Criminal Justice

Protect the public good with purpose.

Criminal Justice Degree

If you are interested in understanding criminal behavior or how society can respond to criminal acts, then criminal justice is an ideal major. The major prepares graduates to enter careers in law enforcement, social work, non-profit work and counseling. The discipline draws on history, civics, the law, the Constitution, ethics and logic, all of which you will study at Susquehanna as a criminal justice major.

You also will study psychology and sociology to gain a firm understanding of human behavior and the situations that create criminal behavior. Learning criminal justice theories and practices will enable you to:

Analyze and critique complex arguments to reach a conclusion.
Examine and document criminal behavior patterns using research methods and principles.
Recognize and address social injustices, including racial and socioeconomic biases, in legal and law enforcement systems.
Utilize geographic information system (GIS) for crime mapping and other investigation software for crime analysis.
Communicate and work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders from various backgrounds and perspectives.

After graduation, most criminal justice majors work in the justice system, law enforcement or corrections, but you could also work in the private sector or independently as a private investigator, lawyer, paralegal or forensics investigator. Whether you choose a profession where you help to incarcerate criminals or help to rehabilitate them, your career path will be meaningful and rewarding.

A Real-world view of criminal justice

The Adams Center for Law & Society hosts visiting legal scholars and an extensive library. If you become an Adams Center scholar, you’ll get paid internship opportunities, with hands-on experience with local attorneys, judges and probation offices.

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A diverse audience attentively listens during a lecture or presentation in an auditorium. People are seated in tiered rows, with some holding notes. The setting is warmly lit, emphasizing engagement and interest.

95%

of students study abroad

100%

of students receive financial aid through academic merit scholarships and need-based grants

Explore Your Studies

Program Resources

A Glance Into Your Degree Pathway

With support from advisors and course planning tools, your time at Susquehanna is carefully designed to help you succeed. This example provides a glimpse into your degree experience, but you’ll have plenty of opportunities to customize your path with electives or study abroad programs that reflect your passions and career goals.

First Year – Fall Semester

CJUS 110

Introduction to Criminal Justice

This course offers an overview of the structures, goals and outcomes of each of the three main components of the American criminal justice system: law enforcement, courts and corrections. Students will also identify and evaluate current challenges and issues facing participants in the criminal justice system. Students will approach these questions using a variety of perspectives, including, but not limited to, historical, legal, political and sociological approaches. Students will examine the impact of individual and community attributes such as gender, race and ethnicity, religion, and age upon relationships and experiences within our criminal justice system. 4 SH

SOCI 101

Principles of Sociology

Methods and approaches of scientific analysis applied to contemporary cultures and societies. Includes socialization, individual and group interaction, major social institutions, social organizations, social change, and collective behavior. 4 SH. CC: Diversity, Social Interactions.

First Year – Spring Semester

PSYC 101

Principles of Psychology

Introduces principles and theories of behavior. Topics include biopsychology, sensation and perception, learning and memory, and physical and behavioral development. Also covers personality theory and assessment, social and cultural influences on behavior, and behavior pathology and treatment. 4 SH. CC: Social Interactions.

Second Year – Fall Semester

POLI 205

Research Methods I

Introduces students to the social science research process and common techniques of quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Topics include the development of theory, measurement, data collection and analysis, and research ethics. Requirements include compiling a literature review and using statistical software to conduct data analysis. 4 SH. CC: Ethics Intensive.

N/A

Program Elective

Criminal Justice

Choose from a variety of elective courses within this program to customize your goals.

Second Year – Spring Semester

CJUS 210

Crime Prevention and Policy

This course examines methods and programs of crime prevention. Throughout the course, students will learn how policy issues and considerations (race, class, labor markets, education, gender, etc.) impact frameworks for crime prevention and system and community responses to crime. Students will learn about system-based and situationally-based approaches and will examine the overlap between these varying approaches to crime prevention. Exploring primary, secondary and tertiary crime prevention measures, students will also critically examine research and data to evaluate the effectiveness of various measures of prevention. 4 SH.

POLI 212

Introduction to Public Policy

This course focuses on understanding how laws are made. We will examine the policy-making process in the United States and, to a lesser extent, in other countries. Who sets the agenda adopted by politicians and policy-makers? What role(s) are played by private actors in the policy-making process? What factors help or hinder the process of implementing policies? Students will consider all of these questions and focus in depth on a number of current policy debates, including immigration policy, environmental policy and education policy. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the theories explaining how policies are shaped by the political process and a familiarity with the practical tools used by policy-makers to develop and enforce the rules, policies and laws that we all must follow. 4 SH. CC: Ethics Intensive.

Third Year – Fall Semester

SOCI 255

Crime and Justice

This course explores the dimensions, causes, costs and correlates of the crime problem in the United States, and considers the uses and limitations of the criminal justice system in addressing it. Crime and Justice is organized around three interdisciplinary literatures: criminology, law and society, and criminal justice studies. Focusing on issues of lawmaking, law breaking and state response to crime, students will review and critique classical and contemporary approaches to the study of these phenomena; identify a range of theoretical approaches and empirical findings in the literatures identified above; and assess the strengths and limitations of contemporary crime control policies in light of accumulated empirical evidence. Prerequisite: SOCI-101, SOCI-102 or ANTH-162. 4 SH.

N/A

Program Elective

Criminal Justice

Choose from a variety of elective courses within this program to customize your goals.

Third Year – Spring Semester

N/A

Program Elective

Criminal Justice

Choose from a variety of elective courses within this program to customize your goals.

Fourth Year – Fall Semester

INTD 501

Senior Seminar

The Senior Seminar in international studies is the culmination and integration of the international studies major, although it is also open to students majoring in political science and public policy. This class may count as the capstone experience for students majoring in all three programs. It provides students with the opportunity to research, write and present a thesis on an approved topic. Students work closely with faculty members to formulate their theses and prepare both a research design and a final senior essay that implements that design. Students will also critically analyze others’ work. This course should be cross-listed with POLI-501. Prerequisites: POLI-205 Research Methods. 4SH. Capstone. CC: Writing Intensive.

CJUS 110

Introduction to Criminal Justice

CJUS 202

Topics in Criminal Justice

Examines selected topics or problems in criminal justice or criminology. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. 4 SH.

CJUS 210

Crime Prevention and Policy

CJUS 220

Crime Mapping and Statistics

When you enroll at Susquehanna, you’ll be paired with an advisor and application tool to guide you in your course planning and scheduling. The following is an excerpt from the complete course catalog. Enrolled students follow the requirements of the course catalog for the academic year in which they declare each major and/or minor, consult with their advisor(s).

Criminal Justice examines different aspects of the criminal justice system, including the micro-level and socio-economic foundations of criminal behavior; laws and policies that seek to prevent and respond to criminal acts; political, social, economic and legal institutions created around the system; and social, economic and racial biases embedded in that system. In addition to completing courses establishing foundational knowledge in the discipline, students choose courses from three elective areas offering studies relevant to criminology and criminal justice. The major seeks to equip students with the foundational knowledge, methodological training and practical experiences to pursue professions related to the criminal justice system, including careers in law, social work, law enforcement and non-profit management.

Learning Goals

Knowledge about the criminal justice system, including the institutions and processes that constitute that system.
Familiarity with methodological approaches to examining and documenting patterns in criminal behavior.
An understanding of the sociological, psychological, and political foundations to the criminal justice system.
Knowledge of the predominant critiques of the criminal justice system, including racial and socio-economic biases embedded in the system.
An ability to analyze and critique complex arguments, showing strong analytical reasoning abilities.

Double-Counting Restrictions

Majors may not double count more than 12 semester hours (SH) with another major or minor.

Major in Criminal Justice

32 The following courses are required

4 CJUS 110 Introduction to Criminal Justice
4 CJUS 210 Crime Prevention and Policy
4 CJUS 220 Crime Mapping and Statistics
4 POLI 212 Introduction to Policy
4 PSYC 101 Principles of Psychology
4 SOCI 101 Principles of Sociology
4 SOCI 350 Punishment and Society
4 Capstone: POLI 501 or SOCI 501

12 Choose 3 of the following as electives:

4 CJUS-202 Topics in Criminal Justice (can be taken more than once and counted as an elective if covering different subjects)
4 POLI 215 Law and Politics
4 POLI 411 Constitutional Law
4 POLI 412 Civil Liberties
4 PSYC 230 Social Psychology
4 PSYC 243 Drugs, Society, and Behavior
4 PSYC 320 Psychological Disorders
4 PSYC 322 Psychological Testing
4 SOCI 102 Social Problems
4 SOCI 300 Gender and Crime
4 SOCI 405 Law and Society
4 SOCI 500 when taught as “Juvenile (In)Justice”