Department of Sociology

About The Department

Are you intrigued by human nature and the factors that shape it? Are you fascinated by social relationships, behavior, and shared beliefs in a common culture? Would you like to analyze issues that deal with racial and gender identity, family conflict, deviant behavior, aging, and religious faith?

As a sociology or criminology major at Spring Hill College, you’ll study, analyze, and debate these topics and many more. You’ll delve into important questions that compare crime and law, poverty and wealth, as well as prejudice and discrimination. On a global level, you’ll consider what factors help maintain a society’s stability and the problems that stimulate radical change.

At SHC, you’ll enjoy a challenging, but supportive, classroom environment in which faculty members give high priority to quality instruction, hand-on experience, and student success.

Program Offerings

With programs focused in Sociology and Criminology, Spring Hill College provides a more holistic education and experience to those wanting to improve their communities.

What Can I Do With a Degree in Sociology?

From the ASA (American Sociology Association):

• Sociologists become high school teachers or faculty in colleges and universities, advising students, conducting research, and publishing their work. Over 3000 colleges offer sociology courses.
• Sociologists enter the corporate, non-profit, and government worlds as directors of research, policy analysts, consultants, human resource managers, and program managers.
• Practicing sociologists with advanced degrees may be called research analysts, survey researchers, gerontologists, statisticians, urban planners, community developers, criminologists, or demographers.
• Some MA and PhD sociologists obtain specialized training to become counselors, therapists, or program directors in social service agencies.

Today, sociologists embark upon literally hundreds of career paths. Although teaching and conducting research remains the dominant activity among the thousands of professional sociologists today, other forms of employment are growing both in number and significance. In some sectors, sociologists work closely with economists, political scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, and others, reflecting a growing appreciation of sociology’s contributions to interdisciplinary analysis and action.

Where We Work

FBI Mobile Field Office, Mobile Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, Joint Command Gulf Coast Technology Center, Mobile Public Defender’s Office, Baldwin County Sherriff’s Department, Little Flower preschool, Butler University, State Farm, Allstate, Chicago PD, Colorado Springs PD, Valencia County (NM) Sherriff’s Department, Mc-Graw Hill Publishing, St. Tammany Sherriff’s Department, Weyerhaeuser, Health Connect America, South Alabama Center for Fair Housing, US Agency for International Development

Where We Intern

Mobile Police Department, Via Senior Services Center, City of Mobile, Housing First, Spring Hill College, Mobile Court’s Victim’s Services, Mobile Public Schools, AARP of Alabama, Lifelines counseling, Behavioral Frontiers, Wilmer Hall, Baldwin County Sheriff’s office, Hoover Police Department, Weyerhaeuser, Boy Scouts of America, L’Arch Mobile

Where We Go To Graduate School

Baylor University, College of the Holy Cross, Louisiana State University, University of Alabama in Birmingham, University of Alabama, University of South Alabama, Seattle University, University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Loyola University Baltimore, Mississippi State University, Regis University, Howard University

Publications and Projects

Project THRIVE

Focused on creating community and individual resiliency and healing following violent incidents. Related research involves violence reduction, identity protection, and masculinity and family. 

Recent Publications

• Vaughn, P. E., Williams, J., Rosenfeld, R., & Deckard, M. (2022). Minority victim neglect and the case processing of firearm crimes. Victims & Offenders.
• Vaughn, P. E.,Peyton, K., & Huber, G. A. (2022). Public support for different movements to reshape American policing is contingent on the perceived implications for crime and public safety. Criminology & Public Policy.
• Gripp, C., Jha, C., & Vaughn, P. E. (2021). Enhancing community safety through interagency collaboration: Lessons from Connecticut’s Project Longevity.Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.
• Vaughn, P. E. (2020). The effects of devaluation and solvability on crime clearance. Journal of Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2020.101657