Internships are available for students who have a 2.0 G.P.A. The student is placed according to her/his interests in a placement for a semester. In this way, she/he may apply classroom-acquired skills and knowledge while gaining practical work experience.
Our SOCIOLOGY majors have worked in a wide variety of settings: in hospitals (Lankenau, Thomas Jefferson, Hahneman, Children's Hospital, Lourdes Hospital in Camden), in other medical/psychiatric facilities (Philadelphia Psychiatric Center, Devereux Foundation), and in social services (Trevor's Place, Women Against Abuse, Mother/Infant Program for Abused Children, English as a Second Language).
Our CRIMINAL JUSTICE majors have worked in a wide variety of settings: in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office--in Families of Murder Victims, Crime Victims Unit, Child Abuse Unit; in Philadelphia's Family Court--Youth Employment Casework, Juvenile Probation; the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office; Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys; Media Police Department; in law firms--a personal injury/general practice law firm and in a criminal defense firm; Pennsylvania State Probation and Parole; Citizens Crime Commission; U.S. Customs Service; Defender Association of Philadelphia; U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
I do not handle internships for University College students. If you are interested in doing an internship, the procedure is as follows:
Soc2981, Internship, is a regular course for which students must register. The Sociology Department will arrange internships for criminal justice and sociology majors in agencies, hospitals, or other placements. Each student desiring an internship should begin by talking with the internship supervisor, presently Dr. Marybeth Ayella, during the semester before the student desires the internship. Come with some idea of the kinds of places where you would like to work.
At present, internships are offered only in the spring semester. Students may do 3, 6, 9, or 12 credit internships -- with the permission of the internship supervisor. Students are limited to one internship during their time at Saint Joseph's.
Students may use only 3 credits (of any internship) to satisfy major requirements; remaining credits must be GER elective credits. To clarify:
Students desiring internships must meet the following GPA standards:
ST. JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY
SOC 2981 INTERNSHIP
Dr. Marybeth Ayella Spring 1996
Office Hours: M & F 12-1; Phone: 660-1683
Wed. 1-3, & by appt. E-mail: mayella
COURSE EXPECTATION
The bulk of this course rests with you -- what you make of
your internship placement. I will meet with interns as you
require during the semester. If you experience any problems
during the semester, contact me by visit to my office during
office hours, by phone, or by e-mail. I will anticipate at least
one or two visits from you to let me know how things are going -
that is, I want to hear about your semester, not just problems
that arise.
TIME AND ACADEMIC WORK COMMITMENTS
The time and academic work requirements for each 14 week
internship are as follows:
3 credits -----6-8 hours a week (totaling 84-112
hours); 10 page research paper
6 credits ----- 2 days a week (totaling 168-224
hours); 15 page research paper
9 credits ----- 3 days a week (totaling 252-336
hours); 20 page research paper
12 credits ----- 4 days a week (totaling 336-448
hours); 25 page research paper
In addition, all students must keep a journal, in which they
record an entry for each time they work. Please keep a log of
the hours you work, and turn this log (with the hours totalled)
in with your journal and paper at the end of the semester. If
you miss a substantial number of hours (for any reason), you will
receive an "I" grade, and you will be required to make up the
time after the semester.
Requirements:
There are several requirements in addition to your
internship hours: (1) the taking of some pictures of your
placement and some aspects of the work (if possible), (2) the
regular keeping of a journal, and (3) a research paper (due on
the last class day of the semester). In addition, as a part of
your journal, each student is required to hand in (4) a one page,
single-spaced, typed, description of your internship when you
turn in your journal and paper. This will be put in a binder,
and will be used to show prospective interns what internship
possibilities there are. And finally, each student will be
required (5) to make an appointment in Career Services to use
SigiPlus, to explore possible career choices (I estimate this
will take approximately 1- 1 and 1/2 hours.)
Picture Taking:
This is simple: I want you to be able to "show" me where
you are working, and some aspects of your work, if possible. I
say "if possible" because some placements would gladly allow you
to take a few pictures, others would not.
You can turn in these pictures with your paper and journal
at the end of the semester. If you cannot take pictures, see if
the institution/agency has any informational brochures with
pictures, and submit these.
Keeping a Journal:
I want you to start by regularly writing down your
observations of the place where you are working. Start by
describing your placement: who [who works there, who is served
by the agency/hospital], what [what is the service performed?],
where [describe the physical location and set-up], why [what is
the goal of this agency/hospital?]. Then, give your first
impressions and feelings about the placement--including feelings
of fear, embarrassment, excitement, etc.
Before you go to your first day of work, I want you to
record, in your journal, your expectations for this internship.
What do you expect it will be like to work at this placement? Be
as specific as you can. Then, I want you to specify your
objectives for this internship. What do you want to learn? What
do you hope to gain from this internship?
After your first day of work, immediately record all the
observations and impressions and feelings you can think of.
Similarly, at the end of your internship, record in a "summing
up" entry your overall observations, impressions, and feelings
about the internship.
Journal Themes:
Being an Outsider. A common reaction to an internship is a
feeling of being an "outsider" in comparison to those people who
regularly work there, or those people who may be "worked on"
there. Notice and record what makes you feel like an outsider,
and how you determine who is an "insider," and what it takes to
become an "insider." Record everything you don't know about the
place and the work. This will be one "theme" of your journal:
how you make the transition from "outsider" to "insider" (of some
kind).
The Occupation. What is the "mission" or purpose of these
practitioners? What is it they attempt to do for their clients?
How is this occupation perceived, by you/others, by people in the
occupation -- as a high-status or low-status occupation, as
meaningful or non-meaningful? What are the occupational
"hazards" or problems associated with this occupation? How do
practitioners cope with these problems?
The answers to these questions may not be immediately
apparent to you. You should read informational material put out
about the agency/hospital/whatever. You may also want to ask
these questions of the people with whom you work. If these
fail, you should do some reading about the occupation.
Tips on Journal Keeping
Record your observations regularly. Write down your
observations as close as possible to the time you work, so that
your impressions are fresh.
I will be noting how regularly you write in this journal
when I am grading your journal. I will be expecting more journal
entries from those working longer hours -- e.g., there should be
a difference in the size of the journals of those doing 3-credit
and those doing 6-credit internships.
I will collect these journals to read mid-semester - just
before you leave for spring break, and I will return them,
graded, the following week. I will return all journals to the
secretary, Denise Shaw in BL110, for you to pick up.
The Research Paper
Each student will write a sociological research paper on
some aspect of either your field placement or a general topic
related in some way to your internship. The length of the paper
will vary, depending on how many credits your internship is. For
example, a student taking a 3 credit internship will write a 10
page research paper, while a student doing a 12 credit internship
will write a 25 page paper. This paper is not a re-write of the
journal you are keeping. When you turn in your journal at
mid- semester, I want you to hand in a one page sheet on which
you present your ideas and a rough outline for the paper you will
write.
This paper will be due by 5 P.M. on the last class day of
the semester - Friday, April 26. Late papers will be graded
down.
I have placed the following two books on reserve at the
library to assist you in writing your paper:
A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers (2nd edition), The
Sociology Writing Group, University of California, Los Angeles
(1911). Part 1, Essentials, is required reading for all
students. This section will help you get started in selecting a
topic, and will provide information on the writing process,
including how to use references correctly. Chapters 7 and 8 deal
with library research and ethnographic research -- these will
probably be very useful to most of you. Chapters 10 and 11 are
also required reading -- they provide good information on
finishing your paper -- the mechanics of putting it together
(typing or word processing it) and submitting it.
The Student Sociologist's Handbook (4th edition), Pauline
Bart and Linda Frankel (1986). Chapter 2, The Sociology Paper,
is required reading for all students. If you are unfamiliar with
doing library research, using sociology journals, or finding
government documents, refer to the chapters which deal with each.
Do not wait until the end of the semester to refer to these
books, given that there is only one copy of each. Read the
required chapters and look through the other chapters early in
the semester. You may wish to make a photocopy of chapters
you find particularly useful.
What should you write about? Well, if you are working in
the District Attorney's Child Abuse Unit, you may want to
investigate the larger topic of child abuse in the United States.
Questions of interest might be: how widespread is child abuse?
who are the offenders? who are the victims? what short-term and
long-term consequences are there for the abused? These are only
some of many possible questions to explore.
If you are working in a hospital, you might want to explore
changing patterns of medical care -- e.g., changes in
hospitalization, changes in financing health care, the rise of
HMOs (health maintenance organizations) are some of the many
topics that you might find of interest.
Thus, while the work you do at your placement may be very
specific (and you will be writing about this work in your
journal), your paper topic should be much broader.
One caution: you must refer to and use sociological
references (e.g., Gender and Society, Social Problems, Journal of
Health and Social Behavior), not popular references (Time,
Newsweek, People) in researching your paper. Both books on
reserve clearly indicate what are sociological sources, and how
to find them.
On-Site Evaluation
And finally, I will be checking with your supervisors about
your work at the agency/hospital at the end of the session. I
will be writing to each supervisor at the end of the semester
requesting that letter of evaluation be sent to me.
Grading:
You will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Work experience in your placement....(40% of grade)
Journal..............................(20% of grade)
Paper................................(40% of grade)
Completion of the SigiPlus career information program will be
counted toward your final grade, in that I will check off
students as they do this, but no formal grade will be given. I
will, however, give an "I" grade to those who complete all
requirements but this; the I will be changed upon completion.
Name: _____________________________________________________ School Address: ________________________________________________ Home Address: ________________________________________________ Phone: (Home)______________________(Work)_____________________ Best time to reach you:________________________________________ Semester you wish to intern:___________________________________ # of Credits you wish to earn:_________________________________ Present GPA: ___________________________________________________ Please describe briefly the kind of placement you would like, and your reasons for taking an internship: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ When you have read the basic information on internships sheet and the Internship Course expectation, please sign: I have read and understood all the requirements (GPA needed, hours to be worked, how credits are obtained, and all academic work requirements) for doing an internship in the Sociology Department. ________________________________________________________________ (Date) (Signature) ================================================================ FOR INTERNSHIP SUPERVISOR'S USE ONLY. PLACEMENT:______________________________________________________ NAME AND ADDRESS OF SUPERVISOR: _______________________________________________________________