Criminal Justice Studies  {SF State Bulletin 2015 - 2016}

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Criminal Justice Studies

 

College of Health and Social Sciences

Interim Dean: Alvin Alvarez

 

School of Public Affairs and Civic Engagement

Director: Elizabeth Brown

Criminal Justice Studies Program

HSS 210
Phone: 415-405-4129
Website: http://cj.sfsu.edu

 

Faculty:

Associate Professors: Brown, Snipes

Assistant Professor: Gerould

Lecturers: Carroll, Chappell, Dudley, Juno, Koehler, Macallair, Santos, Vencill, Viola, Walsh, Woods

Associated Faculty: Clavier, Fischer, A. Smith

 

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 law, crime, 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.

 

Complementary Studies

Bachelor of Arts students must complete at least twelve units of complementary studies outside of the primary prefix for the major. (Note: Students may not use an alternate prefix that is cross-listed with the primary prefix for the major.)

 

Students who complete two majors or a major and a minor automatically complete the complementary studies requirement. Additional ways to complete complementary studies for students in the Criminal Justice major is to meet with an advisor to identify twelve units of courses complementary to the major. With advisor approval, up to twelve of these units may be used to satisfy units in the major. Consult with your major advisor for assistance.

 

Students who have earned AA-T or AS-T degrees and are pursuing a similar B.A. degree at SF State are required to fulfill the Complementary Studies requirement as defined by the major department. Students should consult with a major advisor about how transfer units and/or SF State units can best be applied to this requirement in order to ensure degree completion within 60 units.

 

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.

 

Change of Major Applicants

Undeclared majors and students enrolled in other disciplines at SF State who seek to change their major to criminal justice studies must have junior standing, have completed a minimum of 52 units with a grade of C- or better, have taken ENG 214 (or equivalent), and one GE Area A3 Critical Thinking course (formerly Segment I critical thinking) with a grade of C or better before applying for a change of major.

 

Writing Competence

Criminal justice majors who complete either C J 323 GW with a grade of C or better in fall 2010 or later, or C J 330 GW in spring 2011 or later, will have satisfied the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).

 

Criminal Justice Studies (B.A.) — 35 - 44 units

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated.

Foundation Courses (7 - 8 units)

Distribution Requirements (24 - 32 units)

Select two courses from each of the four categories (I-IV) below.

I. Administration of Justice (6 - 8 units)
II. Crime and Delinquency (6 - 8 units)
III. Legal Studies (6 - 8 units)
IV. Working with Diverse Communities (6 - 8 units)

Culminating Experience (4 units)

Total units for the degree: *120

 

*Note: A minimum of 40 upper division units must be completed for the degree (including upper division units required for the major, general education, electives, etc.). A student can complete this major yet not attain the necessary number of upper division units required for graduation. In this case additional upper division courses will be needed to reach the required total.

 

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 in the “Administration of Justice“ category and/or
  2. Concepts of Criminal Law in the “Legal Studies” category. For applicable courses, go to the ASSIST website: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html.

 

Minor in Criminal Justice Studies

Criminal Justice Studies, Minor — 16 - 20 units

Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated.

Foundation Course (4 units)

Distribution Requirements (12 - 16 units)

Select one course from each of the four categories (I-IV) below.

I. Administration of Justice (3 - 4 units)
II. Crime and Delinquency (3 - 4 units)
II. Crime and Delinquency (6 - 8 units)
III. Legal Studies (6 - 8 units)
IV. Working with Diverse Communities (3 - 4 units)

Note: A total of 13 units must be upper division courses. Up to a total of 3 transfer units in Introduction to Criminal Justice or Concepts of Criminal Law completed at a California community college may be counted towards meeting requirements for the minor. For applicable courses, go to the ASSIST website: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html .

 

 

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