Typical Graduate School Curriculum

Thirty-six (36) credit hours are usually required for a Master's in Criminal Justice. This includes 15 hours in core courses, 15 hours in a area of concentration, and 6 hours for a thesis or non-thesis option. Each course is usually 3 semester hours. Below is a typical "newer, practitioner-oriented" curriculum you might encounter in one of the recently developed programs popping up all over the place. Older and more established programs will usually have more crime-specific courses, such as "Violent Crime", "Crime in the Workplace", "White-Collar Crime", "Environmental Crime", as well as more general policy and politics courses.

First Year

  • CJ Systems
  • Applied Statistics
  • Research Methods
  • Police Administration
  • Criminology
  • Behavioral Change
  • CJ Administration
  • Management
  • Human Resources
  • CJ and the Community
  • Counseling
  • Elective

Second Year

  • Planning & Budgeting
  • Thesis or Elective
  • Classification of Offenders
  • Comprehensive Exams
  • Elective
  • Correctional Management
  • Thesis
  • Elective
  • Criminal Law
  • Advanced Criminology
  • Thesis
  • Elective

Course Descriptions

CJ 500 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS. A foundation and overview of the criminal justice system and process, focusing on critical decision points with emphasis on contemporary issues, controversies, and trends. USUALLY REQUIRED

CJ 510 CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH METHODS. Methods and techniques of research in the behavioral sciences with emphasis on research designs most appropriate for data collection in criminal justice. USUALLY REQUIRED

CJ 520 CRIMINOLOGY. An overview of the nature and scope of delinquency and crime causation; considers problems of assessment and measurement; surveys available theoretical formulations concerning crime and delinquency. USUALLY REQUIRED

CJ 530 CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION: POLICY AND PRACTICE. Examination and analysis of basic management principles for criminal justice administration with emphasis on policy formulation and implementation. USUALLY REQUIRED

CJ 540 APPLIED STATISTICS. Introduction to statistical techniques as applied to criminal justice. Topics include descriptive statistics, point and interval estimation, statistical inference, measures of association for discrete variables, regression, & multivariate analysis. USUALLY REQUIRED

Law Enforcement Courses

CJ 600 ADVANCED POLICE ADMINISTRATION. Examination of principles and theories of administration applied to law enforcement organizations, emphasizing both external and internal environments, change, conflict, strategies, and management. These are analyzed in relation to the functions, structure, and policies of law enforcement agencies. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 605 HUMAN RESOURCE ADMINISTRATION. Study of legal, technical, and policy issues in personnel management related to: a) recruitment, selection, and promotion; b) career development, compensation, job analysis, performance appraisal, and measures of productivity; c) disciplinary systems and civil liability; and d) collective bargaining agreements and other labor-management issues. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 610 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND THE COMMUNITY. Advanced study of the relationship between Justice agencies and a community's crime prevention and participation resources; the community's involvement in criminal justice policy development. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 615 CRIMINAL JUSTICE PLANNING & BUDGETING. An examination of the interactive process of planning & financial management. The development of budgeting modes in the public sector, including applications of zero-based and programmatic budgets to law enforcement agencies. The political context of criminal justice planning/budgeting as relevant to preparation, presentation, executive and legislative approval, execution, and audit. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 640 CRIME PREVENTION. An examination of the basic principles of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary), deterrence and control of crime in the United States; analysis of CPTED and target hardening programs. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 645 PROGRAM EVALUATION. Systematic review of efforts to evaluate intervention programs and assess effectiveness of crime prevention schemes and methods for the treatment of offenders. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 650 ACCOUNTING COURSE (offered as Accounting 5xx or 6xx). An advanced accounting course relevant to public sector financial analysis. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 655 LEGAL & ETHICAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION. A study of legal and ethical issues involved in the administration of a modern Justice agencies. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 660 APPLIED STUDY. First hand experience in the day to day operation of a criminal justice program under the guidance and supervision of a faculty member and a practitioner in the field placement. ELECTIVE USUALLY

Corrections Courses

CJ 620 THEORIES OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE. An examination of theories and programs related to behavioral or attitudinal change of individuals and groups as well as their application in the criminal justice system. Crime prevention, control and treatment strategies will be evaluated. OFTEN REQUIRED

CJ 625 MANAGEMENT & ADMINISTRATION IN CORRECTIONS. Major organizational and management issues in criminal justice administration; topics include the role of professional administration in community corrections such as juvenile detention homes, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and problems of initiating reform. Includes monetary program evaluation and grants. SOMETIMES REQUIRED

CJ 630 ADVANCED COUNSELING. Major theories, principles, and techniques of individual and group processes and therapy in criminal justice. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 635 CLASSIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF OFFENDERS. Techniques and methods used for appraising personality characteristics. Selection, administration, interpretation, and evaluation of test instruments. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 665 ALCOHOL, DRUGS, MENTAL ILLNESS AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. Examination of the legal, ethical, and social issues involved in criminal justice agencies dealing with alcohol and drug misuse and abuse and mental illness. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 670 GROUP TECHNIQUES. Major theories, principles, and techniques of group counseling in criminal justice. Examination of specific techniques for individual and group processes and therapy with delinquents and adult criminals. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 675 CORRECTIONS LAW. In-depth examination of a particular area within the broader field of correctional law. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 680 ADVANCED SEMINAR IN COMMUNITY BASED CORRECTIONS. Analysis of theories and practice of probation and parole. An examination of efforts to create a mixture of institutional and community setting; feasibility and effectiveness of treatment in community based settings, with emphasis on practical problems confronting probation and parole, and other community corrections officers. ELECTIVE USUALLY

CJ 685 COMMUNITY RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS. An analysis of efforts to create admixtures of institutional settings and normal community life, examining the feasibility and effectiveness of treatment under sentence in the community and residential programs used in the rehabilitative process. ELECTIVE USUALLY