Criminal Justice
Mission
The University of Massachusetts Lowell offers a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology. The department seeks to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of the criminal justice system. However, students are simultaneously assured of receiving a traditional, well-rounded liberal arts education. We not only get students familiar with criminal justice facts and concepts, but more importantly, we teach students how to apply this knowledge to related social problems and changing situations. The development of critical thinking, communication skills, and the ability to conceptualize ideas is reflected in our curriculum, which also provides students with a balanced presentation of the issues of the field.
Requirements of the Major
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate an understanding of the nature, pattern and trends in crime in the United States.
- Demonstrate an understanding of major criminological theories of crime that attempt to explain delinquent and criminal behavior as well as the policy implications generated by these theories.
- CJ Systems: Demonstrate an understanding of the development, scope, and operation of the major components of the criminal justice system and other social institutions engaged in crime control.
- Research Methods and Quantitative Reasoning: Demonstrate an understanding of statistical methods, processes, and tests to understand and interpret scientific research findings in the field of criminal justice and criminology.
- Oral Communication: Demonstrate the ability to create and deliver effective oral presentations.
- Written Communication: Demonstrate the ability to write well and develop effective written presentations.
- Critical Thinking: demonstrate analytic, ethical, and critical reasoning skills to evaluate crime-related issues and the institutions seeking to control crime.
- Understand how race, gender, culture and justice ethnicity differentially impacts victims, offenders, the criminal justice system, and the community.