College of Charleston: Criminal Justice Minor

About Internships
All students who declare a minor in Crime, Law and Society are required to complete an internship after finishing SOCY 341 (Criminology) and POLS 220 (Criminal Justice). .

Internships should be arranged with the program director the semester before the internship will be completed. Thus, internships done in the Fall should be arranged the preceding Spring semester and Spring internships should be arranged during the preceding Fall semester. Summer internships are not available unless the internship site only offers internships over the summer. Please contact Professor Heath Hoffmann (953-8182 or hoffmannh@cofc.edu) for more information.

Internship Sites for Crime, Law and Society Minor
College of Charleston

Alston Wilkes Society

According to its website, “ The Alston Wilkes Society's vision is to provide offenders, former offenders, the homeless, troubled youth, veterans and their families the tools they need to become productive citizens.” Interns will learn all facets of the organization’s activities. This will include accompanying a staff person to correctional facilities to assist with work shops for offenders who will be released soon and interns will also have the opportunity to carry their own caseload. Thus, interns will learn how to handle cases, how to assess the needs of men leaving prison, complete case notes, how to find jobs for men leaving prison and how other local agencies work together to facilitate the successful reentry of men into the community. Interns may also have the opportunity to conduct special projects (e.g., run an employment workshop or coordinate a clothing drive) of interest to them.

Alston Wilkes is located in Summerville, SC so interns must have reliable transportation that will enable them to travel to Summerville and other local sites during the semester.

Charleston County Detention Center--Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS)

DAODAS provides substance abuse counseling services to men and women incarcerated at the Charleston County Detention Center. Interns will be required to assist with intake assessments and group therapy sessions with the goal of leading their own educational seminar for program participants by the end of the semester. Interns will also be expected to assist the DAODAS staff with everyday office management tasks (e.g., copying and filing). This internship is a great opportunity for students interested in counseling as a profession as you will receive hands-on experience and practice in the delivery of counseling services.

Charleston County Sheriff’s Office

Interns rotate through various sections of sheriff's department including patrol, community service, detectives and juvenile detention.
This internship is ideal for students interested in law enforcement in rural areas

City of Charleston Police Department: Neighborhood Watch and Community Crime Prevention

Interns will assist Sgt. Shelor in organizing neighborhood watch meetings, gathering and processing data on crime to present to neighborhood watch groups, and assist in other activities related to crime prevention.

City of Charleston Police Department

Interns rotate through all departments (Booking, 911, traffic detectives, etc.) and do “ride-alongs” with police officers.

Coastal Pre-Release Center (South Carolina Department of Corrections)

Coastal Pre-Release Center provides an environment conducive to rehabilitation through work programming, pre-release programming/training, and other relevant programs as a means of reintegrating the offender back into the community. Ninety-six of the facility's beds are dedicated to the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Interns will have the opportunity to do the following: a ttend weekly staffing briefings at 9:00 a.m. each Monday, attend at least one classification board hearing, work with a staff member from the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon to assist with the programming to prepare men for release, assist the Warden and her staff with administrative duties necessary for the daily functioning of the facility, work with correctional officers to learn about their perceptions of the challenges and nature of controlling and relating to the inmate population and work with prisoners to learn about their perception of their past crimes and their expectations for reentry.

Community Juvenile Arbitration Program, Solicitor's Office

Students are responsible for assisting the director and staff with case management of juveniles involved in the arbitration program. Interns communicate with all parties involved in an offense committed by a juvenile, including the juvenile offender, the offender’s parent(s), the victim of the offense and police officers working on the case. You will also help to monitor juveniles’ cases, ensuring that they meet the terms of their arbitration agreement. Interns may also tour juvenile detention centers, adult jails and prisons, as well as the medical trauma center. Lastly, students observe court trials and assist attorneys and other staff members during the trial process.

Crime Scene Unit (City of Charleston Police Department)

Prerequisite: The Crime Scene Unit requires that interns from the College of Charleston be a declared major in chemistry or biology.

Interns are exposed to all aspects of a Crime Scene Technician’s job including latent fingerprint recovery, blood splatter analysis/interpretation, crime scene photography, chemical print processing, forensic mapping systems, serial number restoration, videography, lab safety, weapons of mass destruction, and past blast investigation. Interns will assist in the collection of evidence from crime scenes ranging from fallen pedestrians to homicide.

Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center

Intern responsibilities include helping staff with forensic examinations of child victims of physical and sexual abuse as well as offer support to parents as their children undergo the examination.

Department of Juvenile Justice: Probation and Parole or Victim Services

Interns assistance with both intake and probation for juvenile offenders. Interns also provide direct services to victims of juvenile crime while the offender is in the pre-adjudication, supervision, and/or commitment stage within the juvenile justice system.

Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services

Interns observe and assist agents with duties necessary to supervise offenders assigned to the Charleston County Office of Probation, Parole and Pardon services. This includes taking progress reports, entering information into the Offenders Information System, observing bond and revocation hearings and riding along on home visits.

Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services: Moncks Corner Office

Interns provide general assistance to staff.

Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services: Community Control Center

Community control center for high risk offenders (often with drug problems or who have had probation violations). Offenders are involved in a work-release program where they work during the day and sleep at the center at night. Interns work in the later-afternoon and early evening hours to assist staff in organizing activities for offenders.

Drug Court, Charleston County

Clinical Internship

The Charleston Community Mental Health Center is currently looking for an intern to work with staff of the Charleston County Adult Drug Court program. Interns will get exposure to a wide range of group counseling techniques focusing on areas such as criminal thinking, substance abuse counseling, anger management, communication skills and you will gain knowledge about valuable community resources. Interns will learn about drug court participants’ legal charges and criminal histories, what kinds of information is valuable in an assessment, the importance of documentation and an understanding of legal and confidentiality issues. Interns must be available Mondays from 5-8 p.m. for counseling sessions and most Wednesdays from 2:30-5:00 p.m. for drug court.

Legal Internship

In the works...

Elder Supportline

The purpose of Elder Supportline is to provide a direct, confidential line with the Charleston Police Department to report cases of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. This program offers support and encouragement to the elderly, and their families, combining law enforcement and social work to combat the injustices that have plagued our elderly population for so long. Elder Supportline’s resource and referral service assists callers with a range of services including:

Home health services
Nursing home information
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security
Information on area organizations which assist the elderly
Nutrition and transportation programs
Legal matters
Prevention tips

Interns will have an opportunity to perform a range of activities that give them hands on experiences in working with elderly persons who have been abused, neglected or exploited. Among other things, your activities may include, but are not limited to the following:

Accompanying the program director to visit elderly clients at home
Accompanying the program director to probate, criminal and/or family court to serve as an advocate for an elderly client
Independently calling elderly clients to check on their well-being

Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.)

The F.B.I. offers a range of unpaid internship opportunities for students. Most internships are not local and thus could not be completed while residing in Charleston. For more information about the application process and application deadlines, consult the F.B.I.'s Internship web page.

Federal Public Defender's Office

Interns assist attorneys and staff in the representation of indigent criminal defendants in the Federal Court for the District of South Carolina.

Juvenile Public Defender’s Office

This internship exposes students to the workings of both the criminal justice and family court systems in Charleston County. Interns will have the opportunity to attend different types of Family Court trials including daily court hearings, dispositions, plea arbitration hearings and drug court hearings. Interns may also tour the Charleston County Detention Center and will be given the opportunity to meet judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and others in the legal profession. In addition, interns will assist with the everyday management of the office including filing, setting appointments for attorneys and their clients, signing and petitioning Discovery Motions, sorting cases, conducting face-to-face and phone screenings for indigent clients and transferring case materials between the Clerk of Court Office, the Solicitor’s Office and the Public Defenders Office.

Medical University of South Carolina Forensic Pathology Office

Interns assist with autopsies and assist staff in various activities. In most cases, interns can get as much hands on experience as they desire.

National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (at the Medical University of South Carolina)

Research and Clinical Volunteer: Service Utilization for Child Sexual Abuse Victims

This internship is ideal for psychology majors who have also declared a minor in Crime, Law and Society. This internship offers clinical and research experience on a grant-funded project entitled "Improving Service Utilization for Child Sexual Abuse Victims." Internship responsibilities include contacting families via phone who are scheduled for forensic medical exams following disclosure of sexual abuse to help with coordination of follow-up care, assisting with crisis intervention, assisting with transporting families to victim-related appointments, data entry on SPSS database, literature searches, and you may have the opportunity to become involved in other research projects. Interns may also have the opportunity to observe forensic medical exams and forensic interviews. A car is highly recommended for this internship.

Research and Clinical Volunteer: Services for Survivors of Homicide

Internship responsibilities will include assisting with data entry on SPSS database, outreach to survivors (via phone and mail), assisting with transporting families to victim-related appointments, literature searches, and there may be possibilities to become involved in other research projects. Interns will also have the opportunity to observe support group meetings and individual meetings with survivors. A car is required as half of the time will be spent at the National Crime Victims Center at MUSC and the other half at the Charleston County Sheriff’s Victim Service Office.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service offers a range of unpaid internships throughout the year. Internships are not offered in Charleston, but this may be ideal for students who have family members in the Washington, D.C. area (other sites around the country are available).

Interns must have:

A 3.0 Grade Point Average
No previous felony drug convictions
Not used marijuana or anabolic steroids within the last three years
Not illegally used drugs other than marijuana or anabolic steroids in the last ten years.

For more information about the different internship options and the application process for the NCIS, download the Student Internship Program manual (PDF file)

New Charleston Place Group Home (Department of Juvenile Justice):

New Charleston Place is a high management group home for juvenile male offenders ages 12-17. Interns will be exposed to the behavior modification program that is the basis of the group home, as well as group counseling, therapeutic recreation and other activities.

Public Defender

This internship provides students with a background of both the criminal justice and judicial systems here in Charleston County . Interns attend trials, preliminary hearings, guilty pleas and roll calls in order to get a feel for various court procedures. In addition, students tour the Charleston County Detention Center and participate in office and jail screenings of indigent clients. They will have the opportunity to meet judges, prosecutors, attorneys and many others in the legal field.

Solicitor's Office

Interns will be responsible for assisting all office departments in carrying out the day to day affairs of the Solicitor's Office. This will include:

Working with individual attorneys on the preparation of cases for trial and plea: This may include speaking with witnesses, reviewing files, providing discovery to defense counsel and visiting police agencies or crime scenes for purposes of trial. This may also include attending court to assist attorneys with technology and communication with the office.
Working with the Victims' Rights department: Interns will work directly with victim advocates in notifying and communicating with the victims of crime. This may include phone calls, office interviews, follow up on victim requests and data entry.
Working with Pre-Trial Intervention: This will include assisting the pre-trial intervention supervisor with the intake and processing of defendant in the pre-trial intervention program.
Working with Investigators: This will include completing tasks as assigned by personnel in the Investigations Department as they work towards trial in individual cases.
Working with Pending: This will include preparation of cases for presentation to the grand jury and filing plea paperwork with the clerk's office.

South Carolina Centers for Equal Justice

Interns assist attorneys and work directly with clients involving a number of civil cases including domestic violence.

Internships should ideally be completed during the fall and spring semesters. However, summer internships can be completed under extenuating circumstances. For more information about the Crime, Law and Society minor and/or the above internships, contact:

Dr. Heath Hoffmann
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
88 Wentworth, Room 104
843-953-8182
hoffmannh@cofc.edu

Site last revised 6/1/2007
http://www.cofc.edu/CriminalJustice/