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 will also study public policy, sociology, and psychology to gain a firm understanding of criminal behavior and how the criminal justice system operates. Our interdisciplinary courses will enable you:

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.
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.

100%

of criminal justice students learn applied writing skills that support a variety of legal careers

97%

of Susquehanna students study abroad

100%

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

12%

Top ranked among U.S. colleges for students graduating in 4 years

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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 American a structures, goals & 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 & 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. 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

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.

First Year – Spring Semester

POLI 212

Introduction to Public Policy

“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made”, a quote often attributed to Prince Otto von Bismarck. Against this advice, 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.

Second Year – Fall 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 (including but not limited to race, class, labor markets, education, and gender) 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. Students will learn about primary, secondary, and tertiary crime prevention measures and will also critically examine research and data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of various measures of prevention. 4 SH.

N/A

Program Elective

Criminal Justice

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

Second Year – Spring 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.

Third Year – Fall Semester

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

POLI 411

Constitutional Law

Examines the U.S. Supreme Court with an emphasis on its major decisions in questions of judicial review, federalism, separation of powers, interstate commerce, state police powers and substantive due process. Emphasizes the Court’s political role and judicial decision making. Prerequisite: Junior standing. POLI-111 is recommended. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary, Writing Intensive.

Fourth Year – Spring Semester

N/A

Program Elective

Criminal Justice

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

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

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 POLI-205 Research Methods I
4 POLI-212 Introduction to Policy
4 PSYC-101 Principles of Psychology
4 SOCI-101 Principles of Sociology
4 SOCI-255 Crime and Justice or SOCI-350 Punishment and Society
4 Capstone INTD-501 or 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-500 when the topic is “Juvenile (In)Justice”