Undergraduate Catalog

Criminal Justice, Bachelor of Arts

Program Requirements for Criminal Justice Majors (54 credits)

The student who majors in Criminal Justice will:

  1. acquire a working knowledge of American criminal justice institutions, including law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections;
  2. engage in the formal modes of inquiry which are used to understand problems of crime and social control and engage in honest and effective research on these matters;
  3. participate effectively in the discussion of contemporary issues in American criminal justice, exercising respect and critical thinking when analyzing the opinions of others, and tentativeness when formulating one’s own conclusions;
  4. respond actively and effectively to the challenges confronting American criminal justice institutions relating the insights of the field to current issues;
  5. empathize with the human condition of members of the criminal and public populations served by criminal justice institutions, displaying respect for and an understanding of the social and cultural characteristics of the diverse populations served.

The Criminal Justice major prepares the student for a career and/or graduate study in the field of criminal justice. For those who wish to enter the labor market upon completion of a bachelor’s degree, the program provides excellent preparation for careers in law enforcement, criminal investigation, corrections, and probation and parole. Internships with local, state, and national criminal justice agencies are available to qualified majors providing specific preparation for future employment. For students who wish to pursue further education in criminal justice, the program offers advanced standing in the Marywood graduate program in Criminal Justice, permit- ting qualified students to complete a master’s degree in Criminal Justice in their fifth year of study at the University.

27 credits (nine courses) in Criminal Justice:

CJ 100Introduction to Criminal Justice

3

CJ 202Quantitative Reasoning

3

CJ 220Law Enforcement

3

CJ 303Criminology

3

CJ 319Criminal Law and Procedure

3

CJ 351Social Research

3

CJ 433The American Prison

3

CJ 460Criminal Justice Internship

3

CJ 465Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice

3

15 credits (five courses) in electives from the following:

CJ 101Shadow and Service

3

 

CJ 105Forensic Analytical Techniques

3

Or

BIOL 105DNA Forensics

3

 

CJ 200Introduction to the Law

3

CJ 201The Juvenile Justice Subsystem

3

CJ 206Community Corrections

3

CJ 219Drugs in American Society

3

CJ 224Criminal Investigation

3

CJ 225Interviewing and Interrogation

3

CJ 302White Collar Crimes

3

CJ 322Criminalistics and the Crime Lab

3

CJ 330Prosecuting Criminal Cases

3

CJ 405Deviant Behavior in Society

3

CJ 410Race, Crime and Poverty in America

3

CJ 425Children's Rights and Societal Responses

3

PSYC 440Forensic Psychology

3

CJ 503

3

CJ 522

3

CJ 544

3

SOC 411The Family

3

CJ 105/BIOL 105: may be taken to satisfy LA science requirement

9 credits (3 courses) of cognate courses:

PS 210American Government and Politics

3

PS 211State and Local Government

3

SOC 214Social Problems

3

CJ 503, CJ 522 and CJ 544: CJ 500 graduate electives. Up to 12 graduate credits may be taken by CJ undergraduate students who have been accepted into the five-year CJ Master’s program in the fourth year (UG) of their program. These courses are also open to seniors enrolled in the regular four-year undergraduate program with QPA of 3.0 or better and the CJ Program Director’s permission. For graduation, students must have a minimum QPA of 2.33 in the major and a minimum overall QPA of 2.00.

A copy of the complete curriculum is available upon request from the Social Sciences Department.