Approved by: Graduate Council
Implementation Date: Fall 2016
Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.
Catalog Copy
Criminal Justice
· M.S. in Criminal Justice
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
criminaljustice.uncc.edu
Graduate Program Director Dr. Lyn Exum
Graduate Faculty
Dr. Bruce Arrigo, Professor
Dr. Beth Bjerregaard, Professor and Chair
Dr. Anita Blowers, Associate Professor
Dr. Charisse Coston, Associate Professor
Dr. M. Lyn Exum, Associate Professor
Dr. Paul C. Friday, Professor
Dr. Jennifer L. Hartman, Associate Professor
Dr. Joseph B. Kuhns III, Associate Professor
Dr. Shelley Listwan, Associate Professor
Dr. Vivian Lord, Professor
Dr. Kathleen Nicolaides, Senior Lecturer
Dr. Matthew D. Phillips, Assistant Professor
Dr. Shannon E. Reid, Assistant Professor
Dr. John M. Stogner, Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael G. Turner, Professor and Associate Chair
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The Master of Science (M.S.) in Criminal Justice degree program is designed to promote broad based study of the phenomenon of crime and to enhance career opportunities in the field of criminal justice. The program utilizes the social and behavioral sciences in an interdisciplinary approach to study law, crime, and social deviance, and to examine critically the systems created in response to deviance and crime. The objectives of the program are to: (1) provide present and future criminal justice personnel with the educational background necessary to function effectively in the dynamic field of criminal justice; (2) familiarize students with the nature, methods, and functions of research, and with the existing body of knowledge on criminal justice; (3) provide the criminal justice system with qualified candidates for careers in the field; and (4) prepare students for entrance into doctoral programs. Career opportunities available in the criminal justice system include law enforcement, corrections, administration, planning and analysis, juvenile justice, and college instruction. There are also private sector careers available, including private security and loss prevention. Students may enroll in the program on either a full-time or part-time basis. Many classes are scheduled in the evening to accommodate the part-time student. Full-time students can complete the program over a 12-month period.
Additional Admission Requirements
Admission to the Criminal Justice graduate program is open to students with bachelor's degrees in any discipline who meet the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School. Preference is given to applicants who have a grade point average of at least 3.0, a satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (above 300 on the combined verbal and quantitative sections), a personal statement describing their interest in attaining the degree, and three strong recommendation letters from those who are able to attest to your academic ability.
Degree Requirements
A minimum of 31 credit hours is required. All students must complete each of the following six core courses with a grade of B or above:
CJUS 6100 Criminal Justice Policy (3)
CJUS 6101 The Nature and Theory of Crime (3)
CJUS 6102 Research in Criminal Justice I (3)
CJUS 6103 Research in Criminal Justice II (3)
CJUS 6104 Criminal Justice and Social Control (3)
CJUS 6105 Criminal Justice Seminar (1)
Students must complete 15 elective hours. These elective hours may come from any 5000- or 6000-level course offered within the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. A maximum of 9 elective credit hours may be taken outside the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology (with approval of the Graduate Coordinator), and a maximum of six hours with grades of B or above may be transferred from another institution. Transfer courses must be consistent with the program and will be accepted at the discretion of the department. At least 25 credit hours must be taken in residence. To complete the program, students have the option of taking a comprehensive examination or writing a thesis.
Assistantships
The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology offers graduate assistantships which are awarded primarily on the basis of academic merit.
Financial Aid
In addition to the graduate assistantships, the department offers, as available, research assistantships and grant-funded opportunities for students. In addition, a few scholarships are available each year.
Thesis Students who choose to write a thesis are required to complete 3 hours of Thesis I (CJUS 6901) and 3 hours of Thesis II (CJUS 6902). These credit hours become part of the 15 elective hours students must complete.
Comprehensive Examination The comprehensive examination is offered each Fall and Spring semester, as well as in the Summer. The comprehensive examination may be taken no more than two times. Students who fail to pass the comprehensive examination on their second attempt will be terminated from the program.
COURSES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CRIMINOLOGY (CJUS)
CJUS 5000. Topics in Criminal Justice and Criminology. (3) Specialized topics in criminal justice and criminology. May be repeated for credit.
CJUS 5101. Drugs, Crime and the Criminal Justice System. (3) Provides an overview of the current state of drug use in this country and throughout the world and examines the nature and extent of drug use, the history of drug use/ abuse, contemporary drug use patterns, licit and illicit drug dealing and trafficking, crime and violence associated with drug use and drug markets, drug control strategies at the local, state, national and international level, treatment level, treatment options and alternatives, drug policy issues, legalization debates, and prevention strategies.
CJUS 5103. International Criminal Justice. (3) Examination of the patterns and trends in international crime such as terrorism, transnational organized crime, and trafficking in people and a review of how the legal traditions of common law, civil law, Islamic law and socialist legal systems are structured and function criminal justice systems of the United States and other nations.
CJUS 5160. Victims and the Criminal Justice System. (3) Relationship between victims of crime and the criminal justice system. Specific topics include an analysis of the characteristics of crime victims, victim reporting patterns, treatment of victims by the various segments of the criminal justice system, victim assistance programs, and the issue of compensation and/or restitution for victims of crime.
CJUS 5161. Violence and the Violent Offender. (3) Issues surrounding violence in today’s society and their impact on offenders involved in homicide, child and domestic abuse, and other forms of violence. Examination of myths about violence, victim-offender characteristics and relationships, and theories of violence.
CJUS 5162. Sexual Assault. (3) Comprehensive and critical examination of sexual exploitation in the United States.
CJUS 6000. Topics in Criminal Justice. (3-6) Specialized criminal justice topics. May be repeated for credit.
CJUS 6100. Criminal Justice Policy. (3) Examination of the criminal justice subsystems (law enforcement,
courts, corrections) with particular focus on the development of policy and the effectiveness of current policies aimed at reducing crime.
CJUS 6101. The Nature and Theory of Crime. (3) Definitions and patterns of criminal behavior. Major theoretical perspectives on crime, including historical, philosophical, individual, community-oriented and societal approaches.
CJUS 6102. Research in Criminal Justice I. (3) Introduction to research methodology and statistics with emphasis on applications to criminal justice settings. Topics to be covered include problem selection, theory, hypothesis formulation, research design, sampling, measurement, and proposal writing.
CJUS 6103. Research in Criminal Justice II. (3) Prerequisite: CJUS 6102. Advanced research methodology with emphasis on conducting, presenting and evaluating research in criminal justice settings. Topics to be covered include data collection, data input, data analysis, and interpretation.
CJUS 6104. Criminal Justice and Social Control. (3) Examines how the law functions as a powerful tool of social control in our society. Particular emphasis is given to understanding the constitutional limitations placed on the construction of law, the elements of criminal offenses, and criminal defenses.
CJUS 6105. Criminal Justice Seminar. (1) An introduction to the criminal justice faculty, their research areas of expertise, and the type of projects with which they are currently involved.
CJUS 6120. Criminal Justice Management and Decision-Making. (3) Application of generic principles of management and supervision to operational problems confronted by criminal justice agencies with particular attention to decision- making and discretion in criminal justice settings.
CJUS 6130. Law Enforcement Systems. (3) Consideration of the elements of law enforcement agencies as subsystems of the total criminal justice system. Comparisons of law enforcement systems in other countries is also considered.
CJUS 6131. Police Problems and Practices. (3) Research on current issues in law enforcement with emphasis on the legal, social, and institutional contexts in which they occur.
CJUS 6132. Legal Issues in Law Enforcement. (3) Law applicable to the functions of police administrators and line police officers including constitutional, statutory, judicial, and administrative law governing search and seizure, arrest, interrogation, use of force, jurisdiction, civil and criminal liability of administrators and officers, and the rights of officers and suspects.
CJUS 6140. Prosecution and Adjudication Processes. (3) Functions and powers of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries including plea bargaining and court procedure.
CJUS 6150. Corrections. (3) Functions of correctional agencies, principles of punishment and a historical analysis of correctional institutions and programs including prisons, jails, probation and parole systems.
CJUS 6151. Correctional Strategies: Rehabilitation and Reintegration. (3) Efforts to change offender behavior and to facilitate the development of offender- community linkages. Institutional classification and treatment strategies, pre-release and temporary release programs, innovative uses of probation and parole systems, community residential programs and new dispositional models; e.g., sentencing to community service and restitution.
CJUS 6152. Legal Issues in Corrections. (3) Major legal issues pertaining to corrections, including sentencing, probation, restitution, prisons, parole, pardon and restoration of rights with emphasis on legal issues often confronted by correctional administrators and probation and parole personnel.
CJUS 6160. Juvenile Justice Systems. (3) The process by which specific behaviors are identified as delinquent and the responses of the juvenile justice system to such behaviors. Laws dealing with the juvenile justice system, the historical development of the system, and the effectiveness of innovative responses to delinquency.
CJUS 6170. Program Planning and Evaluation in Criminal Justice. (3) Applied research as a foundation for criminal justice planning and evaluation. Emphasis on the interrelationship of planning and evaluation within program management.
CJUS 6800. Directed Individual Study in Criminal Justice. (1-6) Supervised investigation of a criminal justice problem of special interest to the student. May be repeated for credit one time with permission of student's major professor or academic committee.
CJUS 6901. Thesis I. (3) Students work on developing a research proposal of a significant criminal justice topic approved by the student’s thesis committee. The final proposal includes an extensive literature review and a detailed discussion of the research plan. Students do not receive a passing grade for the course until they have successfully defended their thesis proposal. Graded on a Pass/Unsatisfactory basis.
CJUS 6902. Thesis II. (1-3) Prerequisite: CJUS 6901. Students conduct independent research developed in CJUS 6901, successfully defend the research in an oral defense meeting, and have the final written thesis approved by the graduate school. Students do not receive a passing grade for the course until they have successfully defended their final thesis product. Graded on a Pass/Unsatisfactory basis for a total of 3 credit hours to be taken in one or more than one semester.
CJUS 6903. The Applied Research Project. (3) Prerequisite: must pass the qualifying examination, have a research project and human subjects approval, where necessary. Students develop a major paper on a topic of criminal justice importance. It is designed to be completed within one semester. This project is typically designed for research in agencies within the community and must be successfully defended in an oral defense meeting. It is geared towards the terminal Master’s student and not appropriate for those seeking the doctorate. Graded on a Pass/Unsatisfactory basis.