recognize, understand, and respect the complexity of sociocultural and international diversity;
value qualitative and empirical evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect values inherent to their discipline;
differentiate between theories and perspectives of their respective discipline to apply basic research methods, including research design, analysis, and interpretation;
adhere to the ethical principles and standards of scientific research and publication;
develop strategies for self management and self improvement;
formulate and pursue realistic goals that best utilize knowledge and skills of their respective discipline to develop career and educational plans.

Criminal Justice Program

The mission of the Criminal Justice Program is to provide students with a significant exposure to the Arts and Sciences; to provide opportunities for in-service and pre-service students to study specialized criminal justice courses; to provide technical services to the community; to analyze the underlying philosophies and practices of the criminal justice system as well as the causation and prevention of crime and delinquency; and to counsel and assist our students in the making of career decisions.

The Criminal Justice curriculum requires a core of broad-based courses which stress the systemic, philosophical nature of criminal justice. This core requirement is consistent with the primary mission of the University by providing a quality undergraduate education that develops students’ to develop an ability to synthesize information, to engage in scholarly inquiry and to accomplish rational problem solving. We believe that traditional arts and sciences education is the best preparation for the study of criminal justice as well as the best means of developing intellectual skills students need to function in modern society.

Further, it is assumed that students must understand the philosophies and processes of criminal justice in order for them to possess broad and representative knowledge of criminal justice as an intellectual discipline. Each of the required courses is designed to present underlying and unifying philosophies of criminal justice; and elective criminal justice courses are offered in several areas such as Criminal Investigation and Forensics, Juvenile Justice Process, and Capital Punishment. When taken in conjunction with the core courses, these courses facilitate pursuits of a particular area of criminal justice as a career.

Students who major or minor in Criminal Justice are taught by experienced, professional faculty who have extensive academic credentials as well as grounded experience in criminal justice. The faculty is active in preparing and teaching in-service training programs and designing and/or attending programs for in-service and pre-service persons which enhances professionalism.

Graduates with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice are highly successful in obtaining positions in the profession. Our students have enjoyed success in numerous state, local and federal criminal justice agencies as well as in municipal police departments, corrections departments, juvenile services and private security. An increasing number of students are enrolling in law school or in graduate schools of criminal justice or public administration due to the enhanced career opportunities for those who hold advanced degrees.

Facilities

Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Sociology faculty are housed in the Sociology Building. A computer lab for students is located on the second floor of the Sociology Building.

Psychology faculty are housed on the third floor of the Andy Holt Humanities Building. Lab and computer facilities are available to students for use in lab courses and for individual research projects. Sophisticated behavioral and physiological equipment is used to conduct research on both human and animal subjects.

Student Organizations

The Criminal Justice Society provides students an opportunity to meet with other students and professionals who share common interests. The organization has speakers from various criminal justice professions who inform them about the current events and careers in criminal justice. The Criminal Justice Society is open to students having taken at least one Criminal Justice course and having an interest in the Criminal Justice field.

The Kappa Epsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma was founded during the Spring 2008 semester at The University of Tennessee at Martin. Those who meet the criteria (Criminal Justice major with a 3.2 overall GPA, a 3.2 GPA in Criminal Justice, completed four criminal justice courses and ranks in the top 35% of the class) are invited for membership.

The Sociology Club is open to all students with an interest in sociology. Club meetings may involve speakers, career information, films, or informal contact with other students and faculty members.

Alpha Kappa Delta, is the international honor society which seeks to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology. Junior and senior sociology majors who have an overall GPA of at least 3.3 and have at least four courses in sociology with a GPA of 3.0 are eligible to apply for membership.

The Student Social Work Association (SSWA) provides students with an opportunity to investigate major social problems from both an academic and service-oriented frame of reference, and to participate in activities which will serve to coordinate those two approaches. Its aim is to make students more knowledgeable about social problems of national and international scope and to provide the students with opportunities to devise and implement meaningful remedies for the problems at the community level. The Association is open to all students who are interested in becoming involved through service to the University community, as well as the larger geographic area of Northwest Tennessee.

Phi Alpha is a national honor society exclusively for social work majors. This Society gives special recognition to social work majors who have performed at an exceptionally high academic level. Sophomore, junior and senior social work students who have successfully completed nine semester hours of required social work courses and whose cumulative GPA is 3.0 or above and have a 3.25 GPA in required social work courses are eligible for membership.

National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a professional social work organization with over 140,000 members and chapters throughout the United States. Its primary purpose is helping social workers advance their practice in the field of human service. The membership fee includes a subscription to the journal Social Work, the monthly newspaper NASW News, and the Tennessee NASW Chapter Newsletter. Membership is available to students at a reduced cost.