Criminal Justice Studies

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Dean: Joel Kassiola

Department of Criminal Justice Studies
HSS 236
415-405-4129
Chair: Jeff Snipes

Faculty

Professors—Musheno, Vencill

Associate Professors—Garcia, Snipes

Assistant Professors—Brown, Clavier, Simmons, A. Smith, Stahlkopf

Lecturers—Fischer, Gerould, Macallair, Snead, Walsh

Programs

B.A. in Criminal Justice Studies
Minor in Criminal Justice Studies

Program Scope

Drawing upon a rich urban environment, the multidisciplinary program in Criminal Justice Studies explores the connections between law, crime and justice. The curriculum emphasizes critical thinking about the administration of justice, crime and delinquency, legal studies, and working with diverse communities. As part of the major, students participate in a culminating field experience at the end of their program. The program is intended for a diverse group of students whose interests range from the local to the global, from street crime to terrorism, from municipal policing to international courts.

Students seeking a major or minor begin with a foundation course that provides a cross-disciplinary perspective of criminal justice. Both majors and minors will pursue course work within and across four areas of emphasis within the field of criminal justice studies.

I. Administration of Justice. Students explore central features of criminal justice systems. Courses include treatment of distinguishing features of the U.S. criminal justice system and comparative perspectives of systems around the globe. Attention is given to recurring problems including abuse of authority, community conflict, and discrimination in case processing. Students have opportunities to learn methods and applications for studying criminal justice systems and processes.

II. Crime and Delinquency. Courses in this area expose students to major explanations of what brings about different forms of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. Students have opportunities to explore biological, feminist, economic, international, psychological, racial and sociological perspectives of crime and delinquency. In addition to addressing street crime, courses are available for learning about hate crime, organized crime, terrorism, and white collar crime.

III. Legal Studies. Attention is given to legal doctrine relevant to criminal justice, the practice of law by criminal justice agents and the experience of law by defendants, family members and victims. Courses include distinctive disciplinary perspectives of law as well as issues faced by particular populations. Students have the opportunity to learn and apply legal analysis, including case law and development of legal briefs.

IV. Working with Diverse Communities. Working in the criminal justice system in any capacity requires interacting with individuals from diverse family, cultural, social and economic backgrounds. Courses in this area expose students to a deeper understanding and appreciation of individuals and groups from backgrounds other than their own. These courses help students develop communication skills to bridge cultural differences while working toward common goals related to the pursuit of social as well as criminal justice.

Students pursuing the major will complete their coursework with a culminating field experience.

A network of criminal justice agencies and personnel in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area serves as a powerful asset for students. An active Criminal Justice Student Association plans and implements community service activities, has a guest lecture program featuring criminal justice professionals, and creates a sense of community on campus.

Career Outlook

The major and minor provide training for students who anticipate they will be engaged in their communities regarding issues of crime, law and justice as well as those seeking related careers in government, law and higher education. Career opportunities include those in law enforcement, diversion, crime analysis, probation, parole, corrections, juvenile justice, victim advocacy, corporate security, community development and justice research. Students who intend to pursue graduate education in criminal justice, justice studies, criminology and related fields as well as those planning to apply to law school are encouraged to consider the major and minor in criminal justice.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES

Students are encouraged to take introductory courses in at least two of the following six disciplines based on their academic interests prior to entering the degree program: economics, history, international relations, political science, psychology, sociology.

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.

Note: A total of 30 units in the major must be in upper division courses. Up to a total of six transfer units in the following Criminal Justice courses completed at a community college may be counted toward meeting distribution requirements for the major:
1) Introduction to Criminal Justice [CAN AJ 2] in the "Administration of Justice" category and/or
2) Concepts of Criminal Law [CAN AJ 4] in the "Legal Studies" category.

MINOR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE STUDIES

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.

Note: A total of 13 units must be upper division courses. Up to a total of 3 transfer units in Introduction to Criminal Justice (CAN AJ 2) or Concepts of Criminal Law (CAN AJ 4) completed at a California community college may be counted towards meeting requirements for the minor. Specifically, CAN AJ 2 may substitute for the 3 unit requirement in Administration of Justice or CAN AJ 4 may count for the Legal Studies requirement.