IntroductionThe department’s vision is to gain a reputation as a scientific and academic center of excellence at the local, regional and international levels. It seeks to maintain this reputation by providing quality education and enhancing the skill level of the workforce in the field in the country. We aim to enable our graduates to compete in the area of social sciences research, where they can address social issues and policymaking in the UAE, the Arabian Gulf and other Arab societies. In addition, the department aims to achieve distinction in university and community service.
Program Goals- Enable students to employ advanced sociological theories in the analysis of social phenomena and problems
- Support students to acquire advanced applied research skills
- Enable students to prepare and design social policies, strategic plans and programs
- Train students to work in relevant national, regional or international institutions
- Train highly qualified future leaders in comprehensive development, social work and national security
- Equip trained and qualified professionals to meet the needs of social, economic and political development
- Develop and support students' initiatives in various fields of development, social work and criminal justice
Program Requirements
| Course Number | Credit Hours | Course Name | Pre-requisite |
| 0204810 | 3:00 | Research Seminar on Sociological Theory | |
| 0204842 | 4:00 | Applied Social Statistics (in English) | |
| 0204843 | 3:00 | Advanced Social Research (in English) | 0204519, 0204540, 0204842 |
| 0204851 | 3:00 | Research Seminar on Social Problems | |
| 0204860 | 3:00 | Advanced Seminar on Policy Analysis | |
| 0204890 | 0:00 | Field Training | |
| Specialization Area 1: Development Policy | | | |
| Course Number | Credit Hours | Course name | Pre-requisite |
| 0204861 | 3:00 | Research Seminar on Development Policy | - |
| 0204862 | 3:00 | Development Theories | - |
| 0204863 | 3:00 | Research Seminar on Developmental Planning | - |
| 0204864 | 3:00 | Human Development | - |
| 0204865 | 3:00 | Migration Analysis | - |
| 0204872 | 3:00 | Special Topic | - |
| Specialization Area 2: Criminology and Criminal Justice | | | |
| Course Number | Credit Hours | Course Name | Pre-requisite |
| 0204820 | 3.00 | Research Seminar on Crime Theory | - |
| 0204822 | 3.00 | Research Seminar on International Terrorism | - |
| 0204823 | 3.00 | Victimology | - |
| 0204824 | 3.00 | Crime Scene | - |
| 0204825 | 3.00 | Reformation and Rehabilitation | - |
| 0204826 | 3.00 | Criminal Law | - |
| 0204827 | 3.00 | National Security | - |
| 0204828 | 3.00 | Forensic Psychology | - |
| 0204872 | 3.00 | Special Topic | - |
| Specialization Area 3: Social Work | | | |
| Course number | Credit hours | Course name | Pre-requisite |
| 0204830 | 3.00 | Research Seminar on Crime Theory | - |
| 0204831 | 3.00 | Research Seminar on International Terrorism | - |
| 0204832 | 3.00 | Victimology | - |
| 0204833 | 3.00 | Crime Scene | - |
| 0204834 | 3.00 | Reformation and Rehabilitation | - |
| 0204872 | 3.00 | Criminal Law | - |
| 0204830 | 3.00 | National Security | - |
| Specialization Area 3: Social Work | | | |
| Course number | Credit hours | Course name | Pre-requisite |
0204995
| 18:00 | Dissertation | Passing the Qualifying Exam
Passing the Specialization Area's Comprehensive Exam |
Course Description| 0204810 | Research Seminar on Sociological Theory | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course focuses on modern sociological theories including Phenomenology theories and rational choice theory. It also aims to train students to employ such theories in explaining social phenomena and problems in human societies in general and UAE's society in particular. |
| 0204843 | Advanced Social Research (in English) | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive examination of the Linear Regression Model. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) is an extremely flexible and widely used statistical tool for modeling non-experimental (and experimental) data. It's closely related to analysis of variance and can incorporate both categorical and continuous predictor variables. Additional topics include an introduction to structural equation modeling, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, logistic regression analysis, and discriminate function analysis . |
| 0204842 | Applied Social Statistics (in English) | 4 |
Prerequisite: None
This course is intended to provide a detailed overview of topics central to sound advanced social research. As an advanced course, far too little depth is provided on many important topics using a quantitative and qualitative methods. A more comprehensive understanding of specific issues will require students to go beyond the basic material presented in this class. This course is targeted at the PhD's level. As for prerequisites, students should successfully complete Graduate Social Survey, Statistics, and Sociological Theory at the Masters level. |
| | | |
0204851
| Research Seminar on Social Problems | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course entails analyzing and discussing social problems within the context of scientific concepts and their interpretative sociological theories. The course also involves examining such issues in light of conventional scientific methods and developing social policies to address them. |
| 0204860 | Advanced Research Seminar on Policy Analysis | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed to focus on analyzing social policies, especially, those pertaining to family, crime, and criminal justice. The course also focuses on evaluating policies and programs, as well as designing strategic plans required to solve issues that require different forms of intervention. |
| | | |
| 0204890 | Field Training | 0 |
Prerequisite: None
Training provided is in the form of advanced special workshops in areas of family counselling and social work, or in criminology and criminal justice. Such workshops maybe offered abroad in different specialized and relevant departments to sociology or at the Department of Sociology at the University of Sharjah. Moreover, training workshops are to be designed in order to equip students with the basic skills of strategic planning of family counselling or skills pertaining to dealing with crimes. The total training hours offered by this course are 100 hours. |
| | | |
| 0204832 | Professional Practice in Social Work | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course focuses on the concept of professional practice in social work, and professional intervention theories i.e. conformity, ecology, empowerment, and forces. In addition, the course also focuses on enabling students to practice professional skills of a social practitioner by teaching those types of professional skills, applications of such skills, roles of a social practitioner, ethics of professional practice, as well as applying general practice processes in social work such as estimation, planning, intervention, evaluation, ending, and follow up. |
| | | |
| 0204834 | Society and Law | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course deals with familiarizing students with the most significant laws pertaining to areas of national security, determiners of laws, international and local legislations related to national security and properties of a legal character, human rights and its principles. The course also aims at acquainting students with parts and branches of the law, properties of the legal rule, as well as how laws are legislated as per the Emirati constitution. Moreover, the course also aims at introducing the concept of rights, compliance, types of rights, its persons and properties of a person's legal character as well as other fundamental topics relevant to an individual's daily life. |
| | | |
| 0204835 | Issues in Social Work | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course aims to allow students to understand issues affecting society from social work approaches including: Immigrants and Refugees, Chronic Illness & Disability, Arab Women's Issues , HIV infection and AIDS, Spirituality and Social Work, High-risk adolescents , Multiculturalism, Poverty and Inequality, aspects of loss, death, and bereavement across the life cycle, Children and Wars, , Marginalized Groups and Communities, Associations and Unions of Social Work , and Fundraising and Marketing in social work. |
| | | |
| 0204821 | Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed to enable students to develop an understanding and awareness of the central topics involved in the study of crime and criminal justice. The course introduces a clear description of the most popular criminological issues. It covers core issues in criminology and criminal justice. The focus of this course is to examine the social and intellectual heritage of crimes; highlight and explain the perspective and major concepts of the crimes and criminal justice summarize and lists the major points, which can help in determining background assumptions of crimes, criminal justice systems, and help in locating hypotheses for empirical testing. |
| | | |
| 0204830 | Research Seminar on Sociology of the Family | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This research seminar deals with the social context of intimate relationships, their dynamics, entries as well as challenges and opportunities of family. This seminar focuses on the latest methodologies pertaining to family issues including the concept of family strength and cohesion. |
| | | |
| 0204831 | Research Seminar on Family Counselling | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course studies modern trends in family counselling and treatment, samples of contemporary family problems in the Emirati family, applications of counselling sessions' steps and methods in marital counselling, group counselling, and couple's therapy. The course also deals with skills for building a counselling relationship, problem solving skills, family and martial communication skills. The course focuses on how different measures and psychological tests such as the family sense of coherence measure, the parenting measure, the marital satisfaction measure, the adaptability measure, marital compatibility, and testing parenting style. |
| 0204833 | Group Dynamics | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course handles different theories and social research methods on group dynamics. It also deals with different types of leadership, leadership patterns, and factors that affect individuals' group membership. |
| 0204872 | Special Topic | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course deals with demonstrating, examining and discussing major social issues in criminal law, social work, and family counselling in Emirati and Arab societies. The course instructor only selects one topic per semester as per social and developmental changes both globally and locally. |
| | | |
| 0204822 | Research Seminar on Terrorism | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course aims at introducing terrorism cases in light of interpretive theoretical frameworks, which focuses mainly on the structural properties of a terrorism phenomenon, and linking findings with 21st century terrorism patterns. Moreover, the course aims at demonstrating international efforts to fight terrorism and clarifying the properties of terroristic operations as well determining the type of terroristic organizations. |
| 0204824 | Crime Scene | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course includes a detailed description of crime types based on social classes, psychological, social and biological motives. The course also deals with the details of collecting biological, physical and chemical evidence as well as methods of juxtaposing and comparing pieces of evidence with specialized international databases and preparing criminal or forensic reports. The course also explains firearm crimes, drug crimes and international cybercrimes including forgery, digital archiving, handwriting analysis, image analysis, audio and video analysis as specialized criminal outputs. The course also covers the role of Islam in minimizing crime rates before their occurrence by means of an Arab and an Islamic system of values. |
| 0204820 | Research Seminar on Crime Theory | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course aims at introducing different approaches to studying crime theory and contemporary theories in terms of updating old perspectives, and diversification of theories. The course also aims at highlighting how crime theories and criminal justice theories complement each other. The course also focuses on the applications of such theories and demonstrating future prospects of crime theory and criminal justice. |
| 0204823 | Victimology | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course aims at introducing victimology and investigating characteristics of victims and interpretative theories in addition to their social, psychological and economical effects. The course also investigates victims' rights, victim profiling, international legislations pertaining to crime victims and the reality of crimes around the world and in the UAE. |
| 0204826 | Criminal Law | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
Criminal law is defined as a set of legal rules that determine which human actions are considered to be crimes due to the threat that they pose to the safety and security of societies and because perpetrators should be disciplined through either punishments or preventive measures. The curriculum of this course is divided into a general and a specific program. The general program includes the general theory of crime and punishment, criminal responsibility, participation in crime, as well as general penal judgements, their procedures, in addition to ways of proving and contesting such judgements. The private program includes a comparative practical analytical investigation of a topic from the general program such as criminal responsibility, participation in crimes, criminal investigations or political crimes. |
| 0204827 | National Security | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course aims to introduce the concepts and theories of national security as well as demonstrating the relationship between security theories and practical reality in areas of health, food, politics, economy and globalization. The course also aims at demonstrating the contributions made by theories of national security in conflict analysis, local and regional disputes, as well as social transformation and fighting violence in all of its forms. |
| 0204828 | Criminal Psychology | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course deals with different theories and research methods of social psychology. It also deals with types of criminals and their distinguished psychological traits and psychological factors that affect committing a crime. In addition, the course also deals with using psychological methods in criminal investigations and the role of psychology in crime prevention. |
| 0204825 | Rehabilitation and Reformation | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course introduces students to concepts and processes of social and professional rehabilitation, reformation of prison inmates in correctional facilities, types of such facilities, and methods used in the management of prisons and treating prisoners. In addition, the course also introduces students to the preventive and reformatory function of correctional and preventive facilities, and the role played by social work when dealing with inmates. The course also aims at enabling students to propose a social therapeutic proposal for inmates, equipping them with the socio-psychological skills that allow them to determine the reasons why a prisoner returns to such facilities, in addition to teaching students how to conduct case studies of inmates and design subsequent care programs for them. |
| 0204864 | Human Development | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This research seminar discusses concepts of human development, its indicators, its dimensions, and its measurements. The seminar also discusses comparisons with international and regionals levels. In addition, the course focuses on practical aspects of human development concepts pertaining to education, health, a dignified life, good governance, social inequality based on social type, and issues of income and poverty. |
| 0204865 | Migration Analysis | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
The course aims to familiarize students with the most important theories dealing with the topic of migration and the different approaches to studying it. The course investigates the types of migrations and its trends and demonstrates the reasons and factors affecting migration. In addition, it sheds light on the general approaches to contemporary migration and analyzes its future prospects in terms of social mobility. Moreover, the course focuses on analyzing the relationship among migration, globalization, and social change as well as documenting their social effects. |
| 0204862 | Development Theories | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course deals with concepts and theories of development, which appeared first in the field of economy, then spread to other social sciences since the beginning of the 1960s. In addition, the course analyzes the most significant theoretical trends of development and showcases the classical theories of development. It also provides a critical analysis of theories of Evolution, Dependency Theories, World-Systems Theory, and Growth Stages Theory. The course also explores by means of analysis and criticism some of the experiences of countries in southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa in addition to unique experiences in some Arab countries. Moreover, the course also draws upon international development models such as the capitalist, the socialist, and independent development models. |
| 0204861 | Research Seminar on Development Policy | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course investigates a number of theoretical and practical topics related to developmental policies. At its beginning, the course discusses systems of thought and theoretical entries in the study of public and developmental policies in areas of health, housing, education, family and social security. The course also reveals some of the international experiments in this area and discusses how to implement, evaluate and control the course of developmental policies. At its end, the course demonstrates developmental policies in the GCC in general and the UAE in particular. |
| 0204863 | Research Seminar on Developmental Planning | 3 |
Prerequisite: None
This course deals with a number of theoretical and practical cases pertaining to the concepts and theoretical entries of developmental planning. The course also investigates, by means of research skills the methods, components and stages of developmental planning. Moreover, the course illustrates global and regional experiments in developmental planning.
|
