Criminology and Justice Studies
Major: Criminology and Justice Studies
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science (BS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Total Credit Hours: 183.0
Co-op Options: One Co-op (Four years); No Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 45.0401
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9199
Criminal Justice Concentration
The Criminal Justice concentration, housed in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, is designed as the most flexible of our three concentrations. The Criminal Justice concentration focuses its curriculum primarily on the substance of criminal justice institutions and crime and does not require many of the analytics and computer-based courses that the other two concentrations require. This concentration is primarily intended for students seeking to double major, prepare for law school, take on multiple minors (e.g., a language and legal studies), or for students who desire a traditional criminal justice education. Because the Criminal Justice concentration reserves 41.0 credits of free electives, it easily allows students to explore a wide range of curriculum opportunities throughout Drexel. Students in the Criminal Justice concentration often double major in Psychology, Behavioral Health, Legal Studies, Business, and Global Studies; and they often take on a language minor. Moreover, although the Criminal Justice concentration does not require most of the analytical courses (e.g., Crime Mapping using Geographic Information Systems) as the other two concentration, it does allow students to take any number of those courses as electives while they pursue other curricular pathways.
The Criminal Justice concentration offers the same community-based learning and global perspective courses as the other two concentrations. Students in all three concentrations are encouraged to participate in at least one faculty-led study abroad program during which students will explore various justice related themes. Recent trips have been The Legacy of Nazi Policing in Munich and Prague; and Crime and Justice in Scandinavia. Please see the Study Abroad Program webpage to view the location and itinerary of the study tour. The emphasis on comparative justice and study abroad reside at the leading edges of Drexel's core value of global citizenship.
Degree Requirements (Criminal Justice Concentration)
| General Requirements | ||
| ANTH 101 | Introduction to Cultural Diversity | 3.0 |
| CIVC 101 | Introduction to Civic Engagement | 1.0 |
| COM 150 | Mass Media and Society | 3.0 |
| COOP 101 | Career Management and Professional Development ** | 1.0 |
| ENGL 101 | Composition and Rhetoric I: Inquiry and Exploratory Research | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 111 | English Composition I | |
| ENGL 102 | Composition and Rhetoric II: Advanced Research and Evidence-Based Writing | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 112 | English Composition II | |
| ENGL 103 | Composition and Rhetoric III: Themes and Genres | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 113 | English Composition III | |
| PHIL 101 | Introduction to Western Philosophy | 3.0 |
| PSCI 100 | Introduction to Political Science | 4.0 |
| PSY 101 | General Psychology I | 3.0 |
| SOC 101 | Introduction to Sociology | 3.0 |
| English Elective (any ENGL course over 200-level) | 3.0 | |
| Fine Arts Elective | 3.0 | |
| History Elective | 4.0 | |
| UNIV H101 | The Drexel Experience | 1.0 |
| UNIV H201 | Looking Forward: Academics and Careers | 1.0 |
| Math Sequences | ||
| Take any two Math courses | 6.0-8.0 | |
| Science Sequence | ||
| Take any two Science courses with a lab from any combination of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics | 8.0 | |
| Program in Criminology and Justice Studies Core Requirements | ||
| CJS 100 | Freshman Seminar in Crime and Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 101 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 200 | Criminology | 3.0 |
| CJS 210 | Race, Crime, and Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 220 | Crime and the City | 3.0 |
| CJS 260 | Justice in Our Community | 4.0 |
| CJS 261 | Prison, Society and You | 3.0 |
| CJS 290 | Crime and Public Policy | 3.0 |
| CJS 375 | Criminal Procedure | 3.0 |
| CJS 376 | Sentencing | 3.0 |
| PHIL 330 | Criminal Justice Ethics | 3.0 |
| Methods and Analytics Sequence | ||
| CJS 250 | Research Methods & Analytics I | 3.0 |
| CJS 300 | Research Methods and Analytics II | 3.0 |
| Criminal Justice Thematic Concentration | ||
| CJS 266 | Crime Prevention Planning | 3.0 |
| CJS 276 | Introduction to Computer Crime | 3.0 |
| CJS 278 | Introduction to Law Enforcement | 3.0 |
| CJS 280 | Communities and Crime | 3.0 |
| CJS 360 | Juvenile Justice | 3.0 |
| Program Electives | ||
| Complete 10 of the following courses: * | 30.0 | |
| Criminal Investigation | ||
| Surveillance, Technology, and the Law | ||
| Sex, Violence, & Crime on the Internet | ||
| Issues in Domestic Violence | ||
| Terrorism | ||
| International Field Experience | ||
| Methods and Analytics III | ||
| Advanced Criminological Theorizing | ||
| Comparative Justice Systems | ||
| Crime Mapping I Using Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Crime Mapping II Using Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Gender, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Computer Investigations and the Law | ||
| Technology and the Justice System | ||
| Death Penalty - An American Dilemma | ||
| Environmental Crime | ||
| Intellectual Property Theft in the Digital Age | ||
| Special Topics in Criminology and Justice Studies | ||
| Independent Study in CJS | ||
| Theories of Justice | ||
| Free Electives | 42.0 | |
| Total Credits | 183.0-185.0 | |
| * | Review the prerequisites before trying to register. |
| ** | COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101. Students not participating in co-op will not take COOP 101; 1 credit of Free Elective will be added in place of COOP 101. |
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements
In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.
A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.
Sample Plan of Study (Criminal Justice Concentration)
4 year, no co-op
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CJS 100 | 3.0 | CJS 260 | 4.0 | ANTH 101 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| CJS 101 | 3.0 | COM 150 | 3.0 | CIVC 101 | 1.0 | ||
| ENGL 101 or 111 | 3.0 | ENGL 102 or 112 | 3.0 | CJS 200 | 3.0 | ||
| UNIV H101 | 1.0 | PHIL 101 | 3.0 | CJS 261 | 3.0 | ||
| Math sequence | 3.0-4.0 | Math sequence | 3.0-4.0 | ENGL 103 or 113 | 3.0 | ||
| PSCI 100 | 4.0 | ||||||
| 13-14 | 16-17 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CJS 210 | 3.0 | CJS 300 | 3.0 | CJS 266 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| CJS 250 | 3.0 | CJS 360 | 3.0 | CJS courses | 6.0 | ||
| PHIL 330 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | Free elective | 3.0 | ||
| SOC 101 | 3.0 | Free elective | 3.0 | Science sequence | 4.0 | ||
| CJS course | 3.0 | Science sequence | 4.0 | ||||
| 15 | 16 | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| PSY 101 | 3.0 | CJS 220 | 3.0 | CJS 280 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| CJS course | 3.0 | CJS 290 | 3.0 | CJS 376 | 3.0 | ||
| Fine Arts elective | 3.0 | CJS 375 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | ||
| Free electives | 6.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | Free elective* | 4.0 | ||
| History elective | 4.0 | ||||||
| 15 | 15 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| CJS 276 | 3.0 | CJS 278 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | ||
| CJS course | 3.0 | UNIV H201 | 1.0 | Free electives | 9.0 | ||
| English 200+ | 3.0 | CJS courses | 6.0 | ||||
| Free electives | 6.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | ||||
| 15 | 16 | 12 | |||||
| Total Credits 183-185 | |||||||
| * | Students not participating in co-op will not take COOP 101; 1 credit of Free Elective will be added in place of COOP 101. |
4 year, one co-op
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CJS 100 | 3.0 | CJS 260 | 4.0 | ANTH 101 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| CJS 101 | 3.0 | COM 150 | 3.0 | CIVC 101 | 1.0 | ||
| ENGL 101 or 111 | 3.0 | ENGL 102 or 112 | 3.0 | CJS 200 | 3.0 | ||
| UNIV H101 | 1.0 | PHIL 101 | 3.0 | CJS 261 | 3.0 | ||
| Math sequence | 3.0-4.0 | Math sequence | 3.0-4.0 | ENGL 103 or 113 | 3.0 | ||
| PSCI 100 | 4.0 | ||||||
| 13-14 | 16-17 | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CJS 210 | 3.0 | CJS 300 | 3.0 | CJS 266 | 3.0 | PSY 101 | 3.0 |
| CJS 250 | 3.0 | CJS 360 | 3.0 | COOP 101* | 1.0 | CJS course | 3.0 |
| PHIL 330 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | CJS courses | 6.0 | Fine Arts elective | 3.0 |
| SOC 101 | 3.0 | Free elective | 3.0 | Free elective | 3.0 | Free electives | 6.0 |
| CJS course | 3.0 | Science sequence | 4.0 | Science sequence | 4.0 | ||
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 15 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CJS 220 | 3.0 | CJS 280 | 3.0 | COOP EXPERIENCE | COOP EXPERIENCE | ||
| CJS 290 | 3.0 | CJS 376 | 3.0 | ||||
| CJS 375 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | ||||
| Free electives | 6.0 | Free elective | 3.0 | ||||
| History elective | 4.0 | ||||||
| 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| CJS 276 | 3.0 | CJS 278 | 3.0 | CJS course | 3.0 | ||
| CJS course | 3.0 | UNIV H201 | 1.0 | Free electives | 9.0 | ||
| English 200+ | 3.0 | CJS courses | 6.0 | ||||
| Free electives | 6.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | ||||
| 15 | 16 | 12 | |||||
| Total Credits 183-185 | |||||||
| * | COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101. |
Criminal Justice Concentration
Professional Experiences
Students will complete one co-op (i.e., professional placement), typically during the spring and summer quarters of their Junior year. When they return for the start of their senior year, they can immediately begin their (impending) post-graduation job search with their co-op experience still recent on their resume. Some placements are paid (usually in the private sector) and others are unpaid (primarily in the public sector). The placements earn students academic credit while providing professional socialization and learning with crime and justice professionals. The networking aspects of these placements are invaluable for future career development. In addition to the learning experiences, past students have received excellent letters of recommendation for future employment agencies and for graduate and law school admissions.
In recent years, students have been placed in local agencies such as the District Attorney’s Office, the Institutional Law Project, the Juvenile Law Center, the Defendants Association of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia and Bucks County Prison Systems and the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police. Several students have done co-ops and later worked full time at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historical Site and Museum. On the state level, co-op students have worked with the Board of Probation & Parole and other agencies. At the federal level, the US Customs Service had an agreement to accept cooperative education placements after having been screened by faculty. The faculty in Criminology and Justice Studies has been working over the past few years to expand its list of research co-ops (primarily for students working toward graduate school) and international co-ops.
