Criminal Justice Degree Online

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Aims of the course
This course allows you to develop an advanced knowledge of crime and offenders, as well as to assess contemporary trends and concepts in criminal justice policy and community safety. It will incorporate approaches to crime control within the community and penal institutions. You will also gain the methodological and analytic skills required to conduct research within the field of crime and criminal justice; this level of knowledge and skill can prepare you for doctoral study or research posts within the criminal justice arena, or can consolidate your professional experience.
Entry requirements

The minimum entry requirement is normally a lower second class Honours Degree in a relevant discipline (such as criminology, or social and behavioural sciences). Applications are also welcomed from those who have experience in criminal justice, or who possess relevant professional qualifications. In some circumstances applicants who do not meet the standard entry requirements may be permitted to enrol on the MSc, at the discretion of the course leader.

Applications are welcomed from overseas students, and all applicants are considered on individual merit, without regard to gender, marital status, disability, race, ethnic origin, religion or social background. The course will be taught in English, and for those applicants whose native language is not English, evidence of proficiency in the English language will be required.
Course structure

The course consists of four core modules, and a dissertation of no more than 15,000 words.

Core modules:
Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice
Crime Control and Community Safety
Criminological Research Methods
Crime and Offender Patterns
Students also select one ‘designate’ module per semester, and these include (subject to availability):
Community Development
Sexual Violence: causes, consequences, and interventions
Psychology and Criminal Behaviour
Urban Patterns and Spatial Analysis
Assessment

A range of methods are used including essays, projects and examinations. Most work is assessed by essays. The dissertation is between 12,000 and 15,000 words in length, and completed over the summer study period. The dissertation forms a key element of the MSc, and allows you topursue in depth a topic of your choosing.
Career opportunities

The course helps prepare you for employment in the criminal justice sector (including the police, probation, prison, youth offending and community safety departments), as well as academic or government research posts. Recruitment prospects are buoyant given the ongoing concerns about crime and community safety, and the large amount of resources that are poured into the criminal justice system.

Why study this course at the University of Cumbria?
A new offering for 2009, this course is designed to bring together a wide range of learning opportunities to students who want flexible options for employment or further study. In consultation with your tutors you are responsible for your learning outcomes allowing you to develop your interests and skills.

The criminal justice arena is one of the most challenging and exciting areas of our society. The youth sector works with youngsters to avoid their becoming victims or offenders. The probation and voluntary sectors work to rehabilitate offenders. Police officers work to prevent and detect crime and bring offenders to justice. Drugs interventionists work to change lives away from offending. These are only a few of the strands of criminal justice which touch all our lives and form the basis of this programme.
What is this course about?
The criminal justice system is more than the police and the courts, albeit these are vital cogs in the justice machine. This course provides a wide-ranging experience of the criminal justice sector including the traditional areas of policing, the court system, human rights, forensic psychology and science, penology, criminology and the prevention of crime, together with the non-traditional areas of poverty, morality, racial integration or intolerance, national and international terrorism and the role of the media.

We provide a challenging yet supportive learning experience that includes research and scholarly skills that maximise achievement, enjoyment and employability. By offering a range of flexible options, you are encouraged to focus on those areas of particular interest to you and your future chosen career.

The course team draws on a variety of resources from across the university that give this programme a true multidisciplinary feel while maintaining a strong focus on crime, the victim and the criminal. The team’s expertise ranges from policing, youth work and forensic science to working with some of the country’s most dangerous offenders.

Assessment will vary for each module and includes coursework, examinations, and presentations achieved by a mixture of lectures and individual and group activities. In the third year you complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a criminal justice subject of your choice, building on the key research skills you acquired during the course.
What can the course lead to?
In addition to opportunities for further study, this course provides a valuable first step for successful careers in policing, working with offenders, youth and social work, the prison service, revenue and customs, the private security industry, voluntary and community work, the civil service and journalism.

Aims of the course
This course allows you to develop an advanced knowledge of crime and offenders, as well as to assess contemporary trends and concepts in criminal justice policy and community safety. It will incorporate approaches to crime control within the community and penal institutions. You will also gain the methodological and analytic skills required to conduct research within the field of crime and criminal justice; this level of knowledge and skill can prepare you for doctoral study or research posts within the criminal justice arena, or can consolidate your professional experience.
Entry requirements

The minimum entry requirement is normally a lower second class Honours Degree in a relevant discipline (such as criminology, or social and behavioural sciences). Applications are also welcomed from those who have experience in criminal justice, or who possess relevant professional qualifications. In some circumstances applicants who do not meet the standard entry requirements may be permitted to enrol on the MSc, at the discretion of the course leader.

Applications are welcomed from overseas students, and all applicants are considered on individual merit, without regard to gender, marital status, disability, race, ethnic origin, religion or social background. The course will be taught in English, and for those applicants whose native language is not English, evidence of proficiency in the English language will be required.
Course structure

The course consists of four core modules, and a dissertation of no more than 15,000 words.

Core modules:
Contemporary Issues in Criminal Justice
Crime Control and Community Safety
Criminological Research Methods
Crime and Offender Patterns
Students also select one ‘designate’ module per semester, and these include (subject to availability):
Community Development
Sexual Violence: causes, consequences, and interventions
Psychology and Criminal Behaviour
Urban Patterns and Spatial Analysis
Assessment

A range of methods are used including essays, projects and examinations. Most work is assessed by essays. The dissertation is between 12,000 and 15,000 words in length, and completed over the summer study period. The dissertation forms a key element of the MSc, and allows you topursue in depth a topic of your choosing.
Career opportunities

The course helps prepare you for employment in the criminal justice sector (including the police, probation, prison, youth offending and community safety departments), as well as academic or government research posts. Recruitment prospects are buoyant given the ongoing concerns about crime and community safety, and the large amount of resources that are poured into the criminal justice system

Undergraduate Information

You may pursue the following academic plans in NAU’s Department of Criminal Justice:

B.S. in criminology and criminal justice

B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: criminology and criminal justice (extended major)

B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies: criminology and criminal justice (extended major)

B.A.S. in justice systems policy and planning

minor in criminology and criminal justice

We offer these plans to prepare you to think critically as a citizen about the problems of crime and justice and to perform effectively as a professional in the criminal justice arena. The goal of our curriculum is to offer you a social science curriculum that focuses on the nature of crime and injustice as social problems and on the purpose, operations, and consequences of justice systems in the United States and other nations.

Whether you major in criminal justice or in some other field, our liberal studies offerings can contribute to your ability to make informed judgments about contemporary policy debates related to the nature of crime and the meaning of justice in the contemporary world.

Click here for more information about Criminology Criminal Justice undergraduate courses and faculty.
Graduate Information

You may pursue the following programs in criminal justice:

M.S. in applied criminology

The overarching goal of the master’s plans in criminal justice is to provide you with a graduate-level understanding of the meaning of justice in an increasingly diverse society in a continually shrinking world.

Our master’s degree in criminal justice provides two pathways to completion—a comprehensive exam plan and a thesis plan.

Our faculty represent specializations encompassing the full range of social, legal, and criminal justice topics. The curriculum also provides flexibility for you to pursue interdisciplinary coursework related to criminal justice.

Click here for more information about Criminology and Criminal Justice graduate courses and faculty.

What is Criminal Justice Administration Certificate?

To complement the associate degree in pre-criminal justice for students who want to specialize in a related area, the Behavioral Sciences Department offers a one-year certificate program in criminal justice administration. It is important to note that these programs are intended to complement the associate degree program, not be a substitute for it. However, some of the course requirements for the certificate programs may be taken as electives in the pre-criminal justice program, reducing the number of courses required.

The criminal justice administration program provides opportunities to develop sensitivity awareness, knowledge and skills involved in the administration of justice in the United States. This program will focus on areas related to administrative responsibilities within police departments, the court system and correctional institutions and agencies for both adults and juveniles.

Success Factors

Students who succeed in criminal justice administration are primarily concerned with areas related to the management of criminal justice (law enforcement, courts and correctional) agencies, departments and institutions. They are concerned with budgetary and personnel responsibilities and service delivery.

Career Possibilities

Criminal justice administration courses are appropriate for students who want to pursue administrative, supervisory and/or management positions after exposure to entry-level positions in any part of local, county, state or federal criminal justice departments/agencies. Those who have completed their associate degree in criminal justice, have been working in the criminal justice arena and wish to pursue administrative positions within the criminal justice arena would also benefit from this certificate program.

Many career opportunities in criminal justice administration are not entry-level positions, but rather positions that would be most appropriately filled by those with some experience in the agency, department or institution. Supervisory and/or assistant administrator positions may be an initial option. Clearly, supervisory and/or administrative position openings are more likely to be filled by practitioners with the appropriate educational background.

Majoring in Criminal Justice Administration Certificate

This one-year certificate program is designed to complement and enhance the course work of students pursuing an associate degree or upper-level studies, or who already have completed a criminal justice degree program. Raymond Walters College (RWC) offers the pre-criminal justice degree program as a complement or next step in the degree completion process.

Pre-criminal justice is an associate of arts degree program sponsored by the Behavioral Sciences Department at RWC with an emphasis on preparing students for careers in federal, state and local criminal justice agencies and departments. The two-year, pre-criminal justice program provides students with the knowledge and skills to prepare them for a career concerned with upholding the law and supporting justice. Students will acquire the knowledge and application of the development of law, the U.S. Constitution and the importance of practices and procedures that support such concepts in the United States today.

The program includes a liberal arts foundation, several basic criminal justice courses, and many technical courses such as criminal investigation and conflict resolution. The curriculum is based on the philosophy that knowledge of the basics, complemented by theory and application, are essential components of a successful criminal justice practitioner’s education. In addition, the program provides an opportunity for further career exploration via field placement and/or service learning experiences. These courses can provide the student with real-world situations in criminal justice agencies, departments and institutions of interest to them.

Minoring in Criminal Justice Administration Certificate

People who work in the field of criminal justice may work in a municipal, county, state or federal law enforcement organization or corrections facility. Depending on the field, people may or may not carry a firearm and make arrests; people may also work mainly in a counseling capacity within juvenile corrections. Several other security and similar positions exist within government and private industry. Candidates need to have a desire to work as a public servant, to use good judgment, to be disciplined and thorough, to be capable of managing stress, to treat everyone fairly and without bias while being assertive enough to get the job done. Responsibilities may range from uniform police patrols to crime prevention to data processing and criminalistics, which may be used to support the criminal justice system.
What will I do on the job?

Criminal justice offers a wide variety of opportunities in police work, the court system, adult and juvenile corrections, and community corrections. Work in these fields may include uniform policing, criminal investigations, forensics, working with adult and juvenile offenders and the business community. Police officers and investigators are responsible for working with citizens to solve crimes and maintaining public safety through the community policing concept. Corrections work can include institutional assignments with inmates and also working with those who are on parole, probation, or some other court sanctioned program such as restitution and work release. Those who enter the criminal justice arena can expect to work closely with people at all levels of society to promote public safety.
What skills will I use on the job?

PCC’s program is designed to expose you to the criminal justice system, its many components and how they work together. The Introduction to Professions in Criminal Justice course surveys over 40 careers in this field. You will have the opportunity to learn the elements of criminal investigations, forensics and police report writing. The program also provides an opportunity to learn the criminal laws and how they pertain to enforcement, search and seizure and the gathering and processing of evidence. Interpersonal skills are necessary in the criminal justice field. The Cultural Diversity for Criminal Justice Professionals course is a part of the curriculum. The program is designed to develop skills in interviewing and interrogation, crisis intervention, dealing with difficult people and people who are in need of help because of a crime-related problem.
Who will hire me?

PCC criminal justice students have been hired by numerous law enforcement and corrections agencies. Area agencies and state and federal agencies routinely seek recruits in the PCC program. A variety of juvenile corrections and treatment facilities hire certificate graduates. In addition, these agencies routinely participate in the job fairs held at PCC.
How much can I earn?

Approximate annual salaries in the Portland area start around $38,000, plus overtime; experienced professionals may earn up to $61,000, plus overtime. Municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies normally have excellent benefits, including health, dental, vision and life insurance and retirement.