Criminal Justice and Criminology
The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology offers a master's degree that prepares students to excel in today's evidence-based criminal justice system. A supportive environment accommodates the diversity of our students' lives with evening classes, option of part-time or full-time status, and flexible tailoring of electives. The Department is well-connected to local and federal agencies. Graduates have been placed in all areas of the criminal justice system including state and county agencies, and federal agencies such as the FBI, Secret Service, Federal Probation, Homeland Security, Federal Pretrial Services and DEA. Graduates also have been admitted into PhD programs or law schools.
Criminal Justice & Criminology (CJC)
CJC 401 Politics and Policies in the Criminal Justice System (3 Credit Hours)
This course examines the interactional processes within and among the criminal justice system's components and their relationships to other public and private institutions. The role of politics in policy formulation, the policy making process, and the consequences of current policies on the operation of the criminal justice system are discussed.
Students will understand the CJ policy-making process, including which factors facilitate/inhibit effective policy development and implementation, and how CJ research is used to formulate, implement, and evaluate CJ policies
Outcomes
Students will understand the CJ policy-making process, including which factors facilitate/inhibit effective policy development and implementation, and how CJ research is used to formulate, implement, and evaluate CJ policiesCJC 402 Theories of Criminal Behavior (3 Credit Hours)
This is a comparative review of dominant contemporary theories and research on the causes of crime and delinquency. Competing theories on the causes of crime are analyzed, and their empirical support and implications for prevention programs and interventions are discussed.
To analyze and discuss contemporary theories of criminal behavior
Outcomes
To analyze and discuss contemporary theories of criminal behaviorCJC 403 Research Methods and Program Evaluation (3 Credit Hours)
This course provides students with the substantive knowledge to be critical consumers of research studies and program evaluations. Students learn how to critique the internal, construct, and external validity of program evaluations and data collection efforts that seek to understand criminal behavior or the operation of the criminal justice system.
To analyze and critique program evaluations and research designs
Outcomes
To analyze and critique program evaluations and research designsCJC 404 Applied Data Analysis and Interpretation (4 Credit Hours)
Students learn the skills and knowledge necessary to be critical consumers of statistical information often present in everyday criminal justice practice. Students learn which statistical tools are appropriate for specific measures and research questions, as well as how to generate and interpret statistical output using a statistical software package.
Students will be able to select the correct statistical tools to use for conducting statistical analyses, use a statistical software package to analyze data, and interpret statistical output
Outcomes
Students will be able to select the correct statistical tools to use for conducting statistical analyses, use a statistical software package to analyze data, and interpret statistical outputCJC 408 Applied Research in Criminal Justice & Criminology (2 Credit Hours)
In their final semester of the CJC graduate program, students complete a semester-long research project. This culminating experience is student-initiated and supervised by a member of the graduate faculty. This project encourages advanced students to approach the multifaceted problem of research as a set of interrelated issues ranging from tasks of concept formation and theory construction through research design and data collection to the assessment and analysis of the generated data.
Students should be able to synthesize criminological theory, criminal justice policy, research methods, and data analysis into a final applied research project
Outcomes
Students should be able to synthesize criminological theory, criminal justice policy, research methods, and data analysis into a final applied research projectCJC 410 Advanced Topics in Criminology (3 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Graduate students only
Variable topics on theories or contemporary issues concerning criminal and victim behavior. Examples of topics include: Drugs and Violence; Gender and Crime; Intimate Partner Violence; Sexual Violence; Human Trafficking; Environmental Crime; Victimology; International Criminology; Advanced Criminology; Race, Ethnicity, and Crime.
Students will understand a contemporary issue in criminology with a special emphasis on research and theory developments
Outcomes
Students will understand a contemporary issue in criminology with a special emphasis on research and theory developmentsCJC 411 Advanced Topics in Policing (3 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Graduate students only
An advanced topics umbrella course for special and contemporary topics in the field of policing, including community- and problem-oriented policing, situational crime prevention, crime analysis, and Comp-Stat approaches to policing practice and management.
Students will understand a contemporary issue in policing with a special emphasis on research and theory developments
Outcomes
Students will understand a contemporary issue in policing with a special emphasis on research and theory developmentsCJC 412 Advanced Topics in Courts (3-6 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Graduate students only
Variable topics on contemporary issues in courts. Examples of topics include: International Criminal Law and Anti-Terrorism Enforcement, The American Jury; Death Penalty; International Criminal Law; Public Views of Justice; Media, Culture, and Criminal Law; Legal Rights of Children.
Students will understand a contemporary issue in the court system with a special emphasis on research and theory developments
Outcomes
Students will understand a contemporary issue in the court system with a special emphasis on research and theory developmentsCJC 413 Advanced Topics in Corrections (3-6 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Graduate students only
An advanced topics umbrella course for special and contemporary topics in the field of corrections. Examples of graduate courses that will be offered as special topics courses under CJC 413 include: Principles of Punishment, Sentencing Policy, Restorative Justice, Risk Assessment, Re-Entry, What Works in Corrections, Mass Incarceration, and Juvenile Corrections.
Students will understand a contemporary issue in corrections with a special emphasis on research and theory developments
Outcomes
Students will understand a contemporary issue in corrections with a special emphasis on research and theory developmentsCJC 414 General Special Topics (3 Credit Hours)
Special topic course titles will vary, and will cover issues that do not fit within the four advanced topics areas of criminology, policing, courts, and corrections. Topics may include: Crime Mapping; Social Psychology and the Criminal Justice System; Prejudice, Hate, and the Justice System.
To analyze and discuss topics in criminal justice
Outcomes
To analyze and discuss topics in criminal justiceCJC 415 Mental Illness and Crime (3 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Graduate students only
This course explores the relationship of mental illness to crime and violence, the policies and programs concerning the treatment of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system, including the nature, prevalence and consequences of mental disorder among criminal offenders.
Students will understand the history and development of research on mental illness and crime, assessments of risk for violence, as well as legal issues surrounding mentally disordered victims and offenders
Outcomes
Students will understand the history and development of research on mental illness and crime, assessments of risk for violence, as well as legal issues surrounding mentally disordered victims and offendersCJC 416 International Criminal Justice (3 Credit Hours)
This course is an introduction to the nature and scope of international and transnational crime, to the emerging legal framework for its prevention and control, and to its impact on the U.S. criminal justice system. Emphasis will be placed on international aspects of the work of different criminal justice agencies, such as formal and informal police cooperation and the use of mutual assistance and extradition agreements, and on the bilateral, regional, and international structures created for crime prevention, punishment, and control.
Students will understand how international legal and criminal justice systems interact to investigate, measure, and prosecute transnational crimes including trafficking, human rights violations, and war crimes
Outcomes
Students will understand how international legal and criminal justice systems interact to investigate, measure, and prosecute transnational crimes including trafficking, human rights violations, and war crimesCJC 499 Independent Study (1-6 Credit Hours)
Working with a member of the graduate faculty, this course provides students with the opportunity to examine a specific topic in the field of criminal justice through directed readings, interviews, and the completion of a major research paper related to the topic. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of a specific criminal justice topic through directed readings and independent study.
CJC 501 Thesis Research (2 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Approval of Graduate Program Director and Grade of A- or better in CJC 403 and CJC 404
Supervision and guidance are given as students conduct their independent Masters' thesis research.
Master's Thesis
Outcomes
Master's ThesisCJC 502 Practicum in Criminal Justice (3-6 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: CJC 401, CJC 402, CJC 403, and CJC 404 Outcomes: Students will be able to contribute in a meaningful way to the operation of a specific criminal justice agency, and identify/describe the link between their field experience and prior courses through a research paper
This course enables the student to apply their knowledge (conceptual, theoretical, and methodological) in a practical agency setting.
CJC 595 Thesis Supervision (0 Credit Hours)
This is a non-credit course. Students who are working on approved master's thesis research and are not registered for any course are required to register for thesis supervision.
CJC 605 Master's Study (0 Credit Hours)
Pre-requisites: Completion of the graduate core courses
This course is a non-credit means of permitting students to be formally enrolled at Loyola while completing their culminating experience (i.e., 408 project or thesis).