Roosevelt's criminal justice degree prepares students for leadership roles within the criminal justice field. Our courses explore the tensions and challenges in the criminal justice system from a social justice perspective, seeking to improve our current system for the benefit of all.
Courses in the Criminal Justice major cover contemporary issues facing decision makers in the American criminal justice system. Students learn how a society maintains social control while protecting individual rights and how the Constitution applies to everyday life. The major includes a capstone senior seminar course designed to identify and analyze real-life issues facing criminal justice agencies and techniques for developing and proposing solutions to constituents.
Students discuss what causes criminal behavior and what makes an effective crime policy. They learn how justice systems deter, control and punish crime, and they understand the role of police, prosecutors, courts, defense attorneys, juries and prisons in criminal justice outcomes.
We offer transformative learning classes in which students work collaboratively with community organizations to achieve a common social justice goal. Students may mentor at-risk youth, design meaningful social activities and assist organizations in developing programs.