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Crime and JusticeCrime and Justice

Academic Program Coordinator, Carla Abodalo
 (610) 921-7592
cabodalo@alb.edu

About the Program

Albright's Accelerated Degree Completion program in Crime and Justice is specifically designed for working adults with about two years of college credit:

The program is designed for students who are interested in beginning careers in law enforcement, corrections and the judicial system, as well as professionals already working in those fields. It is also excellent preparation for law school and graduate study.

This challenging and innovative program prepares graduates for management and administrative careers in the criminal justice system. Unlike other programs, students are not trained for police work. Rather, students conduct academic study of crime, criminology and justice. The program in crime and justice involves an analysis of criminal deviance and its roots, plus an in-depth understanding of our criminal justice system and its successes and failures

With an emphasis on criminological research and an interdisciplinary approach (that includes sociology, criminology, psychology and political science) Albright's curriculum is far broader than the typical criminal justice program. Graduates also have a stronger grounding in the social scientific approach to the study of crime and the criminal justice system.

Career Opportunities

Careers in law enforcement include: criminal investigator, private security, state patrol, deputy U.S. marshal, FBI special agent, DEA agent, among many others.

Careers in the judicial system include: court administrator, case-flow manager, probation officer, public defender's assistant, and prosecuting attorney's assistant.

Careers in the corrections field include: including drug/alcohol counselor, job-placement counselor, parole officer, victim-assistant counselor, and half-way house administrator.

With its emphasis on research, the program prepares students for positions as entry-level research analyst, research assistant, policy analyst, and graduate/teaching assistant in graduate school.

16 Courses

CJ 900 Social Problems
 An introduction to the sociology of social problems. This course concentrates on the sociological analysis of significant problems as they relate to social institutions in contemporary American society and their global counterparts. It provides an introduction to the sociological research and literature concerning major social problems such as health care, public education, poverty, racism, sexism, etc.
CJ 905 Crime and Deviance
 An introduction to the study of the sociology of deviance as it relates to criminal behavior. The course concentrates on the patterns and causes of crime as well as societal efforts to control it. Crime types covered include victimless crime, gang-related crime, street crime, interpersonal violence, white-collar crime, organized crime, and terrorism. The three major subsystems of the criminal justice system will be examined: law enforcement, the judicial system, and corrections.
CJ 912 Organized Crime
 This course examines criminal activities carried out through criminal organizations and focuses on organized crime as it relates to cultural history, assimilation processes and the characteristics of American society that have fostered its growth and success. Trends in organized crime in terms of ethnicity, structure, and activities will be investigated. Law enforcement strategies and tactics used to control organized crime will also be examined.
CJ 915 Diversity and World Views
 This course concerns mindsets of individuals, how they are formed, what their major components are, and how mindsets mold our perceptions of events and influence choices at all levels from the individual to the international. While this course is focused on understanding the exterior world, it begins with applications to the U.S. The cultural and political bases for worldviews of other nations are examined, using case studies of selected international incidents to highlight differences in worldview.
CJ 917 Crime, Culture, and Conflict Resolution
 This course introduces student to the “law ways” of different societies, in particular non-industrialized societies. The goal is to explore the extent to which different societies employ coercion, punishment and consensus in order to maintain order and resolve conflicts. Topics include rules and crime: the cultural basis of right and wrong, informal and ritualized disputing, conflict theory and conflict resolution (avoidance, community action, ritual reconciliation, negotiation and mediation), oaths, ordeals, and punishment, adjudication and codified law, feuding, raiding and warfare (internal and external).
CJ 920 Social Psychology
 The psychological study of human social interaction. Special consideration is given to the following topics: models of individual-society relationships; social cognition and attribution processes; social influence processes; prosocial and altruistic behavior; and antisocial behavior (models of human violence and social-cultural determinants of prejudice)
CJ 925 Statistics
 An introduction to the theory and practice of basic statistical analysis. Topics considered include the organization and tabulation of raw and grouped data, geographical presentation of univariate and multivariate distributions, central tendency and variability measures, elementary probability theory with binomial applications, the theory of sampling and the central limit theorem, one and two sample tests of hypotheses concerning means and proportions, the analysis of variance and regression.
CJ 930 Research Methods
 An exploration of the application of the basic tenets of scientific research to criminological topics. Topics investigated include the formalization of research topics, the isolation and operationalization of theoretical concepts, the construction of hypotheses, sampling theory, study design issues, data collection techniques, and the organization of empirical data for hypothesis testing.
CJ 940 Law and Society
 An introduction to the social scientific study of the law and legal system. Addresses the nature of law and its functions in society, social control, dispute settlement, social engineering, and the organization of the courts
CJ 945 Adult Psychopathology
 The content of this course focuses on a biopsychological approach to the classification, etiology, and treatment of abnormal behavior patterns in adults. In addition, research and treatment strategies are explored within the context of clinical, counseling, school and forensic psychology settings. Emphasis is on adult psychopathology including anxiety disorders, affective disorders, schizophrenic disorders, personality disorders, and substance abuse disorders.
CJ 950 Psychology and Law
 Drawing from the sub fields of psychology, including social, cognitive, developmental, clinical and biological psychology, this course examines how psychological theory and research contribute to our understanding of the legal system. Topic examples include public attitudes toward the law, police behavior, eyewitness testimony, and jury deliberations. In addition, the role of psychologists in the legal system is discussed, for instance, evaluating mental competency, assisting attorneys with jury selection and using research findings to lobby for legal reform
CJ 955 Internship or Applied Project
 This course involves an off-course placement in a criminal justice setting. Students are under the supervision of both a faculty member and an employee of the sponsoring organization. Students must complete the required number hours of study and complete a project related to the sponsoring organization.
CJ 960 Criminal Law
 The principles of American criminal law are examined using the case method. Principles of criminal liability, elements of crimes and defenses, and the structure and operation of the criminal justice system are examined.
EitherCJ 965 or CJ 966 will be offered
  • CJ 965 Public Policy
     The terminology, techniques and problems of policy making are examined. Policy formulation, implementation and evaluation are studied using the case study approach.

  • CJ 966 Public Administration
     The functions, structures and organizations of governmental and public bureaucracies are addressed. Course combines social scientific organizational theory with applied practice through the use of case studies.
CJ 970 Seminar in Crime and Justice
 Examination of the creation and administration of crime policy in the United States. Student examines a specific topic either individually or with a task force of other students with the purpose of making policy recommendations.
CJ 975 Applied Project Seminar
 An advanced research seminar which focuses on conducting a hypothesis-testing empirical research project on a topic related to the student's internship/applied project experience. Building on the research methods and internship courses, this course concentrates on the collection and analysis of data and culminates in the writing and presentation of the senior thesis.