伍斯特州立学院

This major offers students a greater awareness of social services, judicial practice and court proceedings, law enforcement, corrections, fraud examination, public policy, emergency management, security, loss prevention, compliance, law, intelligence, juvenile justice, forensics, victim services, and other helping fields.

Criminal Justice courses allow students to explore critical thinking in an experiential environment by participating in mock investigations and trials and by participating in internships with corrections facilities, district courts, state or federal government agencies, and a vast array of social services organizations. Students are eligible to apply for internships in a criminal justice related organization during their junior year.

Baccalaureate degree holders will be prepared to seek employment positions in local, state, and federal organizations and private companies, or they may continue their education to complete a master’s degree in Criminal Justice or a law degree.

A minor in Criminal Justice or Forensic Science, when paired with a major from a program from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, will significantly broaden students’ prospective career paths, equipping them with in-demand marketable skills.

Faculty

Criminal Justice faculty members are multi-faceted and active in the discipline. As Criminal Justice is an Interdisciplinary program, faculty specialties include Public Policy, Law, Public Administration, Sociology, Criminology, and Criminal Justice. Faculty are highly engaged in research and routinely involve students. Faculty are members of the American Society of Criminology, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and regional associations related to Criminal Justice, Sociology, Juvenile Justice, Corrections and Law.

Criminal Justice Program Learning Outcomes

Possess the capacity to comprehend and evaluate qualitative and quantitative social science research, including at least a basic familiarity with introductory level statistical concepts

Comprehend the Constitutional concepts and values of due process, equal protection, and fundamental fairness in policing, courts and corrections

Demonstrate the capacity for ethical and moral reasoning in all aspects of the criminal justice curriculum

Comprehend the nature and significance of gender, racial, ethnic-cultural, and class issues in the administration of criminal justice

Demonstrate sufficient writing, research, communications, and computer literacy skills to enable graduates to obtain bachelor-level entry in criminal justice and applied professional fields, or alternatively, to pursue graduate studies in such fields and disciplines

Be able to employ critical reasoning skills across criminal justice curriculum

Demonstrate familiarity with both traditional and contemporary theories of crime causation, and their implications for public policy

Be cognizant of the history, development, fundamental concepts, and current operation of American law and our principal criminal justice institutions, together with their relationships to each other and to the larger social and political context