Graduate Degree Programs

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice
Designed to develop and sharpen skills appropriate to beginning or continuing practitioners in the criminal justice system. Professionals in the fields of law enforcement, corrections, or the court system can utilize this degree to seek career advancement or personal enrichment. 

The Mission
The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice affirms the mission of the University. The mission of the graduate criminal justice program is to:

• To foster the development of professionals, scholars, and lifelong learners who can translate advanced study into effective problem solving skills;
• To facilitate the development of critical thinkers who can use their personal, professional, spiritual, and academic experiences in the analysis of current issues;
• To produce informed users of research capable of making significant contributions in their chosen fields; and
• To support and encourage scholarship, intellectual inquiry, and professional responsibility that nurtures the growth and development of others

Goals
Five specific goals have been identified to guide program development and review:

• Provide students with an understanding of the philosophical, political, and ideological basis for the criminalization of certain behaviors and the enforcement of those behaviors as unlawful.
• Educate students about various perspectives and approaches to explaining and understanding criminal and deviant behaviors and prompt them to critique various explanatory theories as to their scientific merit and socio-cultural origins.
• Encourage students to consider current challenges and predicaments inherent in the various components of the American criminal justice system and stimulate their critical thinking skills in generating possible resolutions to these conflicts.
• Orient students to the ethical dilemmas that may be confronted by criminal justice practitioners and heighten their awareness of the different forms corruption and abuses of power may take.
• Provide students with a cross-cultural perspective on criminality and criminal justice by teaching them about law and social control in different societies and at different points in American history.
• Afford students the opportunity to sharpen their writing, research, and communication skills by requiring them to conduct and present an independent scholarly research project which will integrate theory and practice.

Coursework Required
The program consists of ten courses for a total of thirty credits.

Core Requirements
CJMA 501 - The American Criminal Justice System: Theory & Practice
CJMA 502 - Criminological Theory
CJMA 503 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice
CJMA 520 - Ethics in Criminal Justice

Elective Credits Required  (Choose five courses)
CJMA 510 - Juvenile Deliquency
CJMA 515 - History of Crime and Crime Control
CJMA 521 - Terrorism and Counterterrorism
CJMA 522 - Juvenile Justice
CJMA 523 - Race and Crime
CJMA 525 - Correctional Management
CJMA 530 - Women, Law, and Social Control
CJMA 532 - Police Administration
CJMA 535 - Public Policy and Criminal Justice
CJMA 540 - Serial and Mass Murder
CJMA 545 - Crime, the Media, and Moral Panics

Capstone Course
CJMA 562 - Professional Seminar-Culminating Experience

Return to GRADUATE ADMISSIONS for more information on admission requirements