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Department of Criminal Justice
Shippen Hall
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
1871 Old Main Drive
Shippensburg, PA 17257-2299

(717) 477-1558
(717) 477-4087 (FAX)
E-mail: crimjust@ship.edu 

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Criminal Justice B.S. Degree

Introduction

The goal of the criminal justice program is to provide students with the appropriate educational background to support potential careers in the criminal justice system. The five salient features of the criminal justice program are: (1) it is system-oriented rather than agency-oriented; (2) it is a highly interdisciplinary program of study; (3) it offers students the options of three major concentrations; (4) it is appropriate for pre-service as well as in-service students; and (5) it has a strong commitment to consideration of the moral and ethical issues in criminal justice.

Features

The program comprises a lower and upper division curriculum. Courses with numerical designations below the 300 level, e.g. CRJ221, are lower division courses and are appropriate for freshmen and sophomore students. Courses above the 300 level are upper division courses and are appropriate for juniors and seniors. Students should complete the CRJ Core before enrolling in upper division courses. However, this requirement can be and often is waived when scheduling and student population problems emerge. Students are required to achieve a grade of "C" or above in all CRJ courses.

Academic Advisement

Prospective Criminal Justice students are encouraged to contact the Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice for information and advising. The Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice will be pleased to discuss the program with interested students.  Current Criminal Justice majors should contact their assigned academic advisor for information and advising.

Specific Career Choices for Criminal Justice Graduates are:

B.S. Degree Requirements -

CRIMINAL JUSTICE (45 CREDITS) 

REQUIRED CORE COURSES (21 Credits) 

• CRJ 100 - Introduction to Criminal Justice
• CRJ 211 - Criminal Law and Procedure
• CRJ 221 - Policing A Democracy
• CRJ 241 - Survey of Corrections
• CRJ 309 - Theories of Crime & Crime Control
• CRJ 310 - Research Methods
• CRJ 452 - Race, Ethnicity, and Crime

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELECTIVES (21 Credits) 

• CRJ 321 - Criminal Investigation
• CRJ 326 - Victimology
• CRJ 336 - Introduction to Forensic Science
• CRJ 345 - Organization & Management of CRJ Agencies
• CRJ 348 - Clinical Intervention and Treatment
• CRJ 351 - Juvenile Justice
• CRJ 356 - Organized Crime
• CRJ 365 - White Collar Crime
• CRJ 370 - Mock Trial
• CRJ 390 - Selected Topics in CRJ
• CRJ 393 - Selected Topics in CRJ
• CRJ 396 - Selected Topics in CRJ
• CRJ 397 - Selected Topics in CRJ
• CRJ 411 - Terrorism
• CRJ 433 - Evidence Law
• CRJ 456 - Forensic Science: Evidence Analysis
• CRJ 461 - Social Construction of Homicide
• CRJ 463 - Comparative Criminal Justice
• CRJ 464 - Popular Culture, Crime and Justice
• CRJ 466 - Women and Criminal Justice
• CRJ 471 - Internship I*
• CRJ 472 - Internship II*
• CRJ 473 - Internship III*
• CRJ 474 - Internship IV*
• CRJ 481 - Independent Study
• CRJ 490 - Selected Topics in CRJ
• CRJ 491 - Selected Topics in CRJ

*Each section of internship is worth 3 credits and equals 120 hours of agency work.  Therefore, 3 credits = 120 hours, 6 credits = 240 hours, 9 Credits = 360 hours, and 12 credits = 480 hours of work.

REQUIRED CAPSTONE COURSES (3 Credits) 

• CRJ 454 - Policy, Professionalism and Ethics

Criminal Justice Interdisciplinary Course (15 Credits) 

•  Students may select any five courses 200-level and above.  No Criminal Justice Courses, General Education courses, or 100 level courses may be used to meet these requirements.  

REQUIRED General Education Courses 

Criminal Justice majors are required to take the following general education (Gen. Ed.) courses:

• Category D -  PLS 100: U.S. Government and Politics 
• Category E -  PSY 101: General Psychology 
• Category E -  SOC 101: Intro to Sociology: Society and Diversity  

There is no language requirement for CRJ majors, although the department strongly recommends that our students gain a basic understanding of Spanish. The department also strongly recommends that our students take a basic computer science course.

Pre-Forensic Sciences Program

Forensic Science is a rapidly developing field that draws from many disciplines and is an attractive profession to people from variuos academic, social and economic backgrounds. Opportunities exist for employment and further education in criminal investigation, forensic law, forensic psychology, forensic anthropology, forensic nursing, wildlife forensics and toxicology to name a few careers in this diverse discipline. Thus, students who want to pursue a career or post-graduate training in forensic sciences can declare pre-forensic sciences as an option at the baccalaureate level through one of three departments: Biology, Chemistry, or Criminal Justice. The courses required for the pre-forensic sciences option are in accordance with the guidelines established by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and are linked to specific concentrations in each department. These include the B.S. in Biology/Biotechnology, B.S. in Chemistry/Biochemistry, or B.S. in Criminal Justice/Pre-forensic Sciences concentrations.

The pre-forensic sciences program is under the direction of a committee chaired by Dr. Lucinda Elliott (Biology) and includes Dr. William Patrie (Biology), Dr. Robin McCann (Chemistry), and Vacant (Criminal Justice). Biology, Chemistry, and Criminal Justice majors who are interested in a career in forensic sciences are encouraged to seek advise from any of these professors.